Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) reaches first century in healthy state

The latest annual review of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Divison) coincides with the centenary of the court. Perhaps to fittingly illustrate the continuing value and relevance of the court, there has been a rise in both appeals against conviction and sentence in the past year.

Despite this rise, the average waiting time for conviction appeals was reduced to 10.9 months, and for sentence appeals it is down to 4.2 months – well below the court’s target of five months.

The figures on the rise in appeals is as follows:

A more striking feature of the review than the numbers of cases is their complexity. This is illustrated by statistics in the report such as an increase in directions hearings, and the fact that some appeals are taking many days to complete. The court has an important role in interpreting legislation, as with the operation of the ‘dangerous offender’ provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

The Court continues to deal with many high profile cases, either from the notoriety of the parties (as with various terrorism related appeals) or the controversial nature of the cases, as with R –v- Bree, where the court provided a ruling (and guidance for lower courts) on whether someone could be said to have consented fully to sex if heavily intoxicated.

The report pays tribute to the work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which the court may ask to investigate sensitive issues, and which in the reporting period referred 33 cases to the Court of Appeal. Both institutions share a common goal of recognising and rectifying miscarriages of justice when they occur.

The year also saw a review of the Criminal Procedure Rules, designed to improve procedures and case management, and no doubt contributing to the court’s waiting time improvements.

In his introduction to the review, Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice, paid tribute to Lord Justice Auld, who retired in September, for his contribution to the work of the court and authorship of his comprehensive review of the criminal justice system. He also used the report to thank his judicial colleagues and the support they receive from the court’s administrative staff.

Ends

Historical Footnote

Historical notes

• There have been 13 Lord Chief Justices who have acted as presiding judges of the Court of Appeal’s Criminal Division. The first was Viscount Alverstone (Richard Webster), and the current office holder is Lord Phillips. Viscount Hewart is the longest serving in the last century, serving between 1922-40.
• Numerous laws are applied and cited in the Court – examples have included the Piracy Act 1744 and the Chimney Sweeps and Chimneys Regulations 1840.
• Courts can sit simultaneously, and in 1990 two appellate courts sitting on the same day reached opposite conclusions on the interpretation of intent for offences deriving from 19th Century legislation.
• Only since 1988 has the prosecution been able to appeal against sentences as unduly lenient, via an Attorney General reference.

A small selection of famous cases
(The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division hears thousands of high profile, complex and groundbreaking cases each year. The following list is purely by way of illustration)

• Dr John Crippen’s appeal in 1910 against his conviction for the murder of his wife was rejected. He was executed.
• Derek Bentley , a 17-year-old convicted of murdering a police officer, had his conviction posthumously quashed by the Court in 1998. He had been convicted and hanged in 1953.
• In 1991 the Court corrected a number of miscarriages of justice, many of which had involved long running public campaigns. Some of these cases as with the Guildford Four’ (1989) and Birmingham Six’ (1976 & 1988) had previously mounted unsuccessful appeals.
• On a number of occasions the Court has been at the fore in establishing as well as interpreting the law. In the case of R-v-R in 1991 it was held for the first time that a husband could be guilty of raping his wife, overturning a presumption in common law.
• Rosemary West’s unsuccessful appeal, following her convictions for murder, was the last to be heard by Lord Chief Justice Lord Taylor.
• In R v Young the Court ordered a retrial after some jury members in the original case in 1994 had tried to contact a deceased murder victim via a Ouija board to establish a defendant’s guilt.
• James Hanratty – convicted and hanged for the notorious 1961 ‘A6’ murder. Modern DNA testing of his exhumed body provided evidence to the Court in 2002 that satisfied judges of his guilt of the crime.
• The Court in 2003 quashed convictions against two mothers Sally Clark and Angela Cannings, convicted for murdering their own young children. The Attorney General later held a review into convictions based upon expert witness opinion.