This chapter discusses the issues that need to be addressed in the period leading up to a trial. These include contacting witnesses to ensure their availability; obtaining witness summonses where appropriate; briefing trial counsel; agreeing and compiling trial bundles; and counsel preparing speeches, examination-in-chief, and cross-examination of witnesses.
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This chapter discusses the issues that need to be addressed in the period leading up to a trial. These include contacting witnesses to ensure their availability; obtaining witness summonses where appropriate; briefing trial counsel; agreeing and compiling trial bundles; and counsel preparing speeches, examination-in-chief, and cross-examination of witnesses.
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This chapter first discusses the importance of the trial date. A period within which the trial should take place (a three-week window) is usually set on allocation even if the precise date is not fixed, so that a focus for litigation is set quite soon after issue. Although the court may show flexibility in reviewing preparations for trial, a trial date will rarely be moved and only for very good reason. The second section outlines the pre-trial review process, covering pre-trial checklists, statements of case, attendance of witnesses, expert evidence, trial date and directions, and preparing trial bundles. The third section deals with preparations for the trial, including the development of trial strategy and preparing to deal with witnesses. The final section discusses skeleton arguments.
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Claims that are not compromised and which do not end through striking out or summary or default judgment, have to be determined by the court at trial. Listing is the process whereby the court gives a date for the trial. This chapter discusses listing for trial; pre-trial reviews; listing in the Royal Courts of Justice; and adjournments.
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Alisdair A. Gillespie and Siobhan Weare
This chapter examines the trial process and identifies the differences between summary trials and trials on indictment. It details who is in court, what their role should be, and how they reach their various decisions. The discussions cover the prosecution case, the defence case, closing speeches, judicial summing up, reaching the verdict, and youth trials.
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Claims that are not compromised and which do not end through striking out or summary or default judgment, have to be determined by the court at trial. Listing is the process whereby the court gives a date for the trial. This chapter discusses listing for trial; pre-trial reviews; listing in the Royal Courts of Justice; and adjournments.
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This chapter reviews various procedural mechanisms to ensure that the eventual trial runs smoothly and fairly. In terms of facilitating the smooth running of the trial, it concentrates on ways of screening cases and clarifying some of the issues prior to trial. The disclosure of evidence is a fraught matter in this regard, with an impact on fairness as well as efficiency. In terms of ensuring that the defendant is not subjected to an unfair trial, it examines some question that arise under the broad heading of abuse of process, concentrating on issues of delay and the entrapment doctrine.
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This chapter explains the basics of a moot and mooting. It distinguishes a moot from other law school activities, such as a seminar and a mock trial, and distinguishes a moot court from a real court. It discusses the origins of mooting; why law students should moot; in which courts are moots set; and how a moot is structured.
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The multi-track deals with a vast range of cases, from simple contractual disputes involving little more than £25,000, to complex commercial cases involving difficult issues of fact and law with values of several million pounds, to cases where perhaps no money is at stake but which raise points of real public importance. Cases on the multi-track will generally be dealt with either in the Royal Courts of Justice or other civil trial centre. This chapter discusses agreed directions; case management conferences; fixing the date for trial; pre-trial checklists; listing hearings; pre-trial review; directions given at other hearings; and variation of case management timetable.
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The multi-track deals with a vast range of cases, from simple contractual disputes involving little more than £25,000, to complex commercial cases involving difficult issues of fact and law with values of several million pounds, to cases where perhaps no money is at stake but which raise points of real public importance. Cases on the multi-track will generally be dealt with either in the Royal Courts of Justice or other civil trial centre. This chapter discusses agreed directions; case management conferences; fixing the date for trial; pre-trial checklists; listing hearings; pre-trial review; directions given at other hearings; and variation of case management timetable.
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This chapter discusses the different functions in a court and how the court is composed of a tribunal of law and a tribunal of fact. In a jury trial, the judge decides matters of law and is the tribunal of law, while the jury is the ‘fact-finder’, the tribunal of fact. In a non-jury trial, the judge or magistrates perform both functions. This chapter discusses the functions of the judge in legal issues concerning evidence and, in particular, when a case is withdrawn from the jury because there is ‘no case’; judicial discretion; and admissibility of evidence illegally or unfairly obtained.
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This chapter deals with international criminal procedure, focusing on the International Criminal Court (ICC). It first introduces international criminal procedure and the various parties involved in the process (judges, prosecutors, suspects or accused persons, and witnesses and victims). It then examines the pre-trial phase of proceedings, including criminal investigation, the decision to prosecute, and the role of the document specifying the charges (called an ‘indictment’ by some courts and national systems). Next, the chapter provides an overview of the trial phase and examines the role of guilty pleas, evidence (and its pre-trial disclosure), and the conduct of trial proceedings.
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Although a large percentage of civil cases are settled well in advance of trial, it remains important for legal representatives look to the possibility of running a case to trial. This chapter focuses on fast-track and multi-track cases that proceed to trial. It covers professional conduct issues; procedural and administrative preparation for trial; the day of the trial; judgment and appeals. It also discusses settlement without trial.
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Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta, Laurel Baig, Mary Fan, Christopher Gosnell, and Alex Whiting
The right of defendants to appeal against conviction or sentence is normally regarded as a fundamental human right. At present this right is laid down in numerous international treaties on human rights, as well as in the Statutes of international courts. The notion and purpose of appellate proceedings vary in national systems. Subject to a number of specifications and exceptions, in civil law countries, that is countries of Romano-Germanic legal tradition, these proceedings amount largely to a retrial by a court of appeal. In contrast, in most common law countries appellate proceedings do not lead to a retrial. Appeals courts, which do not have any jury, do not review facts, but decide on the basis of the trial record. In international criminal proceedings neither the common law system nor the civil law model have been upheld. Rather, a mixed system has been accepted, which is discussed in this chapter.
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A jury consists of twelve, randomly-selected members of the public, who decide guilt or innocence in the most serious criminal trials in the Crown Court. This chapter explains the rules on eligibility for, and disqualification or excusal from jury service. It considers the power of the jury to acquit in defiance of the evidence (‘jury equity’), the confidentiality of jury deliberations and the implications of that for appeals, the ethnic composition of a jury, whether juries should be excluded from certain trials such as those involving serious fraud or where there is evidence of jury ‘tampering’, whether the accused should be able to ‘waive’ their right to jury trial, and the impact of social media on jury trials. It concludes by examining the relative advantages and disadvantages of jury trials.
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This chapter discusses the process of presenting a case in court. It begins with an overview of the trial process, covering the timetable, the claimant's case, the defendant's case, closing speeches, and judgment. It then explains the importance of good presentation and advocacy in winning a case. This involves focusing on the issues on which the judge needs to reach a decision; presenting the case clearly, coherently, and concisely; developing and presenting an overall theory for the case — a single story can be more convincing than a lot of separate arguments; and developing persuasive arguments that pull elements of the case together and deal with any gaps. The remainder of the chapter covers the judgment of the case; the drawing up of orders; and the form of orders.
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Chapter 2 is divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the manner in which a dispute as to which party bears the burden of proving a particular issue in a trial should be resolved. The question may arise in a criminal trial as to whether it is the prosecution or defence which bears the burden of proving a certain issue, and in a civil trial as to whether it is the claimant or defendant who bears the burden of proving a certain issue. The second part focuses on the standard to which the burden of proving a particular issue requires to be discharged.
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The jury consists of twelve randomly selected members of the public, who decide guilt or innocence in the most serious criminal trials in the Crown Court. This ensures that the general public are represented in the criminal justice system. This chapter explains the rules on eligibility for, and disqualification or excusal from, jury service. It considers issues such as the power of the jury to acquit in defiance of the evidence (‘jury equity’); the confidentiality of jury deliberations and the implications of that for appeals; the ethnic composition of a jury; the rights of both prosecution and defence to challenge jurors; jury vetting; whether juries should be excluded from certain trials, such as those involving serious fraud or where there is evidence of jury ‘tampering’; whether the accused should be able to ‘waive’ their right to jury trial; and the impact of social media on jury trials. It concludes by examining the relative advantages and disadvantages of jury trials.
Chapter
Alisdair A. Gillespie and Siobhan Weare
This chapter examines under what circumstances someone is entitled to appeal and how that appeal is heard. The discussions cover summary trials or trials on indictment; appeals from a summary trial; appeal from a trial on indictment; appeal following an acquittal; appeal against sentence; appeals to the Supreme Court; and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The paths of appeals differ depending on the mode of trial of the original criminal hearing. There are two potential criminal appeal avenues from a summary trial: either to the Divisional Court (by way of case stated or (exceptionally) judicial review) or to the Crown Court. An appeal ordinarily requires leave (permission) but appealing to the Crown Court from the magistrates’ court does not require leave.
Chapter
Alisdair A. Gillespie and Siobhan Weare
This chapter focuses on the people who are present during criminal trials. It considers those in summary trials in magistrates’ court (magistrates, justices’ clerks/legal advisors, lawyers, and the defendant). It also considers those who are present in the Crown Court during a trial on indictment (the judge, the jury, lawyers, court clerks, the stenographer, the usher, and the defendant). The chapter also explores how lawyers for the defence are funded under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
