BPTC Law Notes BPTC Criminal Litigation Notes
A collection of the best BPTC notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through dozens of samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor".
In short, these are what we believe to be the strongest set of BPTC notes available in the UK this year. This collection of BPTC notes is fully updated for recent exams, ...
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our BPTC Criminal Litigation Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
PUBLIC INTEREST IMMUNITY (PII)
the rule
function: enables pros to withhold material that would otherwise have to be disclosed under CPIA 1996
need permission of court - pros makes application before / midway through trial
basis: disclosure would give rise to real risk of serious prejudice to an important public interest
how PII interacts with disclosure
general rule = full disclosure: to satisfy art 6, pros should disclose to defence all material in possession for / against D
exception = PII: under art 6, CANNOT withhold material unless non-disclosure 'strictly necessary'
preparation for the application
considerations before making:
pros should aim to disclose as much material as they can (e.g. by giving defence redacted copies)
neutral material / material damaging to D need NOT be disclosed AND must NOT be brought to court's attention
pros should only apply in truly borderline cases (AG's Guidelines on Disclosure)
general points:
prior to hearing, court must be provided with full + accurate information
pros advocate must examine all material which is subject matter of application + make any necessary inquiries of prosecutor and / or investigator
prosecutor (or rep) and / or investigator should attend such applications
application / hearing procedure
3 classes of case (R v Ward; Davis)
class 1 - the usual cases
pros must:
give notice to defence that they are applying for PII ruling; +
indicate to defence at least the category of material they hold (broad ground on which PII claimed)
defence must have opportunity to make representations to court
hearing conducted in open court with both parties (i.e. pros and the D) present
class 2 - cases where pros contend public interest would be injured if disclosure made even of category of material
pros must give notice to defence that they are applying for PII ruling; +
defence must have opportunity to make representations to court
D or anyone representing him will NOT be present at hearing
at hearing:
if court thinks material falls within class 1 follow class 1 procedure
otherwise, court will rule
class 3 - 'highly exceptional cases' where public interest would be injured even by disclosure that an ex parte (from 1 party; without notice) application is made
application made WITHOUT notice to defence
at hearing:
if court thinks material falls within class 1 follow class 1 procedure
if court thinks material falls within class 2 follow class 2 procedure
replicated by CrimPR
prosecutor must serve notice of the application on:
court
any person thinks would be directly affected by disclosure
on D (to the extent that it would not disclose what ought NOT to be disclosed) (r22.3(2))
the application must explain:
why disclosure NOT in public interest
why no measure (e.g. edited copy) could adequately protect public interest and D's right to a fair trial (r22.3(3))
if prosecutor serves only part of application on D, must in the part for the court explain why withheld from D (r22.3(4))
court may order that the application be served on D if not already (r22.5(3))
general points about the hearing
court must determine application at hearing - in private, unless court orders otherwise
if court directs, hearing may take place wholly / partly in D's absence (r22.3(6))
if D present, court usually hears representations:
from prosecutor + anyone else served with the application (in presence of all)
from D (in presence of all)
further representations...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our BPTC Criminal Litigation Notes.
A collection of the best BPTC notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through dozens of samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor".
In short, these are what we believe to be the strongest set of BPTC notes available in the UK this year. This collection of BPTC notes is fully updated for recent exams, ...
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