First Appearance Decisions - An Introduction for Criminal Lawyers

Introduction

The first appearance requires a significant degree of decisions to be taken.

All these can only be made with sufficient information to allow an advocate to prepare. Should an advocate not have enough detail of the case for the Crown, making decisions becomes potentially dangerous.

This webinar will set out what the law is in such circumstances, what the duty on the defence advocate is, and what can be done to protect and preserve the defendant’s position in such cases.

This webinar will consider the Criminal Procedure Rules and what is required of the Crown, the duties on the defence, the legitimate objections by the defence to being forced into decisions on the day and the consequences of not complying with the Criminal Procedure Rules.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The obligations on the Crown in relation to the provision of information at the first appearance
• What the defence can do if the Crown do not fulfill their obligations
• The duties on the defence to deal with bad character, hearsay and special measures at the first appearance
• The disclosure duties on the defence in relation to alibi witnesses, witnesses of fact and expert witnesses - are they all the same?
• What are the sanctions on the defence under the Criminal Procedure & Investigations Act 1996?
• The duties on all parties to raise failures by the other parties with the Court under the Criminal Procedure Rules - Can you simply remain silent and raise it on the day?

This webinar was recorded on 26th October 2021