Are items referred to in s.9’s as exhibits bound to be served?
Background - CPS served a witness statement on me that exhibited two BWV clips that are potentially relevant to the Crown’s case and may have some relevance to the defence case insofar as they are likely to show the lighting and weather at the time events happened. Somebody has listed the clips as unused material rather than putting them in the exhibits folder that accompanies the served evidence. This raised an interesting (to me anyway) question about whether a party who exhibits an item in a statement is bound to serve it on their opponent. At court the judge took the view that the Crown were at liberty to classify items exhibited in s9s as unused material if they chose not to rely upon them in evidence. I took the view that if they are exhibited then they must be served along with the witness statement that exhibits the item and that the solution to a situation where the Crown say they are now unused is to edit the witness statement to remove the reference, by agreement with ...
Ha ha. Brilliant.
ReplyDeletewhat about no penalty ie fine or prison imposed without a hearing
ReplyDeleteTwo things, first I think that's contained in the 1297 version rather than the one signed by King John in Runnymede that is usually cited. While it is technically still in force, it lacks any real bite today partly because it was only ever intended to grant protections to the Barons rather than to the common man and because it is actually pretty vague. Secondly, that clause requires no punishment to be imposed "... but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land." The Justices of the Peace Act 1361 also provides that punishment shall be administered only in accordance with the law. The far more recent and enforceable European Convention on Human Rights, as enacted by the Human Rights Act 1998 provides far stronger protections in Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8, 9, 10 and 11 than any version of Magna Carta or the JPA 1361 grants.
DeleteAlso, this may be a crass point but if you rely on the HRA in court nobody will laugh at you. Although, in my experience you should bring a pile of textbooks that you can lend to the judge because they often seem unfamiliar with the whole thing.
But Forest Law is so important. I need to collect firewood for my woodburner and not have my ears chopped off for disturbing the King's deer!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. Yes I am a fuckwit and would like to buy some of your made-up bollocks. Shall I send you all my personal and financial details now, or would you prefer to reel me in a bit with your so convincing gobshite? D
ReplyDelete