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Lurking Doubt
Lurking doubt, also known as the ''Cooper test'', is a legal test allowing an appeal court in England and Wales to overturn a conviction on the basis that it disagrees with the jury's verdict. It was introduced in ''R v Cooper'' by Judge Widgery. In that case, the appeal was based on mistaken identity rather than any irregularity, as all the issues were before a properly-instructed jury. In overturning the conviction in the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, the judge wrote: ... in cases of this kind the Court must in the end ask itself a subjective question, whether we are content to let the matter stand as it is, or whether there is not some lurking doubt in our minds which makes us wonder whether an injustice has been done. Appeals on this principle are rarely successful and some regard it as problematic. It has been criticised as allowing the Court of Appeal to overturn juries: a later appeal court judgement says "it is not the function of this court to decide w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Test
In law, a test is a commonly applied method of evaluation used to resolve matters of jurisprudence. In the context of a trial, a Hearing (law), hearing, Discovery (law), discovery, or other kinds of legal proceedings, the resolution of certain Question of fact, questions of fact or question of law, law may hinge on the application of one or more legal tests. Tests are often formulated from the logical analysis of a judicial decision or a court order where it appears that a finder of fact or the court made a particular decision after contemplating a well-defined set of circumstances. It is assumed that evaluating any given set of circumstances under a legal test will lead to an unambiguous and repeatable result. Kinds of legal tests * Bright-line rule * Balancing test International law *Berne three-step test *Habitual residence, Habitual residence test *Caroline test, ''Caroline'' test Common law *Proximate cause, "But-for" test Canada *Andrews v Law Society of British Colum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Widgery, Baron Widgery
John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, (24 July 1911 – 26 July 1981) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events of Bloody Sunday. Early career and war service Widgery came from a North Devon family which had been living in South Molton for many generations. His father, Samuel Widgery (died 1940), was a house furnisher; his mother Bertha Elizabeth, née Passmore, was Samuel's second wife, and served as a magistrate. An ancestor had been a gaoler. Widgery attended Queen's College, Taunton, where he became head prefect. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1933 after serving as an articled clerk, but instead of going into practice, he joined Gibson and Welldon, a well-known firm of law tutors. He was an effective lecturer in the years leading up to World War II while he was also commissioned into the Royal Engineers ( Territorial Army) in 1938, having jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mistaken Identity
Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendant, when in fact the person seen by the witness was someone else. The defendant may question both the memory of the witness (suggesting, for example, that the identification is the result of a false memory), and the perception of the witness (suggesting, for example, that the witness had poor eyesight, or that the crime occurred in a poorly lit place). Because the prosecution in a criminal case must prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant must convince the jury that there is reasonable doubt about whether the witness actually saw what they claim to have seen, or recalls having seen. Although scientific studies have shown that mistaken identity is a common phenomenon, jurors give very strong credence to eyewit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Court Of Appeal Of England And Wales
The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Courts of England and Wales#Senior Courts of England and Wales, Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Court of Appeal was created in 1875, and today comprises 39 Lord Justices of Appeal and Lady Justices of Appeal. The court has two divisions, Criminal and Civil, led by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls, Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England respectively. Criminal appeals are heard in the Criminal Division, and civil appeals in the Civil Division. The Criminal Division hears appeals from the Crown Court, while the Civil Division hears appeals from the County Court (England and Wales), County Court, High Court of Justice and Family Court (England and Wales ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Of New Zealand
The law of New Zealand uses the English common law system, inherited from being a part of the British Empire. There are several sources of law, the primary ones being statutes enacted by the New Zealand Parliament and case law made by decisions of the courts of New Zealand. At a more fundamental level, the law of New Zealand is based on three related principles: parliamentary sovereignty; the rule of law; and the separation of powers. History Pre-European law Before colonisation by the British, Māori customary law ( tikanga) would have served as rule of law for most tribes. The first mention of New Zealand in British statutes is in the Murders Abroad Act of 1817, which clarified that New Zealand was not a British colony (despite being claimed by Captain Cook) and "not within His Majesty's dominions". Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, is widely believed to have established British law in New Zealand. There are numerous problems with this theory. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Criminal Law
English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, in addition to certain international organisations, has responsibility for crime prevention, for bringing the culprits to justice, and for dealing with convicted offenders. The police, the criminal courts and prisons are all publicly funded services, though the main focus of criminal law concerns the role of the courts, how they apply criminal statutes and common law, and why some forms of behaviour are considered criminal. The fundamentals of a crime are a guilty act (or ''actus reus'') and a guilty mental state (or ''mens rea''). The traditional view is that moral culpability requires that a defendant should have recognised or intended that they were acting wrongly, although in modern regulation a large number of offences relating to road ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
