The Criminal Justice Act 1967 (c 80) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
.
Section 9 allows uncontroversial witness statements to be read in court instead of having to call the witness to give live testimony in the courtroom, if it will not be necessary to challenge their evidence in
cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and m ...
. The rule in section 9 was not new in 1967; it was a re-enactment of a law which had previously appeared in the
Criminal Justice Act 1925
The Criminal Justice Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo.5 c.86) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it has been repealed.
Section 36 of the Act makes it an offence to make a false statement to obtain a passport. The ...
and the
Criminal Justice Act 1948
The Criminal Justice Act 1948 () is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Overview
It is "one of the most important measures relating to the reform of the criminal law and its administration".
It abolished:
* penal servitude, har ...
.
Section 13 removed the requirement for unanimous verdicts and permitted majority verdicts for
juries in England and Wales
In the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, there is a long tradition of jury trial that has evolved over centuries. Liability to be called upon for jury service is covered by the Juries Act 1974.
History
The English jury has its roots in t ...
. (This section was repealed and replaced by the
Juries Act 1974.)
Section 89 makes it an offence to lie in a witness statement (since
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
only applies to lies told in court).
See also
*
Criminal Justice Act
Criminal Justice Act (with its many variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom relating to the criminal law (including both substantive and procedural aspects of that ...
References
*"Criminal Justice Act 1967".
Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition. LexisNexis. 2010 Reissue
Volume 11(1) Page 429. 2008 Reissue
Volume 12(1) Page 451.
*John Burke (ed). "Criminal Justice Act 1967". Current Law Statutes Annotated 1967. Sweet & Maxwell. Stevens & Sons. London. W Green & Son. Edinburgh. 1967. Chapter 80
Google Books
*Brian Harris. "A Short Guide to the Criminal Justice Act 1967." Justice of the Peace Ltd. 1968. Reviewed a
41Police Journal 128.
External links
The Criminal Justice Act 1967 as amended from the
National Archives.
The Criminal Justice Act 1967 as originally enacted from the
National Archives.
{{UK legislation
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1967
Criminal law of the United Kingdom