Knowledge (XXG)

Saunders v United Kingdom

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208:
a trial judge to exclude admissions was a defence in this case. The court stated that "the public interest cannot be invoked to justify the use of answers compulsorily obtained in a non-judicial investigation to incriminate the accused during the trial proceedings" and "the prosecution in a criminal case seek to prove their case against the accused without resort to evidence obtained through methods of coercion or oppression in defiance of the will of the accused." Saunders was awarded damages of £75,000, which was paid in June 1997.
163:, and provided that the answers to such questions would be admissible in court (unlike earlier acts (e.g. s.31 Theft Act 1968 or s.72 Supreme Court Act 1981) where the exclusion of the right to avoid self-incrimination was tied to a provision that the answers could not be used in evidence). Giving Saunders the option of either incriminating himself or "the court may punish the offender in like manner as if he had been guilty of 196:. Again the applicant argued that the use at trial of answers given to the DTI Inspectors rendered the proceedings unfair. The Court rejected this argument, deciding that Parliament had clearly provided in the 1985 Act that answers given to DTI Inspectors may be admitted in evidence even though such admittance might override the privilege against self-incrimination. 167:." Saunders did answer questions during nine interviews from February to June 1987 and his answers were presented during his trial in 1989-90; the role of this specific evidence in securing his conviction is not clear. The legality of the statements obtained under compulsion was challenged at the trial under sections 76 and 78 of the 228:
While the judgement appeared decisive the caveats reduced its impact on English law as the majority of affected statutes do not contain any ambiguity over the treatment of information given under compulsory examination. Section 434 was amended in a Schedule to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence
207:
By a majority of 16-4 the ECtHR found that there was a breach of Article 6. The court rejected the argument of the British government that the complexity of large fraud cases and the public interest in securing a conviction justified the compulsion; the court also rejected the argument that power of
216:, documents acquired pursuant to a warrant, breath, blood and urine samples and bodily tissue for the purpose of DNA testing." The court also stated that " whether the right not to incriminate oneself is absolute or whether infringements of it may be justified in particular circumstances." 211:
But this was tempered by: " does not extend to the use in criminal proceedings of material which may be obtained from the accused through the use of compulsory powers but which has an existence independent of the will of the suspect such as ,
327: 322: 132: 317: 192:) regarding the legality of the interviews; leave to appeal was refused by the House of Lords. In December 1994 the Home Secretary referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the 233:
was returned to the Court of Appeals it was held that the wording of section 434 did not allow for the exclusion of evidence solely on the grounds it was obtained under compulsion (
225:, in that it found the prosecution's use of answers given by the defendant unfair, but that the use of documents obtained from the defendant by compulsion was acceptable. 160: 175:. During the later trial of his co-defendants the interviews were also subject to a challenge of abuse of process. None of these legal challenges succeeded. 237:(1996) 1 Cr. App. R. 463), it was confirmed that "Parliament's clear intention... must defeat Convention jurisprudence." Further in British law 168: 129: 121: 219:
One of the dissenting judges (Mr. S. K. Martens) pointed out that the court was, in effect, over-ruling the judgement made in
188:
The case went to the Court of Appeal where it was rejected on 16 May 1991, with the court referring to the earlier dismissal (
117: 266: 152: 125: 285:
Mirfield, Peter, 'Silence, Confessions and Improperly Obtained Evidence', Clarendon Press Oxford, 1998; p. 308
193: 260: 242: 250: 89: 241:(2003) allowed the admission of answers obtained by compulsory questioning under section 172 of the 301: 156: 151:
was convicted on twelve of fifteen counts of conspiracy, false accounting and theft relating to
164: 159:, which made it an offence to refuse to answer questions posed by Inspectors appointed by the 17: 155:
that occurred in 1986. During the investigation, the police relied on section 434(5) of the
221: 148: 311: 44: 199:
Saunders had also appealed to the ECtHR, lodging his application on 20 July 1988.
297: 300:
as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from
172: 248:
During the ECtHR's deliberations, the following case law was considered
328:
European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United Kingdom
323:
European Court of Human Rights cases decided by the Grand Chamber
245:, apparently in direct opposition to the ECtHR's ruling. 318:
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
99: 79: 71: 63: 55: 43: 36: 31: 171:during two occasions when the court was held a 8: 278: 28: 169:Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 7: 130:European Convention on Human Rights 25: 37:Submitted 9 and 13 September 1994 161:Department of Trade and Industry 122:right against self-incrimination 298:Text of the Companies Act 1985 203:European Court of Human Rights 118:European Court of Human Rights 116:was a legal case heard by the 113:Saunders v. the United Kingdom 18:Saunders v. the United Kingdom 1: 267:John Murray v. United Kingdom 133:Article 6 paragraphs 1 and 2 344: 50:Saunders v. United Kingdom 104: 95: 84: 32:Saunders v United Kingdom 194:Criminal Appeal Act 1968 126:presumption of innocence 39:Decided 17 December 1996 261:Fayed v. United Kingdom 72:Nationality of parties 243:Road Traffic Act 1988 165:contempt of the court 128:as included in the 302:legislation.gov.uk 157:Companies Act 1985 80:Court composition 251:Deweer v. Belgium 109: 108: 16:(Redirected from 335: 286: 283: 29: 21: 343: 342: 338: 337: 336: 334: 333: 332: 308: 307: 294: 289: 284: 280: 276: 256:Funke v. France 229:Act 1999. When 222:Funke v. France 205: 186: 184:Court of Appeal 181: 149:Ernest Saunders 141: 90:Mr R. Bernhardt 88: 59:43/1994/490/572 38: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 341: 339: 331: 330: 325: 320: 310: 309: 306: 305: 293: 290: 288: 287: 277: 275: 272: 239:Brown v. Stott 204: 201: 185: 182: 180: 177: 145:R. v. Saunders 140: 137: 120:regarding the 107: 106: 102: 101: 97: 96: 93: 92: 82: 81: 77: 76: 75:United Kingdom 73: 69: 68: 65: 61: 60: 57: 53: 52: 47: 45:Full case name 41: 40: 34: 33: 24: 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 340: 329: 326: 324: 321: 319: 316: 315: 313: 303: 299: 296: 295: 291: 282: 279: 273: 271: 269: 268: 263: 262: 257: 253: 252: 246: 244: 240: 236: 235:R v. Saunders 232: 226: 224: 223: 217: 215: 209: 202: 200: 197: 195: 191: 183: 178: 176: 174: 170: 166: 162: 158: 154: 153:share dealing 150: 146: 138: 136: 134: 131: 127: 123: 119: 115: 114: 103: 98: 94: 91: 87: 83: 78: 74: 70: 67:Grand chamber 66: 62: 58: 54: 51: 48: 46: 42: 35: 30: 27: 19: 281: 265: 259: 255: 249: 247: 238: 234: 230: 227: 220: 218: 213: 210: 206: 198: 190:R. v. Seelig 189: 187: 144: 142: 112: 111: 110: 85: 49: 26: 312:Categories 292:References 214:inter alia 105:Fair trial 173:voir dire 86:President 231:Saunders 179:Judgment 147:(1996), 124:and the 100:Keywords 64:Chamber 274:Notes 139:Facts 56:Case 143:In 314:: 270:. 264:, 258:, 254:, 135:. 304:. 20:)

Index

Saunders v. the United Kingdom
Full case name
Mr R. Bernhardt
European Court of Human Rights
right against self-incrimination
presumption of innocence
European Convention on Human Rights
Article 6 paragraphs 1 and 2
Ernest Saunders
share dealing
Companies Act 1985
Department of Trade and Industry
contempt of the court
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
voir dire
Criminal Appeal Act 1968
Funke v. France
Road Traffic Act 1988
Deweer v. Belgium
Fayed v. United Kingdom
John Murray v. United Kingdom
Text of the Companies Act 1985
legislation.gov.uk
Categories
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights cases decided by the Grand Chamber
European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United Kingdom

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