NCJ Number
146147
Journal
European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (1993) Pages: 3-19
Date Published
1993
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The status of the European Convention on Human Rights in English law, actual and potential conflict with the Convention, and problems of incompatibility are discussed.
Abstract
English writers have seldom charted in detail the actual or potential influence of the European Convention on Human Rights on English criminal law and procedure. This may be attributable to the fact that for the first quarter-century, of its life the Convention essentially applied to matters at or apparently at the margin of criminal procedure, and in particular to prisoners' rights and to the rights of persons detained for questioning under emergency procedures. In recent years the Convention has increasingly been referred to in relation to English criminal law and procedure. For a litigant who is dissatisfied with the result obtained in English law, the Convention offers a functional supranational standard that evolves over time and is not hindered by classifications of procedure contained in English domestic law. The article then goes on to discuss the status of the Convention in English law, actual and potential conflict with the Convention, and problems of incompatibility that arise at various stages of the criminal process. Those stages include: (1) Arrest and Questioning; (2) Clandestine Surveillance; (3) Bail and Speedy Trial; (4) Fair and Public Hearing; (5) Appeal; (6) Legal Aid; (7) Post-conviction Procedures; (8) Deportation and Extradition. There is a brief discussion of the ways in which criminal law in the United Kingdom has been influenced by legislation to bring domestic law into line with the Convention. Regarding the future impact of the Convention on English criminal law and procedure, the author notes that the course of the present evolutionary process cannot readily be foreseen. 105 footnotes