Confrontation: The Defiance of the English Courts

Abstract

This article discusses recent decisions that have made explicit a conflict that has long been brewing between the English courts and the European Court of Human Rights regarding Article 6(3)(d) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects a defendant's right to examine or have examined the witnesses against him. It argues that the European Court has correctly interpreted the Convention and that the Supreme Court's case-by-case approach to the right of confrontation would give insufficient protection to the defendant.