Defensive Use of a Co-Accused's Confession and the Criminal Justice Act 2003

Abstract

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduces statutory provisions regulating the extent to which a defendant may adduce a co-defendant's confession in a joint trial. The relevant provisions are based upon the recommendations of the Law Commission. In this article it is argued that the Law Commission's analysis was overly narrow, and that as a consequence the emerging legislation is unsatisfactory in several significant respects, to the extent that it may even be incompatible with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The potential for curing the highlighted deficiencies within the legislation is considered. The article also discusses the extent to which a defendant may continue to adduce a co-accused's confession as a previous inconsistent statement.