Bad Character & Hearsay - A 2025 Update for Criminal Practitioners

Introduction

Are you looking to stay updated on key developments in legal practices?

This webinar will explore the latest Court of Appeal decisions on bad character and hearsay evidence, as well as the relevant legislation shaping these areas.

Gain expert insights into how these rulings impact your practice, improve your understanding of complex legal issues, and ensure you are prepared for future cases.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of the DPP and Joseph Barton - was it an abuse of process where the whole of the evidence was hearsay?
• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of The King and AEB and others - evidence in a spreadsheet from a computer - was it ‘real evidence’ speaking for itself or hearsay admissible pursuant to Section 117 of the CJA 2003?
• R v Smith [2020] - not new but still a leading Court of Appeal decision expressing some displeasure at the way in which complex hearsay issues in an ABE interview were dealt with by the parties in the case
• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v Maclean and Miseldine - evidence to correct a false impression pursuant to Section 101 (1) (f) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v Williams - evidence admissible pursuant to section 101 (1) (d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as relevant to an important matter in issue between the prosecution and the defence at trial
• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v Greaves - the issue here was whether or not the trial judge should have given a ‘good character’ direction
• Section 98 (a) and (b) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 - their legal significance in terms of being admissible and the evidence not falling within the bad character regime
• The 2023 Court of Appeal decision of Sheibani and Rex - paragraph 20 -‘Something is not bad character if it forms part of the facts complained of’ - see also in this area AAM and Regina and Regina v Oloyowang
• The 2024 Court of Appeal decision of Regina v Spencer - had the Judge been correct in allowing the hearsay application of the Crown under Section 114 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where the witness was no longer contactable?
• The 2023 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v McCafferty - inadmissible hearsay bad character evidence contained in an ABE interview was accidentally left in when the recording was played to the jury
• R v Bedward [2021] - not a new case but an important one in which the Court of Appeal considered whether or not text messages were hearsay - the same ground essentially as covered in R v Twist
• Hearsay statements and Section 115 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
• A bad character application concerning a witness as opposed to the defendant - the 2023 Court of Appeal decision of BKY and others
• The 2023 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v Dickson - an argument that the bad character evidence merely ‘bolstered a weak case’ and should not therefore have been allowed
• Not new but the very important decision of Regina v Colecozy-Rogers - the effect at trial of making an attack on another person’s character - see also in this area the 2022 Court of Appeal decision of Rex v Threadgale

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Wednesday 23rd April 2025

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