Abuse of Process
YORKSHIRE-BASED fraud and business crime solicitors Rahman Ravelli have been ranked in the elite in the worlds most prestigious legal directory.
The firm, which has its head office in Halifax and a base in the City of London, has been classed in the Tier 1 group of crime lawyers by the authors of "The Legal 500". It means that the highly-respected international directory has classed Rahman Ravelli as one of the very best for handling national and international fraud and corruption cases.
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One of the leading cases in this area is R (Ebrahim) v Feltham Magistrates’ Court; Mouat v DPP [2001] 2 Cr. App. R, 23, DC.  The High Court considered the situation where the  two defendants, in two separate cases had asserted that video evidence would have assisted their defences but where  the video material was no longer available.  In Mr. Mouat’s  case he was videoed by an unmarked police car exceeding the speed limit. His defence was that he was trying to get away from a driver who was driving dangerously close behind him  and he had no idea it was a police car; i.e. duress of circumstances.  Once he stopped he was shown the video by the officers and had the choice to accept a penalty or go to trial – he elected trial.  By the time of the trial the tapes in the police car had been re-used.  The High Court quashed Mr. Mouat’s conviction.  Mr. Ebrahim was not so fortunate.  Ebrahim’s case concerned un-seized CCTV material.  On the facts of that case the Court found that the defendant  had a fair trial eventhough the CCTV material was missing.  The Court of Appeal said that when considering an abuse application on this basis a Judge must consider what the duty was to preserve any video material. If the court finds that  there is no such duty for the material in question to be seized or preserved then there can be no stay of the prosecution. If, alternatively, there is such a duty, and it has been breached, then the court can only consider staying the indictment as an exceptional measure as the trial process itself can remedy the problem; e.g. by the Judge warning the jury about missing evidence, or by him excluding certain other evidence and so on.  If, however, the police or the prosecution appear to have acted with “bad faith or at the very least  some serious fault” then a stay may be more readily granted.
Two Categories of Abuse
In considering the development of the case law it is clear that the Higher Courts will sometimes use the abuse of process jurisdiction to effectively ‘punish’ the police or  prosecution for errors or faults.  This ‘serious fault’ limb of the abuse of process jurisdiction highlights the way abuse applications fall into two broad categories; Category 1  cases where the defendant cannot receive a fair trial, and Category 2 cases where it would be unfair for the defendant to be tried: see R v Beckford (1996) 1 Cr App R 94, 101.  Thus, if evidence that should have been seized by the police but now cannot be obtained, but would have been helpful to the defence, then that is a ‘Category 1’ situation and the  Judge could, exceptionally, stay the trial on the basis that the defendant could not get a fair trial.
If, however, the police had the material but maliciously destroyed it, then that would be a ‘Category 2’ case and even though the defendant could get a fair trial it would be  unfair to try him – in as much as it would offend our sense of justice and bring the administration of the criminal justice system into disrepute to do so, see e.g. R v Mullen [1999] 1 AC 42, HL.
R v Grant [2005] 2 Cr. App. R 28 is a Category 2 case.  The police eavesdropped on the communications of a suspect and his solicitor.  The Court held that unlawful acts of such  a kind, amounting to a deliberate violation of a suspect’s right to legal privilege were such an affront to the integrity of the justice system that the prosecution was rendered  abusive. However, this case has now been expressly disapproved by the Privy Council in Curtis Warren v Att. General for Jersey [2011] 2 ALL ER 513, PC. In that case the police had  placed an audio probe in the defendant's hire car which would be driven through a number of overseas European countries. The police knew that permission from those countries had  been refused for the use of such devices but went ahead anyway. The consequent abuse of process application failed, a decision upheld on appeal. Much turned on the facts of the  case but the Council found that the Court of Appeal was wrong to say that deliberate invasion of a suspect’s right to legal professional privilege should generally lead to a stay;  it may do but category 2 cases were always a balancing exercise.
The use of undercover officers in covert operations often leads to accusations of abuse of process on the basis that the officers have entrapped or encouraged an offence to take place. This aspect of abuse deserves a whole article to itself but, in very short order, the Judge has to look to see if the undercover officer has ‘overstepped the mark’;  R v Loosely; Att. General’s Ref (No 3 of 2000) [2001] 1 WLR 2060, HL.

Disclosure
The area of disclosure has always been the most contentious area of criminal litigation and most of the great miscarriage of justice cases have turned on failures to disclose  by the prosecution.  The House of Lords laid down final and conclusive guidance on disclosure and Public Interest Immunity applications in the case R v H & C [2004] 2 AC 134 (the  authors represented ‘H’).
However, it is a sad fact that today prosecutors are still not getting disclosure right. With the pressure on the prosecution not to give the defence the ‘warehouse keys’ there  has been an over analysis of Defence Statements and a willingness to conclude that no further disclosure is necessary.
In a case called R v O [2007] EWCA Crim 3483 a Crown Court Judge was so exasperated by H.M. Custom’s failure to properly respond to the defence’s proper applications for  disclosure he stayed the case as an abuse of process. The prosecution appealed and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.  The case was a fraud allegation where O was simply  asking for business documents held by customs after they had searched his premises. Customs had been taking the line that most of the material neither assisted the defence or  undermined the prosecution case and was therefore not disclosable and refused to even let the defence have sight of the outer covers of the documents. The defence were adamant  that the business documents could assist.  The Judge was swayed by the obstructive nature of Customs, he did not even make a decision on the merits of the material in question but  was pushed in the end to saying that Customs had relied too heavily on the precise rule of law on disclosure, to the extent that they were inflexible and obstructive.  His Honour said “if the prosecution approach the case without concession then they can expect none” and with that he threw the case out.
In a case involving indecent images of children, the defence solicitors wished to view the material and certain directions were given by the court regarding disclosure.  The prosecution were not content with the security arrangements for the viewing and storage of this sensitive material and refused to obey the order, the indictment was stayed;  R v R (L) [2010] 2 Cr. App. R 9, CA. The Lord Chief Justice noted that there will be cases even were the defendant is in custody where the prosecution will have to provide the  material on CD so it can be examined by the defendant with his lawyers in prison with undertakings by the lawyers as to the use of the material.
The abuse of process doctrine also applies to confiscation proceedings, though to a more limited degree. The Court of Appeal has confirmed the Crown Court’s jurisdiction to  stay confiscation proceedings where, in limited cases, the Crown’s application for confiscation amounted to oppression: R v Morgan & Bygrave [2008] EWCA Crim 1323 (20/6/08), para 27. In that case the defendant had substantially repaid the victim and the confiscation proceedings in effect punished him twice over. However, the Court of Appeal has since  re-iterated that confiscation proceedings are by design draconian and cases where such proceedings amount to an abuse will be rare indeed; see R (BERR) v Lowe [2009] 2 Cr. App. R  (S) 81, see now R v Nelson & Others [2010] 1 Cr. App. R (S) 82.
Conclusion
Abuse of process applications should not be made lightly.  However, they can arise in any number of situations – too many to properly deal with in this short article. What is  required in any abuse application is material and authorities upon which such an application can be properly supported. This usually means early and focussed pressure on  disclosure where a possible abuse of process application might be made. In order to persuade a court to stay an indictment a defendant has to have the ammunition to support the  application. That means the lawyers have to be alive to the possibilities that might arise in any case and think long-term; e.g. early written, and properly justified, requests  for material – when months later the Crown have failed to comply then the ammunition is starting to build up enabling the defence to submit that the defence are trying their best  but facing difficulties form the prosecution. In other words if there is any hint of an abuse of process application then it must be kept at the forefront of the defending mind  from the very outset.
Jonathan Lennon is a Barrister specialising in serious and complex criminal defence case at 23 Essex Street Chambers in London. He is a contributing author to Covert Human Intelligence Sources, (2008 Waterside Press) and has extensive experience in all aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

 Aziz Rahman is a Solicitor- Advocate and Partner at the leading Criminal Defence firm Rahman Ravelli Solicitors, specialising in Human Rights, Financial Crime and Large Scale  Conspiracies/Serious crime. Rahman Ravelli are members of the Specialist Fraud Panel and have recently been ranked by Legal 500 as an 'excellent' firm with Aziz Rahman being  described as 'first class and very experienced'.
               
               
           
           
   
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            Abuse of Process1 October 2012
           

           
                When will a Judge throw a case out of Court because of  the behaviour of the Prosecution?
There are many reasons why a Judge might conclude that it would not be proper for the courts to be used to prosecute a defendant. For example, delay in bringing proceedings,  manipulation of the court’s procedures, entrapment by police officers, loss of evidence and so on. The prosecution facing an abuse of process application will always argue that  the Judge can ensure fairness by, for example, excluding any evidence which is causing dispute, or by warning the jury that the defendant has been unable to call certain evidence  because it has been destroyed – in other words anything except throw the case out before it even starts.
Leading Case
One of the leading cases in this area is R (Ebrahim) v Feltham Magistrates’ Court; Mouat v DPP [2001] 2 Cr. App. R, 23, DC.  The High Court considered the situation where the  two defendants, in two separate cases had asserted that video evidence would have assisted their defences but where  the video material was no longer available.  In Mr. Mouat’s  case he was videoed by an unmarked police car exceeding the speed limit. His defence was that he was trying to get away from a driver who was driving dangerously close behind him  and he had no idea it was a police car; i.e. duress of circumstances.  Once he stopped he was shown the video by the officers and had the choice to accept a penalty or go to trial – he elected trial.  By the time of the trial the tapes in the police car had been re-used.  The High Court quashed Mr. Mouat’s conviction.  Mr. Ebrahim was not so fortunate.  Ebrahim’s case concerned un-seized CCTV material.  On the facts of that case the Court found that the defendant  had a fair trial eventhough the CCTV material was missing.  The Court of Appeal said that when considering an abuse application on this basis a Judge must consider what the duty was to preserve any video material. If the court finds that  there is no such duty for the material in question to be seized or preserved then there can be no stay of the prosecution. If, alternatively, there is such a duty, and it has been breached, then the court can only consider staying the indictment as an exceptional measure as the trial process itself can remedy the problem; e.g. by the Judge warning the jury about missing evidence, or by him excluding certain other evidence and so on.  If, however, the police or the prosecution appear to have acted with “bad faith or at the very least  some serious fault” then a stay may be more readily granted.
Two Categories of Abuse
In considering the development of the case law it is clear that the Higher Courts will sometimes use the abuse of process jurisdiction to effectively ‘punish’ the police or  prosecution for errors or faults.  This ‘serious fault’ limb of the abuse of process jurisdiction highlights the way abuse applications fall into two broad categories; Category 1  cases where the defendant cannot receive a fair trial, and Category 2 cases where it would be unfair for the defendant to be tried: see R v Beckford (1996) 1 Cr App R 94, 101.  Thus, if evidence that should have been seized by the police but now cannot be obtained, but would have been helpful to the defence, then that is a ‘Category 1’ situation and the  Judge could, exceptionally, stay the trial on the basis that the defendant could not get a fair trial.
If, however, the police had the material but maliciously destroyed it, then that would be a ‘Category 2’ case and even though the defendant could get a fair trial it would be  unfair to try him – in as much as it would offend our sense of justice and bring the administration of the criminal justice system into disrepute to do so, see e.g. R v Mullen [1999] 1 AC 42, HL.
R v Grant [2005] 2 Cr. App. R 28 is a Category 2 case.  The police eavesdropped on the communications of a suspect and his solicitor.  The Court held that unlawful acts of such  a kind, amounting to a deliberate violation of a suspect’s right to legal privilege were such an affront to the integrity of the justice system that the prosecution was rendered  abusive. However, this case has now been expressly disapproved by the Privy Council in Curtis Warren v Att. General for Jersey [2011] 2 ALL ER 513, PC. In that case the police had  placed an audio probe in the defendant's hire car which would be driven through a number of overseas European countries. The police knew that permission from those countries had  been refused for the use of such devices but went ahead anyway. The consequent abuse of process application failed, a decision upheld on appeal. Much turned on the facts of the  case but the Council found that the Court of Appeal was wrong to say that deliberate invasion of a suspect’s right to legal professional privilege should generally lead to a stay;  it may do but category 2 cases were always a balancing exercise.
The use of undercover officers in covert operations often leads to accusations of abuse of process on the basis that the officers have entrapped or encouraged an offence to take place. This aspect of abuse deserves a whole article to itself but, in very short order, the Judge has to look to see if the undercover officer has ‘overstepped the mark’;  R v Loosely; Att. General’s Ref (No 3 of 2000) [2001] 1 WLR 2060, HL.

Disclosure
The area of disclosure has always been the most contentious area of criminal litigation and most of the great miscarriage of justice cases have turned on failures to disclose  by the prosecution.  The House of Lords laid down final and conclusive guidance on disclosure and Public Interest Immunity applications in the case R v H & C [2004] 2 AC 134 (the  authors represented ‘H’).
However, it is a sad fact that today prosecutors are still not getting disclosure right. With the pressure on the prosecution not to give the defence the ‘warehouse keys’ there  has been an over analysis of Defence Statements and a willingness to conclude that no further disclosure is necessary.
In a case called R v O [2007] EWCA Crim 3483 a Crown Court Judge was so exasperated by H.M. Custom’s failure to properly respond to the defence’s proper applications for  disclosure he stayed the case as an abuse of process. The prosecution appealed and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.  The case was a fraud allegation where O was simply  asking for business documents held by customs after they had searched his premises. Customs had been taking the line that most of the material neither assisted the defence or  undermined the prosecution case and was therefore not disclosable and refused to even let the defence have sight of the outer covers of the documents. The defence were adamant  that the business documents could assist.  The Judge was swayed by the obstructive nature of Customs, he did not even make a decision on the merits of the material in question but  was pushed in the end to saying that Customs had relied too heavily on the precise rule of law on disclosure, to the extent that they were inflexible and obstructive.  His Honour said “if the prosecution approach the case without concession then they can expect none” and with that he threw the case out.
In a case involving indecent images of children, the defence solicitors wished to view the material and certain directions were given by the court regarding disclosure.  The prosecution were not content with the security arrangements for the viewing and storage of this sensitive material and refused to obey the order, the indictment was stayed;  R v R (L) [2010] 2 Cr. App. R 9, CA. The Lord Chief Justice noted that there will be cases even were the defendant is in custody where the prosecution will have to provide the  material on CD so it can be examined by the defendant with his lawyers in prison with undertakings by the lawyers as to the use of the material.
The abuse of process doctrine also applies to confiscation proceedings, though to a more limited degree. The Court of Appeal has confirmed the Crown Court’s jurisdiction to  stay confiscation proceedings where, in limited cases, the Crown’s application for confiscation amounted to oppression: R v Morgan & Bygrave [2008] EWCA Crim 1323 (20/6/08), para 27. In that case the defendant had substantially repaid the victim and the confiscation proceedings in effect punished him twice over. However, the Court of Appeal has since  re-iterated that confiscation proceedings are by design draconian and cases where such proceedings amount to an abuse will be rare indeed; see R (BERR) v Lowe [2009] 2 Cr. App. R  (S) 81, see now R v Nelson & Others [2010] 1 Cr. App. R (S) 82.
Conclusion
Abuse of process applications should not be made lightly.  However, they can arise in any number of situations – too many to properly deal with in this short article. What is  required in any abuse application is material and authorities upon which such an application can be properly supported. This usually means early and focussed pressure on  disclosure where a possible abuse of process application might be made. In order to persuade a court to stay an indictment a defendant has to have the ammunition to support the  application. That means the lawyers have to be alive to the possibilities that might arise in any case and think long-term; e.g. early written, and properly justified, requests  for material – when months later the Crown have failed to comply then the ammunition is starting to build up enabling the defence to submit that the defence are trying their best  but facing difficulties form the prosecution. In other words if there is any hint of an abuse of process application then it must be kept at the forefront of the defending mind  from the very outset.
Jonathan Lennon is a Barrister specialising in serious and complex criminal defence case at 23 Essex Street Chambers in London. He is a contributing author to Covert Human Intelligence Sources, (2008 Waterside Press) and has extensive experience in all aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

 Aziz Rahman is a Solicitor- Advocate and Partner at the leading Criminal Defence firm Rahman Ravelli Solicitors, specialising in Human Rights, Financial Crime and Large Scale  Conspiracies/Serious crime. Rahman Ravelli are members of the Specialist Fraud Panel and have recently been ranked by Legal 500 as an 'excellent' firm with Aziz Rahman being  described as 'first class and very experienced'.
               
               
           
           

       

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