Proposals to place previous convictions before court

Criminal Justice Minister John Spellar has announced new proposals to give courts the opportunity to hear a wider range of relevant evidence in criminal cases.

A consultation launched on Monday is seeking views on plans to introduce two categories of offences – theft and child sex offences – that will help make a defendant’s previous convictions admissible as evidence in criminal cases, if the defendant has a previous conviction that falls within the same category as the offence with which he is charged.

Announcing the proposal John Spellar said: “For over a century the law has recognised that evidence of a defendant’s previous convictions and other misconduct may be admitted in some circumstances. However, the confusing nature of the current rules make them difficult to apply and may mean that evidence of previous misconduct that seems clearly relevant is excluded from court.

“The categories I have proposed today will give judges clear guidance in applying the bad character provisions of the Criminal Justice (Evidence) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 in particular areas of offending. These reforms are placing the victim at the heart of the justice system.”

The proposals are part of the more general bad character provisions from the Criminal Justice (Evidence) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 which are due to be commenced in the next few months.

The provisions will apply to all types of offences and will enable the court to have much greater access to information about a defendant’s previous convictions and other misconduct, where such information is deemed as relevant by the judge and is likely to throw new light on a case without unduly prejudicing the fairness of the trial.

(MB/SP)