Author Description

This manual provides support for the Criminal Law option on the Bar Vocational Course. It differs from the treatment of criminal law at undergraduate level in its practical emphasis and by concentrating on areas which are important to the junior criminal practitioner. The first part of the manual deals with crucial areas of practice which pose problems of a tactical and/or evidential nature; disclosure; search and seizure; multiple defendants and identification. The second section covers dangerous drugs (including confiscation); public order offences; road traffic offences; regulatory law and the role of the European Convention on Human Rights in criminal practice. The final section comprises an extended case study which highlights features which recur in criminal practice: police witnesses; custody records; medical reports and conflicts of interest between defendants. The case study consists of a realistic set of papers in a criminal case, including typical exhibits, with an explanatory text, a set of tasks to perform and a sample answer.