LAWSG154: Criminal Process and Human Rights // Dr Jonathan Rogers

Criminal Process and Human Rights deals with the law of criminal process of England and Wales and the ways in which it has been shaped by the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into English law.

We adopt a selective and thematic approach to the subject. The module begins with a theoretical inquiry into the purposes of procedural law. We then look at the rights, values and ethics which inform procedural law and practice and the key provisions and concepts in the European Convention on Human Rights.

The module moves on to examine the law and human rights principles relating to a number of key aspects of the criminal process: police powers of stop and search, detention and arrest; bail decisions; police questioning and the right to silence; illegality and unfairness in the obtaining of evidence; prosecutors’ decisions including charging and diversions; abuse of process; disclosure and public interest immunity; the presumption of innocence and burdens of proof; treatment of vulnerable witnesses; use of hearsay and anonymous evidence; the criminal trial and Article 6(1) of the ECHR; jury trial; appeal and review of convictions; double jeopardy, and finally the use of civil preventive orders.

Pervasive themes of the course are the impact of human rights jurisprudence on the criminal process, the scope and control of discretion, safeguards against inadvertent abuse and the coherence of the law in terms of underlying theory.

Please refer to UCL module catalogue for further information about the module: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/module-catalogue

Modules are open to all LLM students and can be taken alongside specialism-specific modules, subject to availability.

We review our modules regularly to ensure they reflect current developments in law and research.

Modules may be added or withdrawn, and convenors and assessment methods may change. Final confirmation of modules is given at the start of the academic year.

All videos are correct at the time of publishing.