Criminal Justice Act 2003 - Retrial For Serious Offences (the 'Double Jeopardy' Rule)

Retrial For Serious Offences (the 'Double Jeopardy' Rule)

The Act creates an exception to the double jeopardy rule, by providing that an acquitted defendant may be tried a second time for a serious offence.

The prosecutor must have the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions prior to making the application for a second trial. Authority to give permission may not be exercised generally by Crown Prosecutors (typically employed lawyers of the Crown Prosecution Service), but can be delegated. There is a requirement for "new and compelling evidence", not adduced during the original trial, to be found. A "public interest" test must also be satisfied, which includes an assessment of the prospect of a fair trial. The application is made to the Court of Appeal, which is the sole authority for quashing an acquittal and ordering a re-trial. The offence to be re-tried must be one of a list in Schedule 5 of the Act, all of which involve maximum sentences of life imprisonment.

This Act was not the first legislation to affect the double jeopardy rule: an Act in 1996 provided that an acquittal proved beyond reasonable doubt to have been procured through violence or intimidation of a juror or witness could be quashed by the High Court.

The first person to be re-tried under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for an offence he had been previously been acquitted of was Billy Dunlop. He was acquitted of murdering his former girlfriend Julie Hogg in 1989. The application was brought by the Crown with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, given in writing on 10 November 2005 and heard by The Lord Chief Justice of England And Wales on 16 June 2006.