This weeks topics

Evidence and Procedure:-

Sources of Law

The Courts

Instituting Criminal Proceedings

Bail

Court Procedures and Witnesses

Youth Justice Crime and Disorder

Evidence

Exclusion of Admissible Evidence

Disclosure of Evidence

This week we have a very busy week with 9 topics to look at so I had best not waste any more time, lets get on with it!

There is very little in Sources of Law that can be tested but it is important because it provides a good foundation to the subjects we are looking at this week. In the second of our study chapters The Courts there are a couple of areas that a good question writer could test. Firstly the section on offences committed by juveniles, this is about Mode of Trial for Juveniles charged with specific offences that fit into five categories. I have tried to find a clever mnemonic but I can’t see enough vowels to make it work. If you have any ideas please let me know. The other area is Limitation on Proceedings in respect of summary offences is an easy area to target, containing a six month limit on Statutory Offences. But remember the general rule that there is no limitation on the time that may elapse between commission off an offence and commencement of prosecution for it. We are seeing a lot of this lately with the very old and whiskery murder cases now being detected thanks to the advances in DNA technology.

The next chapter Institution of Proceedings contains a number of good areas to test. Service of Summons, the how and the where is a good place to start. It is interesting to note that of the three options, the only one that is a sure way of getting the summons to the person concerned is by handing it to them, but that all three will count as ‘good service although there is no certainty the summons ever got to its destination.

There is also a section on Warrants Executed by a Constable, this is a practical area that could easily be targeted by a good question writer. I think it is important for me to point out that once you sign up to take the exam you move into OSPRE world, and that is different to your real world. Clearly policies and procedures that relate to your force are not typical for other parts of the country. The only thing that matters is what it says in the Blackstone’s syllabus books. What this means in practice is that if your force employs people execute warrants for instance, that is not what Blackstone’s is all about. This is about a constable arresting someone on a warrant.

Bail is a very important chapter for you all, by taking and passing this exam you are asking for promotion to be a sergeant and the main area the examiners can test are the jobs the sergeant does. That is why Custody is such an important area, but Bail is a part of that process, and as such is a good area to test. The section on Release, Attendance and Re-arrest is a very good one to test, and should be learnt well. The section on the restrictions placed on Police Bail contains a very long list, all of which are offences that if charged with, it is unlikely the offender would be granted bail, flying in the face of a law that goes right back to 1215 and the Magna Carta laying down a principal that bail shall be granted unless….

Learn the full list of circumstances when Police can refuse bail. This is a set of circumstances you may soon need to know. There are two interesting ones here, one of which applies only to imprisonable offences and one that applies only to non imprisonable offences. It might be a good idea to try to think of some circumstances here and weave them into a story that will help you remember this list. As important to learn are the circumstances where a custody office can grant bail. This is a very good area for a good question writer to exploit. First of all learn the grounds and then the conditions.

The next section Court Procedure and Witnesses does contain some interesting topics. Have a good look at the section on Special Measures for Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses. This is a topical subject right now with the non jury trial going on due to witness and jury interference, but it somehow feels as if it has been topical for some time, and as such is a good area to test. However this is not just about vulnerability in terms of threats, it also applies to vulnerability due to age of lack of mental firmness. You should also remember the use of a live television link for witnesses is at a different age to the arrangement made under ‘Special Conditions,’ under 18 years of age against under 17 years. The section on Oaths and Affirmations is also a diversity issue and as such has high potential to be tested, make sure you know it.

It is worth reminding you that there is no specific paper, based on Evidence and Procedure and the questions crop up where ever they touch another subject in a different exam. The section on Cross-examination of Witnesses about Previous Sexual Behaviour links with a lot of sexual offences, and as such is a good area to know.

The Youth Justice Crime and Disorder chapter has pulled together two old chapters into one bigger one. The section on Parenting Orders is one where there are potentially rich pickings for a good question writer. It is worth remembering that the aim of such an order is PREVENT offending and or truancy. There are certain circumstances where a parenting order must be made and if it is not, the court must state in open court why not. Get to know these.

Child Safety Orders are in place to stop a child under 10 years of age turning to crime in the first place. Make sure you have a good understanding of the conditions that must prevail before a child safety order is made. I have the impression that there are more and more children under 10 years of age ‘committing crime’ and as such there is a higher potential for this to come up in your exam. The press have made quite a big thing about the ‘loss of our town centres to gangs of youths’ recently and that is why Child Curfew Schemes are worth having a look at. These are granted following consultation between the Local Authority and the Chief Officer of Police.

The last section in this chapter worth having a look at is the section on removing Truants. Remember the link back to Parenting Orders in regard to Truants. As I indicated in one of the earlier articles it is vital that you remember all the police powers in this section. Any police power has to be learnt and learnt well.

Now we move into the section on Evidence and turn our attention to the chapter Evidence. It is, on the face of it, one of those dull and hard to read chapters that pop up from time to time in your studies. However it does contain some very important topics. The section on Inferences from Silence is a good area for a question writer. There are three parts to this section, and all three have areas to trip up the candidate. In the keynote Blackstone’s points out a restriction in Section 36 that does not appear in Section 37. In order for this to apply the officer that sees the person at or near the scene of the alleged offence must also be the arresting officer. A very practical situation that spills over into OSPRE World.

Over the years the exceptions to the Hearsay Evidence rule have proved a good area to be tested, and from a candidate point of view, I always found them interesting to study so that for me was a bonus. Another area that I think has potential for a good question writer is the section on Evidence of Bad Character. There are two sections that are like door keepers on this topic, and define Bad Character. One is to do with the alleged facts of the offence with which the defendant is charged, the other is in relation to misconduct in the investigation, or prosecution of that offence. If either of those apply you can go on into the rest of the legislation.

The next chapter is about Exclusion of Admissible Evidence. This section is full of topical subjects that deserve a look, most of which look difficult to write questions about. Oppression is the first that springs to mind, however the book says there is little guidance about what is Oppression and it MIGHT BE this… This is unlikely to be tested. The section on Entrapment has potential to be linked to Human Rights and so is an area worth having a look at, but on the whole this chapter is not a good area for the question writers

The last chapter this week is on Disclosure of Evidence and is an interesting one in that it is very practical, but also very dull. That sadly does not mean it will not be tested. Negative Information is an interesting subject, and the time limit for Primary/Initial Disclosure is a most interesting area for a good question writer. Blackstone’s says’ While there are provisions to set time periods by which primary initial disclosure must be met, NONE CURRENTLY EXIST’. Remarkable!!! The law talks about ‘within a reasonable time’. That is all you need to know, because that makes it a very difficult area to test. What is reasonable to you, but may not be to me, so how do you test it?

I do think it is worth while getting to know the Roles and Responsibilities under the 1996 Act, and following on from that the Duties of the Disclosure Officer. This may well be best laid out in a chronological table. What is the first task, and what follows and so on? I would like to hope you would not get a question that is a straight ‘What is the second task of the Disclosure officer?’ but a clear understanding of the duties will help you deal with any questions from there.

As the chapter progresses through the duties of Disclosure Officer so should you and create different lists for each section. The section on Definitions is an important section to get to know, but again the list of examples is just that, and is preceded by the words ‘might be considered’ so if I were you I would not pay too much attention to the list.

I would certainly take some time to understand the section on ‘Complaints Against Police Officers Involved in the Case.’ This is a practical section and relevant too. However on the whole this chapter like the previous one this week and is full of uncertainties and as such will prove a very hard area for a question writer to test. My advice is, after you have done as suggested above, read the chapter carefully twice and move on. If you are tested it will not be a lot of questions and if it were me and I did not know, I would just guess.

Top Tips

This weeks first top tip has been covered in the main feature in previous articles. Everybody learns differently, and as such some of you who are visual learners will benefit greatly from taking the topic and visualising it as a set of circumstances that you might come across while on patrol and for which you are going to deal with the offender. Visual pictures are a very strong method of placing learning firmly in your brain.

This weeks other top tip is all about revision, I have allowed some time for revision in the plan, but that will not be enough. There is still some way to go the exam and things you learnt this week and last week can easily fall off the bookshelf of knowledge. Try to build some revision into each study week. My friend Henry, who is the most successful Part 1 candidate I know of, just read each Blackstone’s book at least 5 times and always passed first time. Sadly he was not so good at Part 2 and that was why he had to keep taking Part 1. But the moral of the tale is to keep on reading the Blackstone’s syllabus books.

Lastly my normal warning, I am not one for selecting certain topics and leaving things that are not likely to come up. No-one except your examiner knows what is in your exam, and the best way to pass is to have a good knowledge of all four Blackstone’s books.

Remember it is only 44 days to go to the exam, keep working hard it is well worth the effort when the results are published and you are on the pass list!

Finally if you are having a problem visit my OSPRE Part 1 forum on www.policeoracle.com and if I can help you I will. That makes the assumption a knowledgeable officer does not get there ahead of me.

Good luck and keep studying!

Finally if you are having a problem visit my Part 1 forum on www.policeoracle.com and if I can help you I will. That makes the assumption a knowledgeable officer does not get there ahead of me.

Article written by Phil Waters, Cert Ed. Phil is an ex Surrey Inspector from their Training School and was a training consultant for National Police Training. He now runs Executive Guidance Ltd, assisting officers studying for the OSPRE Part 1.