Controversial law behind 1000s UK charges

A study has found that prosecutors have charged more than 1,800 people with homicide in England and Wales over the past eight years using a controversial 300-year-old law.

The research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism studied the frequency of the application of the joint enterprise doctrine, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

It showed that 1,853 people were prosecuted for homicide between 2005 and 2013 in a charge that involved more than four people – prosecutions that lawyers accept almost certainly relied on the doctrine.

“Joint enterprise is considered by many legal professionals as a vital part of the criminal justice system,” the Bureau’s report states. “It allows prosecutors to pursue a conviction for those who are genuinely culpable for their part in a crime, even if they did not strike a fatal blow….”

“In homicides involving four or more defendants it was more likely that a defendant would eventually be acquitted – suggesting people may be being scooped up into serious prosecutions without there being strong enough evidence against them. The impact this can have on an innocent person’s life is huge.”

Lord Phillips, the former president of the Supreme Court, told the Bureau, “Joint enterprise is capable of producing injustice, undoubtedly. You have to rely on juries and on the judge to more or less say who was involved and how. There is huge discretion on how it is used by prosecutors.”