Understanding the barriers to defendant participation in criminal proceedings in England and Wales

Owusu-Bempah, Abenaa ORCID: 0000-0001-6674-0018 (2020) Understanding the barriers to defendant participation in criminal proceedings in England and Wales. Legal Studies, 40 (4). 609 - 629. ISSN 0261-3875

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Abstract

Over the past two decades, there have been significant legal developments aimed at securing and enhancing the participation of vulnerable witnesses in criminal trials. Yet, there remains relatively little regard for the fact that many defendants, including those who are not deemed to be vulnerable, are unable to participate in criminal proceedings in a meaningful sense. This paper aims to address two questions. First, why should defendants have participatory rights and be capable of meaningful participation in criminal proceedings? Second, why has it proven so difficult to attain meaningful participation of defendants? It is contended that barriers to meaningful communication between the defendant and the court could be dismantled without great difficulty, but continue to exist because due regard is not given to the normative rationales for participatory rights and defendant participation.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/legal-stud...
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Authors
Divisions:	Law
Subjects:	K Law > KD England and Wales
Date Deposited:	26 May 2020 11:33
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:10
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/104562

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