Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was a wide-ranging statute that reformed many areas of criminal justice and public order law. The Act introduced the offence of aggravated trespass, created new powers to deal with raves and unauthorised campers, and reformed the law on hostile and aggressive gatherings. In criminal procedure, the Act permitted adverse inferences to be drawn from a defendant’s silence in police interviews and at trial, partially reversing the right to silence. The Act also abolished the caution against self-incrimination as a bar to drawing adverse inferences. It was one of the most controversial criminal justice statutes of the 1990s.
Legal area: Criminal law defines conduct prohibited by the state and prescribes punishments for those who engage in such conduct, serving to maintain public order and protect individuals and property.
Citation: Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (1994 c 33)
Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33
Key Provisions
- Sections 34-39: Adverse inferences from silence (right to silence modified)
- Section 61: Aggravated trespass (hunt saboteurs, protestors)
- Sections 63-66: Powers to remove persons attending or preparing for a rave
- Sections 77-79: Powers to remove unauthorised campers from land
- Part V: Public order reforms (new criminal offences)
- Section 142: Abolition of corroboration requirement for sexual offences
Significance
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was highly controversial, particularly its erosion of the right to silence. The European Court of Human Rights in Murray v UK (1996) held that the adverse inference provisions did not violate Article 6, provided appropriate safeguards existed. The Act’s public order provisions have been used against environmental protestors, hunt saboteurs, and travellers. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 later extended the adverse inference provisions to cases where the defendant fails to mention facts later relied on in court.