The Guardian newspaper published a sneak preview yesterday of our new report on joint enterprise.
Dubbed the ‘lazy prosecutor’s charter’, the current vague laws on joint enterprise allow for minor players and those on the periphery of crimes to be tried and convicted as if they were the perpetrator.
Recent reports suggest a rise in the number of people convicted of murder and manslaughter under joint enterprise law over the past five years.
Controversial cases include the conviction of three boys for the manslaughter of Kennie Carter, after the Crown Prosecution Service argued that, through their presence at the scene, they assisted or encouraged the boy who stabbed Kennie Carter.
“The current law encourages the overcharging of suspects and allows cases to be propelled forward based on poor-quality evidence”, report author Nisha Waller, told The Guardian. She continued:
Prosecutors are left to fill the gaps with speculative theories and often racialised narratives from which juries are invited to infer joint responsibility.
Helen Mills, Head of Programmes at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, added:
Unless the government commits to narrowing the scope of joint enterprise, serious injustices will persist.
In 2012, Keir Starmer, when director of public prosecutions, told the Commons justice committee that joint enterprise prosecution “does not work well” in the case of murder convictions, where “someone has played a very minor part in a very serious offence but is nonetheless convicted”.
The report, entitled The Legal Dragnet, will be released in September.
We are grateful to the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, convened by the Barrow Cadbury Trust for supporting this work.
