CONFIDENTIAL
XCCI(92)2
CORROBORATION WARNING
8
We propose that the requirement that a judge must warn the jury against relying on the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice should be abolished. The prosecution of organised crime often requires the use of accomplice evidence. The present requirement for the judge to issue a warning to the jury about such evidence has been widely criticised as complicated and confusing; it gives rise to many appeals. The requirement has been abolished in other common law jurisdictions, and the English Law Commission has recently recommended its abolition there. Abolition was considered in the context of the Organised Crime Bill 1991, but was not included in the bill, largely because the recommendations of the English Law Commission on the subject were not then available.
CONSPIRACY
9
The offence of conspiracy, involving an agreement between two or more persons to carry out a crime, is an important weapon against organised crime. However, it is often difficult for the prosecution to prove the circumstances of the actual agreement, though it may be able to demonstrate that the accused knew of the existence of a conspiracy and had knowingly assisted that conspiracy but did not join the conspiracy. We therefore propose to make it clear that it is an offence to aid and abet a conspiracy to commit any offence.
SENTENCES
10
At present, the fact that a convicted person is a persistent offender will not result in an increase in his sentence, merely that his sentence will not be mitigated to the same extent as for a first offender. In order to encourage the courts to impose heavier sentences on those involved in organised crime, we propose that, at the time a person convicted of a scheduled offence is to be sentenced, the prosecution could apply for an increased sentence (within the statutory limit) if the person had been engaged in organised criminal activities, and the court would be empowered to impose such an increased sentence.
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