How to Represent Yourself In Criminal Court

By Douglas Page

How To Represent Yourself In Criminal Court is a practical guide for anyone facing representing themselves in court. With extremely clear guidelines and numerous step-by-step examples, this book will lead you through all stages of the criminal process in England & Wales from arrest to sentencing. Representing yourself in court can be a daunting and complex process. Putting legal jargon into plain English, and demystifying the process, you will learn what to expect and how to prepare. The aim is to enable you to understand and participate in the proceedings, rather than leave the courtroom wondering what just happened and whether you should have said something. The sound and matter-of-fact advice is based on the author’s years as a barrister, both defending and prosecuting in the UK criminal justice system. This book is an invaluable tool and indispensable guide for anyone faced with representing themselves in court.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing.
• Release date: Apr 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9780993230318

Book preview

How to Represent Yourself In Criminal Court

HOW TO REPRESENT YOURSELF IN CRIMINAL COURT:

A Step-By-Step Guide How To Represent Yourself In The Criminal Courts of England and Wales

Douglas P. Page

Copyright

Published by Page Publishing

Copyright © 2015 by Douglas P. Page

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2015

ISBN 978-0-9932303-1-8

Page Publishing 

Introduction

This book aims to provide you with enough information and knowledge to enable you effectively to represent yourself in criminal proceedings in England & Wales. It is aimed at those cases to be dealt with in the magistrates’ courts which is where most people who represent themselves will be appearing. Many of the principles in the following chapters are equally valid in the Crown Courts but a jury trial is a very different matter to a trial in the magistrates’ court. Legal aid is also more widely available for the more serious cases that are heard in the Crown Courts. I hope this book will enable you to understand and participate in the proceedings against you rather than leave the courtroom wondering what just happened and whether you should have said something.

The book will lead you through all stages of the criminal process in England & Wales from arrest to sentencing. There will be more emphasis on some of those stages in the process; this is mainly a book about the part of criminal proceedings that happens in court.

This book is not going to magically inject complete legal training and years of experience into your head. Experience counts for a great deal, especially when it comes to a trial. It is not a legal textbook either and so the law will not be set out in any detail. I will try to point you in the direction of some useful and free resources to help you prepare your case.

Throughout the book you might see some advice that you don’t like (I’m thinking particularly about the chapters on behaviour and advocacy). These chapters contain some advice suggesting that you take some actions that might be difficult or contrary to your normal way of doing things. When you come across something that you don’t like the idea of, please bear in mind the following:

- Being found guilty of a crime is serious and can have a massive effect on your life.

- You probably don’t want to end up feeling like you didn’t do everything you could have done to show that you were not guilty.

- Remember that the court works how the court works. Your refusal to follow its conventions is not going to change it. If you think it should be changed then you should contact your Member of Parliament and publicise the issue.

Chapter 1: WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE COURT

Although this book