DEFENDANTS may be forced to reveal previous convictions to jurors
under plans being drawn up by the government to cut crime.
Jack Straw,
the home secretary, is known to be privately in favour of the
change which is being considered for a crime strategy aimed at
clearing the streets of persistent offenders.
Senior police
officers have long argued that the right of defendants not to
disclose their criminal records weighs justice too far in favour
of the accused.
The proposal
that previous convictions should be revealed in some cases will
face strong opposition from civil rights groups and many in the
legal profession, already angered by Labour's plans to remove the
automatic right to trial by jury.
Labour's
anti-crime drive - set to be one of the cornerstones of its
election manifesto - is also expected to include longer sentences
for persistent offenders and measures to improve police efficiency
by scrapping outdated and costly practices.
Last September
the courts ruled that evidence from court cases could be used
against an accused rapist who had previously been acquitted. The
new proposal goes much further and embraces more defendants.
"There
will be many miscarriages of justice if this is adopted,"
said Deborah Clark of the civil rights group Liberty. "By
giving details of previous convictions there is a danger that
people will be found guilty of offences for which enough evidence
does not exist."
The change is
expected to be included in a review of court procedure being
carried out by a commission headed by Lord Justice Auld. It was
set up by Straw in September last year and is expected to report
within the next two months.
In its
submission to the review, the Association of Chief Police Officers
(Acpo) argued that a defendant's criminal past should be disclosed
where relevant. At present it is only allowed in exceptional
cases.
In support of
the submission, Sir David Phillips, chief constable of Kent and
chairman of Acpo's policing committee, cited a case where a man
with a record of car thefts was charged with stealing three cars
on the same day. Lawyers argued that each should be tried
separately so as not to prejudice his case.
In each
hearing the man successfully used the same defence - that his
fingerprints were found in each car because a stranger had offered
him a lift.
Disclosure of
previous convictions would not be automatic but at the discretion
of the judge after submissions from prosecution and defence.
A report
compiled by Lord Birt, former BBC director-general appointed by
Tony Blair as his "crime czar", is expected to argue
that significant reductions in crime could be achieved if the 2%
of the population behind most crimes were taken off the streets.
A senior Home
Office source said: "We must have better sentencing for the
persistent offender. At the moment the framework is as established
in 1991 when the policy was called 'just deserts', where the
punishment was for the particular crime rather than the offender
and his previous behaviour as a whole."
Changes to the
justice system will be combined with reform of the police. This
would include increased use of civilian staff and security guards
in an attempt to increase the number of officers on the beat.
Working practices within the police will also be reformed, with
some early retirement, overtime and sickness payments likely to be
challenged.
Ann Widdecombe,
shadow home secretary, said: "Labour promised to reduce crime
in its last manifesto but it has cut the number of crime
fighters." She added that she would be "immensely
cautious" about forcing defendants to reveal previous
convictions.
