This article critically examines the development of statutory restrictions on the common law right to silence in the UK, providing insight from common law, jurisprudence and historical legal contexts, and considering the broader context of the privilege against self-incrimination, and critically evaluates the development restriction of the right, by ss 34–38 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

This article provides an overview of the latest developments in criminal procedure and practice pertaining to pre-trial defendants. It critically reviews the position regarding: failure to answer to bail, breach of pre-charge bail conditions and the considerations of granting bail with the liability to be rearrested following a breach of bail conditions (s. 72 of the Policing and Crime Act (PCA) 2017). In the eight years of Conservative government, criminal justice reform programmes have been seen as executing the extensive erosion of civil liberties. This article examines the enthusiastic enterprise set out in the PCA 2017 to deliver reform of the law on bail—and the consequences of failure to answer to bail following this reform. The first section of the article consists of a brief review of the early commitment to realign the State power with Britain’s past underlying traditions of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law, arguably, accentuated with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. This is followed by a discussion of the interaction between police officers and suspects, namely: (a) pre-arrest, and on arrest, (b) caution and legal rights and (c) detention. This section will discuss recent coarsening of that commitment regarding powers of arrest, detention, entry, bail and failure to answer to bail, for pre-trial defendants. The article then turns to outline and evaluate the juxtaposition of the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Search Warrants. An analysis will then be made of the impact of s. 72 of the PCA 2017, before concluding with a critical evaluation of whether this change is a contemporary rapine of breach of bail, or a comparative necessity.

This article focuses on European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) and solutions for effective assistance in judicial cases and evidence-sharing between the EU27 and the UK. The article sets out the context of how the theme of EU Member States’ mutual legal assistance specifically gave rise to the development of EAWs, which permit EU members to request the arrest and detention of suspects in other EU countries, without extradition negotiations between them. This article critically evaluates the potential post-Brexit future and advances alternative suggestions for the way ahead.