Forthcoming important cases ~ Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Listed from 27th October to 29th October is the case of R v Jogee.  This concerns the important and controversial aspect of criminal law known as "Joint Enterprise."  In relation to the Jogee case the court sits as the Supreme Court of the UK.  Being heard along with Jogee is the Ruddock case from Jamaica which also concerns joint enterprise and, for this case, the court sits as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

I am not entirely sure but this may be the very first time that the Supreme Court of the UK and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have sat together in this way.  The court will comprise: Lord Neuberger (President of the Supreme Court) who sits with Justices of the Supreme Court - Lords Kerr, Hughes, Toulson.  The 5th member of the court is to be Lord Thomas - Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.




The question for the court in Jogee is - "Whether the prosecution must prove that a secondary offender, who encouraged the primary offender to commit some harm, foresaw the primary offender's acquisition and use of a weapon for murder as "probable" rather than "possible" in order to establish joint enterprise."

In Ruddock the issue is "Whether the appellant's conviction for joint enterprise murder is unsafe."

This blog contains a number of earlier posts about Joint Enterprise liability - see, for example, Joint Enterprise (3) - 9th July 2014

There is also an interesting post at Matters Criminal 5th September 2015 - and this contains useful links to other material.

More information about the Jogee and Ruddock cases is available at:

Jogee - Full case details 

Ruddock - Full case details 

CPS - Joint enterprise charging decisions - Guidance 2012 

Joint Enterprise Murder - Felicity Gerry QC - Crime and Justice Weekly March 2015 

and see University of Reading - Mens rea in Joint Enterprise: a role for endorsement?