Lurking Doubt Test Is Still an Applicable Test in Appeals Free Essay Example, 1500 words

It is important to state that the subjective measure proposed by Widgery is that the court should decide whether to let the matter rest as it is or whether they have some lurking doubt. In this case, the lurking doubt is considered if it makes the court wonder if some miscarriage of justice was committed. This subjective test is strictly not based on the evidence received by the court; instead, it is based on the general feel of the case and the personal opinion of the judge(s) of the case. The precedent set by Lord Widgery in 1966 became the lurking doubt test for the appellate court, where each member of the bench considers if the verdicts given are unsafe or unsatisfactory and then allows the conviction to pass or be quashed. The decision on whether the lurking doubt test should be consigned to history or still be used is based on the court itself and the trial jury. An analysis of different cases indicated that the test is still in use but can be arguable. From an analysis of Ma lleson s () research into the use of the lurking doubt test, it is found that after Widgery s introduction of the test in Cooper (1969), 6 cases used the test between then and 1989.We will write a custom essay sample on Lurking Doubt Test Is Still an Applicable Test in Appeals or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page In these cases, five courts decided that there was lurking doubt in the convictions returned by the jury. This indicates that in all cases, notwithstanding the passage of time, there is still the element of lurking doubt, and the test should not be consigned to history, instead, should get statutory recognition. A proposal by the Royal Commission indicates that the lurking doubt test should be given credence since in some cases, the experience of the judges dictate that there might be a miscarriage of justice based on the jury s verdict.