Joint enterprise in England and Wales: why problems persist despite legal change

Figures & data

Figure 1. Four circumstances in which individuals may be jointly liable for a single criminal offence.

Note: Adapted from Judicial College (2023). Procuring also makes D an accessory, where D2's ‘liability of commanding or procuring will depend on proof that [D2's] conduct caused [D1] to commit the offence and that [D2] acted with the intent to ‘to produce by endeavour' the commission of the offence’ (Judicial College 2023: 7-9 emphasis in original).

Table 1. Demographic details of research participants.

Participants	Source of recruitment	No. of participants	Age range in years (mean)	Gender	Ethnic background
Police officers	Metropolitan Police Service, London (Homicide and 'gang-violence' units)	19	32–58 (43.5)	11% female 89% male	89% White 11% Mixed
Lawyers	Crown Prosecution Service, private chambers (involved in defence and prosecution work)	22	27–61 (42.8)	32% female 68% male	60% White 10% Black 23% Asian 5% ‘Other’

Judicial College. (2023). The crown court compendium. Part I: Jury and trial management and summing up. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Crown-Court-Compendium-Part-I-June-2023-updated-Feb-2024.pdf

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