Criminal Charge - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition criminal-charge

Definition :

Criminal Charge, that in determining whether proceedings for condemnation constituted a 'criminal charge' for the purpose of Article 6 of the convention the court had to consider, Regina (Mudie) v. Dover Magistrates' Ct (CA), (2003) 2 WLR 1344.

The court concludes as did the chamber that the nature of the charges together with the nature and severity of the penalties, were such that the charges against the applicants constituted criminal charges with in the meaning of Article 6 of the Convention which article applied to their adjudication hear-ings, R. (Napier) v. Home Secretary (QBD), (2004) 1 WLR 3056. [Human Rights Act, 1998, Art. 6]

Possesses an autonomous meaning in the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. It is also true that the first of the three criteria, that is the domestic classification of the proceedings, is treated as no more than a starting point, Regina (Mudie) v. Dover Magistrates' Ct, (2003) LR 1238 QB (CA).