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Repeal of “sus”: Why and what now?

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References

  1. 1978 figures taken from Appendix 5 on pp. 114–5 of the Second Report from the Home Affairs Committee on “Race Relations and the “Sus” Law” (House of Commons Papers no. 559, H.M.S.O., 1980, hereinafter Report).

  2. In the words of Ms. Jo Lestor, “the N.C.C.L. believed “sus” to be the least defensible of any of the laws on our statute book” (H. C. Deb. Vol. 985, col. 1792). The Runnymede Trust has also published a report: C. Demuth,“‘Sus’ — a report on the Vagrancy Act 1824”, London, 1978.

  3. See Report, p. 26.

  4. Founded 1 February 1977.

  5. Report, p. 111, Appendix 2.

  6. See Report, pp. 14, 25, 33–4.

  7. Report, p. 22 (evidence of Sir Philip Knights, Chief Constable, West Midlands Police).

  8. Report, p. 75 (evidence of Lady Mitchell J. P.). See also p. 74 re onus of proof shifting.

  9. Report, para. 8.

  10. Report, para. 42.

  11. See p. 50 of the Report

  12. Cf. the debate about impossible attempts and conspiracies, and see now Criminal Attempts Act 1981, ss. 1(2), (3), 5(1).

  13. Report, para. 24.

  14. See Report, pp. 52 and 59.

  15. Pavitt (1911) 75 J.P. 432;Ledwith v.Roberts [1937] K.B. 232.

  16. Hartley v.Ellnor (1917) 117 L.J. 304;Ledwith (supra).

  17. Pyburn v.Harrison [1950] 1 All E.R. 1006.

  18. Cosh v.Isherwood (1967) 52 Cr. App. R. 179. An illustration isFitzgerald v.Lyle [1972] Crim. L.R. 125: accused tried door handles of a van and a car. He was convicted.

  19. Direction to an Old Bailey jury inR. v.Mary Santer (1832) Arab. 7, (private papers).

  20. Report, para. 27.

  21. Fairbairn (1949) 33 Cr. App. R. 179.

  22. Report, para. 26.

  23. Cf. Dadson (1850) 3 Car. & Kir. 148, 4 Cox C.C. 358.

  24. [1980] Q.B. 195. For commentary, see 2Liverpool Law Review (1980), 109.

  25. Report, p. 5.

  26. Report, p. 1.

  27. Report, para. 16.

  28. [1975] A.C. 476.

  29. Report, Appendix 2, Supplementary Memorandum submitted by the Metropolitan Police (pp. 43–5) and Report, para. 14.

  30. Race, Crime and Arrests, H.O. R.S. no. 58 (1979), p. 31–3 and figure 12.Cf. the arrest figures for Asians: they were 2.9% of the population but formed only 1.7% of arrests for “sus”.

  31. Ibid. Race, Crime and Arrests, H.O. R.S. no. 58(1979), at 33.

  32. [1937] 1 K.B. 232 (a Liverpool case).

  33. Ibid. [1937] 1 K.B. 232 (a Liverpool case).

  34. Report, para. 33.

  35. Supra, note 32, [1975] A.C. 476.

  36. see C. G. Blake in October 1981L. A. G. Bulletin 232, 234.

  37. E.g.Sussex Peerage Claim (1844) 11 C. & F. 85.

  38. Re Attorney-General’s References (nos. 1 & 2 of 1979) [1979] 3 All E.R. 143.

  39. InLedwith v.Roberts, supra note 17Pavitt (1911) 75 J.P. 432. at 277.

  40. Report, para. 9.

  41. See Hansard H. C. Deb. Vol. 985, Col. 1802. Eldon Griffiths M.P. quoted a Police Federation Memorandum that “in the aftermath of the Bristol riot … it was alleged that ‘sus” was frequently used against the young black community.

  42. Report, para. 46.

  43. Report, paras. 39, 45.

  44. For a prediction of the disturbances by a Merseyside M.P., Allan Roberts of Bootle, see Hansard, H.C. Deb. Vol. 985, col. 1768 (5th June 1980).

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  1. Liverpool Polytechnic, Liverpool, UK

    M. Jefferson B.C.L., M.A. (Lecturer in Law)

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  1. M. Jefferson B.C.L., M.A.
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Jefferson, M. Repeal of “sus”: Why and what now?. Liverpool Law Rev 4, 57–68 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03185308

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