On this page …

• Opening Speech by the Prosecution

• Statement of issues by the Defence

• How does the Prosecution prove its case?

• Witnesses - Examination-in-chief, Cross-examination and Re-examination

• Agreed Evidence - reading Witness Statements and Agreed Facts

• What does the Prosecution case consist of?

• When will the Prosecution serve its case?

• Responding to the Prosecution Case

• Case Management in the Crown Court - the PTPH

• Defendant’s Record of Interview

• ‘No Comment’ interviews

• Close of Prosecution case

• Reopening the Prosecution case

• Prosecution Closing Speech

Opening Speech by the Prosecution

The prosecution case starts with the prosecution opening its case to the jury. 

The prosecution advocate will set out what the prosecution case is - i.e. the charges (counts) the defendant faces and the facts relating to those charges. The prosecution advocate will also explain what the defence to each charge is, in order to allow the jury to focus on the main issues (the areas in dispute).

For example, in a charge of GBH, the prosecution might say,

“The defendant accepts punching Mr Archer and accepts causing him serious injury, but explains that he did so not as the aggressor, but rather to protect himself from attack. He therefore says that he acted in lawful self-defence.”

The opening speech is not evidence in the trial, but rather an outline of what evidence the prosecution intends to call to prove its case.

The prosecutor will steer clear of going into a detailed explanation of the law unless necessary to open the case clearly. The judge will explain the law to the jury at a later stage of the trial (during the summing-up) so there is usually no need to do so at the start. 

Whilst opening the case the prosecutor will usually hand to the jury a copy of the Indictment containing the counts faced by the defendant.

Statement of issues by the Defence

Immediately after the prosecution opening speech the judge may invite the defence representative to address the jury briefly on what the issues in the case are, if this is not already clear.

The purpose of this is to help the jury understand the case and focus on those matters which are in dispute, since in most cases there are one or two clear areas of dispute and much that is not in dispute at all.

For example, in an assault case the defence might be one of mistaken identity or it might be self-defence, so identifying this issue at the outset would make it clear to the jurors where they should focus their attention. Or in a theft case the defence might be a denial of taking the item, or it might be that the defendant accepts taking it but asserts the item was given to him, not taken dishonestly. 

Exactly what is in dispute should have been clearly set out be the defence in a document called the Defence Case Statement (often simply referred to as the Defence Statement or DCS).

Once the issues have been identified for the jury, the judge can assist further with any relevant matters of law. 

For example, in an eye-witness identification case the judge could inform the jury of certain matters they should focus on to enable them to assess the reliabilty of an identification, such as the period of time over which the observation took place, the distance involved, the lighting conditions and the existence of any obstructions. (In the case of R v Turnbull [1977] QB 224 the Court of Appeal set out the factors that need to be considered in a case based on visual identification.)

If the judge decides that the defence should address the jury but the defence declines the invitation, the judge may direct that the jury are given a copy of the defendant’s Defence Case Statement, if necessary suitably edited to remove any irrelevant or inadmissible information.

How does the Prosecution prove its case?

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