ABSTRACT
The rule at common law is that a judicial finding in one case is inadmissible, in another case between different parties, to prove the facts on which the first decision was based. Section 78 of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) provides a judicial discretion to exclude evidence upon which the prosecution proposes to rely if the admission of that evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings. This section has also been used to mitigate the potential for unfairness contained in section 74(1). If the claimant intends to rely on a criminal conviction as evidence under Section 11, he must include in his pleadings a statement of that intention, with particulars of the conviction and its date and the issue in the action to which the conviction is relevant. The court pointed to the fact that the conviction had been adduced only for the purpose of proving the existence of a conspiracy.
