MPs renew call to change ‘vague’ law on joint enterprise
MPs are making a fresh attempt to change the law on joint enterprise, which allows for individuals in England and Wales to be convicted of crimes they did not physically carry out if they are deemed to have encouraged or assisted the perpetrator.
An early day motion (EDM), a way for MPs to indicate opinion, was published on Tuesday night calling on the government to request a Law Commission review of joint enterprise “with a view to narrowing the scope of current legislation and providing a fairer framework for prosecution and sentencing”.
The EDM, spearheaded by the Liverpool MP Kim Johnson, reflects concerns that minor players and those on the periphery of crimes are being tried and convicted as if they were the perpetrator.
It welcomes the publication of a report, titled The Legal Dragnet, by Nisha Waller and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, agreeing with its conclusion that the law on joint enterprise “should be narrowed to create a safer framework for prosecution and greater consistency and fairness”.
The EDM also “notes with alarm” Crown Prosecution Service data showing that black people are disproportionately prosecuted under joint enterprise and that a 2016 supreme court ruling that the law had been wrongly implemented for more than 30 years has had “no discernible impact” on the number of prosecutions.
Waller said: “Joint enterprise is unjustifiably vague and wide in scope. Law reform will not eradicate institutional racism and broader issues with police and prosecution practice. However, the current law encourages the overcharging of suspects and allows cases to be propelled forward based on poor-quality evidence. Prosecutors are then left to fill the gaps with speculative case theories and often racialised narratives from which juries are invited to infer joint responsibility.”
Her report highlights specific cases including that of 11 black and mixed-race teenagers each handed sentences of between five and 23 years in 2017 for one murder in Manchester. It says that the prosecution in that case evoked a gang narrative “underpinned by a rap music video, used as evidence of the defendants’ ‘membership’ or ‘allegiance’ to the ‘gang’”. The case is under appeal.
The report says that the government should request a Law Commission review of joint enterprise as a “minimum next step”.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are keeping this matter under review.”