Defence Statement in United Kingdom

Definition of Defence Statement

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Defence Statement : A document setting out the accused’s *defence in criminal proceedings for initial hearings before trial. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 provides that, from 1 April 1997, the accused need not make a defence statement at all; however, an adverse inference may be drawn from a failure to give a statement in the *Crown Court. The statement should set out the nature of the defence in general terms (for example, mistaken identification, alibi), indicate the matters on which the accused takes issue with the prosecution, and set out in respect of each matter the reason why the accused takes issue. It must not contain any inconsistent defences and should not be different from the defence to be put forward at trial.