Criminal contempt of court—common law offence


Produced in partnership with Richard Wayman of Pump Court Chambers
Practice notes

Criminal contempt of court—common law offence


Produced in partnership with Richard Wayman of Pump Court Chambers

Practice notes
imgtext

In summarising the law of contempt of court, the Court of Appeal has stated:

‘The law of contempt exists to protect the course of proceedings from interference, to safeguard the fairness and integrity of proceedings and to ensure that orders of the court are obeyed. It comes in many forms, both statutory and under the common law.’

There are two main forms of contempt: criminal and civil. Civil contempt typically involves disobedience to a court order, for example breach of a restraint order. For information on civil contempt of court, see: Contempt and committal—o±¹±ð°ù±¹¾±±ð·É.

For guidance on the approach to be taken in sentencing for contempt by the civil courts, where a criminal court has sentenced a defendant for broadly similar matters, see Corbiere Ltd v Xu and News Analysis: The interplay in sentencing between twinned criminal and contempt of court proceedings. See also Practice Note: Civil contempt proceedings—illustrative decisions.

The Contempt of Court Act 1981 (CCA 1981) provides for strict liability contempt or indirect contempt of the kind committed by

Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Contempt of Court definition
What does Contempt of Court mean?

Civil contempt is the non-compliance with judgments, orders or other processes of the court (such as making a false statement, failing to comply with a solicitor's undertaking, interfering with the administration of justice, etc). Those found to be in contempt of court can face a fine or be imprisoned.

Read more readmore

Popular documents

Special measures

Special measuresPart II to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA 1999) contains a series of measures that the court can direct to protect the needs of vulnerable and intimidated prosecution or defence witnesses. These are in addition to the general case management powers available

Application to dismiss

Application to dismissApplication to dismissUnder paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA 1998), the defendant may (after the date when he is served with the documents containing the evidence on which the charge(s) are based, but before the date of arraignment) apply

Scotland—the process for applying for sequestration

Scotland—the process for applying for sequestrationSequestration in Scotland is the legal process by which an insolvent debtor’s estate is gathered in, realised and then distributed among their creditors by a trustee appointed for that purpose. The process requires that a formal award of

What is the difference between an appeal and a review?

What is the difference between an appeal and a review?What is an appeal?An appeal in insolvency proceedings is no different to an appeal in normal litigation. An appeal will be allowed only if the appeal court is satisfied that the decision of the lower court was 'wrong' or 'unjust because of a