Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice sentencing guidelines

The legal system is integral to the facilitation of justice across the globe. As a result, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that an attempt to mess with the legal system, especially when it comes to the court’s ability to try and sentence an individual in a fair and just manner, is treated as a serious criminal offence.

These acts, legally defined as those intending to pervert the course of justice, can result in severe legal repercussions, often in addition to other charges. If you believe that you may be charged with perverting the course of justice, it’s imperative that you seek expert legal advice at the earliest opportunity available to you.

 

Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice defined

Perverting the course of justice is a relatively broad crime, consisting of any act or series of acts which perverts or is intended to pervert the course of public justice. As it is such a broad offence, there is a considerable amount of overlap with other offences, including but not limited to:

• Concealing arrestable offences (Criminal Law Act 1967)
• Corruption (Prevention of Corruption Act  1906)
• The impersonation of a police officer (Police Act 1996)
• Making false statements (Criminal Justice Act 1967)

It’s likely that conspiracies to pervert the course of justice will be tried under one of these acts, as this is what the CPS recommends in most cases. It must be judged whether or not it is in the public interest to bring forward a count of perverting the course of interest, meaning that it would be unlikely to apply to less serious offences. However, perverting the course of justice may be used instead of those other offences when they are considered inadequate in their sentencing maximums. 

The conspiracy element

In criminal law, a conspiracy is where two or more individuals come together in order to commit a criminal act. With regards to perverting the course of justice, this would consist of two people coming together to plan to hide evidence, intimidate a witness, or carry out some other similar act to change the course of justice in their favour.

 

Examples of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice

Below, we briefly inspect a few possible examples of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Witness interference

A common way in which people might attempt to pervert the course of justice is through witness interference. This could be through bribery, intimidation, persuasion, or a wide range of other techniques, all with the common goal of trying to get a witness to either not give their evidence at all, or at least to alter it in a specific manner. 

Juror interference

Another way in which conspiracies to pervert the course of justice can be carried out is by interfering with the jury. Using the same tactics of manipulation above, specific jurors would be influenced in their verdict in a way that perverts the course of justice.

Providing the police with false information

False information, such as the details of a suspect, might be provided to the police or to the court, with the aim of changing the course of either the investigation itself or the prosecution.

Destroying evidence

Destroying evidence that is linked to a criminal investigation will often be treated as a serious criminal offence, often leading to counts of perverting the course of justice.

Prolonged assistance with evasion of arrest

If a group assisted someone who was suspected of a serious criminal offence to evade arrest, over a prolonged period of time, they may be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

 

Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice sentencing

Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice is treated as an incredibly serious common law offence, and it is triable by indictment only. The sentencing maximum is life imprisonment, however, the offence range is from community orders to seven years imprisonment. Only the rarest of cases would likely result in a sentence of life imprisonment.

Culpability will be considered to be high in instances where the conduct took place over a long period of time, the offence that was underlying these attempts to pervert the course of justice was severe, and the conduct itself was sophisticated and planned in advance.

Culpability will be considered low in instances where the underlying offence was not considered to be serious, the conduct was unplanned and carried out over a limited timeframe, and the offender was coerced into involvement through intimidation or other forms of coercion.

Harm is also a factor that will be considered during sentencing. Cases where harm is high (such as where an innocent party goes to prison or suffers intense distress) will be considered to be a lot more serious than cases where harm is strictly limited.

 

Potential defences

If you are being charged as part of a conspiracy, your criminal defence solicitor will likely try to claim that your role was limited, and that you were acting under threats or other forms of coercion. Highlighting the lack of the severity of the underlying offence may also be appropriate in certain instances.

If possible, the defence will also try to show that the acts of perversion resulted in limited amounts of harm.

 

Seeking legal assistance

Conspiring to pervert the course of justice is very clearly a serious criminal offence, one which carries incredibly serious legal ramifications. If you suspect that you may face related charges, or if you have been charged already, it is vital that you seek legal assistance at the earliest opportunity available to you. A criminal defence solicitor with experience in the matter will be able to:

• Provide you with advice both before and during any interviews under caution you have to undergo
• Help you to develop a comprehensive legal defence, arranging for your representation in court if necessary
• Assist you through the appeals process should the outcome be less than satisfactory
• Make sure that the law is applied in a fair and just manner, throughout both the investigation and trial

The more time that your legal team has to help you out, the higher the chances are that they’ll be able to get you the result you deserve.