Instructed by Just For Kids Law, a charity providing legal representation and support for young people, Trinity Chambers’ Francis FitzGibbon Q.C. was part of the legal team involved in the landmark case of R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8.
The Supreme Court judgement corrects a 30-year-old error in the law of criminal joint enterprise by holding that simply having foresight of an accomplice’s intention was not sufficient to establish the guilt of a secondary party to an offence.
Lord Neuberger said in giving the judgement that it was wrong to treat "foresight" as a sufficient test to convict someone of murder. Referring to the case of Chan Wing Siu, he said "The court is satisfied after a much fuller review of the law than in the earlier cases that the courts took a wrong turn in 1984. And it is the responsibility of this court to put the law right".
Francis FitzGibbon Q.C. is an Associate Tenant at Trinity and member of Chambers’ Criminal, Regulatory and Immigration teams.