John Hipkin KC and Roger Griffiths successfully appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service in the Court of Appeal in the case which establishes the meaning of Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (“Section 26”).
The CPS applied for leave to appeal against a termination ruling on three counts of improper exercise of police powers / privileges contrary to Section 26 and four counts contrary to section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The defendant in the trial was a serving police officer.
In relation to Section 26, there was an issue as to the ambit of references in that section to police powers and privileges, and an issue as to the ambit of the word “benefit”. Those issues were not, until this case was heard on 13th March 2025, the subject of any previous case law. The Court of Appeal held that “privileges” includes any advantage arising from the office of constable, not just formal powers, and situations where an officer gains access, trust or opportunity because of their role.
The Ruling of no case to answer on the Section 26 offences was overturned by the Court of Appeal and those counts have subsequently proceeded to trial. Now that those proceedings have concluded the judgment can be made available. See: Silver, R. v [2025] EWCA Crim 543 (13 March 2025)