Did police follow APCO rules? Are subjective Tests part of the evidence? Then you have grounds for a defence & can ask a specialist solicitor any question FREE
At the least, the ACPO Rules and the police guidance document should be gone over by you or your lawyer. She or he will then know precisely what questions you should ask the arresting officer to work out if the police totally followed the published recommendations.
We understand that in the restof the UK police officers are supplied with a standard forma document to follow but in Scotland the police rely upon their coaching and ACPO rules where suitable.
You see, if the manual’s directions were not utterly followed, the test’s validity can be attacked. Obviously these manuals only supply a guideline.
They definitely aren’t the law and you can expect any Procurator Fiscal who is worth his salt to indicate that they are at best standardised guidance. A good defence lawyer should be in a position to do a lot with the undeniable fact that this guidance were authored for an excellent reason and that was to provide the best available background for the court. If the Crown now stated that doesn’t make any difference then they’re denigrating the responsibility of the judge or Sheriff .Successfully challenging such procedures often can win your case without the requirement for you to give proof yourself.
The key to these tests have a tendency to be how objective and trustworthy they are. Remember that in Scotland they are frequently of less significance as the officer can frequently come up with virtually any old excuse to make claims that he or she had a “reasonable excuse” to stop you and demand a breath sample. Currently in Scotland a discussion is going on with reference to the extension of police powers to permit random stop and test procedures.
Candidly , as a seasoned criminal court specialist ( Like the Justice Minister ) I am aware the police can and do stop folk when they like. It is all too simple to deliver an excuse at a later stage.
Why concern yourself with the ACPO manual if these are ONLY guidelines? Easy : if you or your lawyer doesn’t know the APCO manual inside-out then how is he able to cross examine proficiently? How does he stop any possible important prosecution evidence from even being taken into consideration . It is very difficult to then un-ring a bell.
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