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Ruling regarding defence of reasonable excuse in relation to breach of restraining order

Case Law

In the case of R v Selvage 2025, the defendant’s conviction for breach of restraining order was quashed where the trial judge wrongly directed the jury that the defendant bore the burden of proving reasonable excuse on the balance of probabilities. Case law had previously established that once the defence of reasonable excuse is raised the burden passes to the prosecution to disprove the defendant’s belief.

Legal Update

Further provisions of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 are in force from 2 February 2026.

Legal Q&A

Some statutes make liable to arrest any person "found committing" an offence. What is the extent of the phrase "found committing"?

In the Spotlight

Welcome to our legal feature 'In the Spotlight'

Bringing focus to a legal topic, making your professional life simpler by:

Demystify complex legislation
Improve your legal knowledge
Evidence continuous personal development
Understand how to apply the law competently

Highlights

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The Briefing Room

This is our monthly feature, providing a recap of the most popular legal topics, a glimpse behind the scenes of Team PNLD,......

Top 100 SOW's

Download a report of the most used Standard Offence Wordings and Codes for quick reference in custody suites.

Summary Only Offences

View the fifty most commonly used summary only offences listed in A-Z for ease of use.

Leading police resource of criminal law

Supporting the 43 Home Office police forces of England and Wales, law enforcement organisations and wider criminal justice partners by providing a consistently accurate, timely and reliable online criminal law database.

Police Access