Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 80

Competence and compellability of accused’s spouse or civil partner

Part VIII Evidence in Criminal Proceedings—General

F768 (1)In any proceedings the wife or husband of the accused shall be competent to give evidence—

(a)subject to subsection (4) below, for the prosecution; and

(b)on behalf of the accused or any person jointly charged with the accused.

[F769 (2)In any proceedings the [F770 spouse or civil partnerF770] of a person charged in the proceedings shall, subject to subsection (4) below, be compellable to give evidence on behalf of that person.

(2A)In any proceedings the [F770 spouse or civil partnerF770] of a person charged in the proceedings shall, subject to subsection (4) below, be compellable—

(a)to give evidence on behalf of any other person charged in the proceedings but only in respect of any specified offence with which that other person is charged; or

(b)to give evidence for the prosecution but only in respect of any specified offence with which any person is charged in the proceedings.

(3)In relation to the [F770 spouse or civil partnerF770] of a person charged in any proceedings, an offence is a specified offence for the purposes of subsection (2A) above if—

(a)it involves an assault on, or injury or a threat of injury to, the [F770 spouse or civil partnerF770] or a person who was at the material time under the age of 16;

(b)it is a sexual offence alleged to have been committed in respect of a person who was at the material time under that age; or

(c)it consists of attempting or conspiring to commit, or of aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or inciting the commission of, an offence falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above.

(4)No person who is charged in any proceedings shall be compellable by virtue of subsection (2) or (2A) above to give evidence in the proceedings.

(4A)References in this section to a person charged in any proceedings do not include a person who is not, or is no longer, liable to be convicted of any offence in the proceedings (whether as a result of pleading guilty or for any other reason).F769]

(5)In any proceedings a person who has been but is no longer married to the accused shall be [F771competent andF771] compellable to give evidence as if that person and the accused had never been married.

[F772 (5A)In any proceedings a person who has been but is no longer the civil partner of the accused shall be compellable to give evidence as if that person and the accused had never been civil partners.F772]

(6)Where in any proceedings the age of any person at any time is material for the purposes of subsection (3) above, his age at the material time shall for the purposes of that provision be deemed to be or to have been that which appears to the court to be or to have been his age at that time.

(7) M48 In subsection (3)(b) above “sexual offence” means an offence under [F773 the Sexual Offences Act 1956 , the M44 Indecency with Children Act M45 1960, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 , section 54 of the M46 Criminal Law Act M47 1977 or F773] the Protection of Children Act 1978 [F774 or Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 F774][F775 , or an offence under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (human trafficking) committed with a view to exploitation that consists of or includes behaviour within section 3(3) of that Act (sexual exploitation) . F775] .

[F768 (8)The failure of the wife or husband of the accused to give evidence shall not be made the subject of any comment by the prosecution.F768]

(9)M49,M50Section 1(d) of the Criminal Evidence Act 1898 (communications between husband and wife) and section 43(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1965 (evidence as to marital intercourse) shall cease to have effect.

Definitions used in section 80 1

proceedings

“proceedings” means criminal proceedings, including service proceedings;

Defined in s.82(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 80 4

BA, R v

[2012] EWCA Crim 1529 · 11 July 2012Interprets

The court construed the statutory scheme governing a spouse's compellability. It held that its clear limits could not be expanded to remove perceived anomalies; any reform was for Parliament (see paras [16]-[22]). The court treated the words limiting prosecution compellability to specified offences as a deliberate and narrow boundary within the statutory balance. The wife's evidence could not be compelled unless the charge fell within that category (see paras [16]-[17]; [20]). Whether an offence involves assault, injury or a threat of injury is determined by its legal nature, not by case-specific evidence. The offence need not contain injury as an ingredient, but must encompass a real possibility of it (see paras [18]-[20]).

R (Crown Prosecution Service) v Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages

[2002] EWCA Civ 1661 · 7 November 2002

Confirms that marriage ordinarily makes a spouse non-compellable. Parliament’s retention of that consequence means its use is not, without more, unlawful or contrary to public policy.

Bala & Ors, R v

[2016] EWCA Crim 560 · 10 May 2016

The court stated that its construction of “spouse” for section 2(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 would also be the position under section 80. It expressed no view about other criminal contexts. (see para [55])

What each judgment says about section 80 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Amendments and notes

20 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Amendments

  1. F766S. 80: words in side-note omitted (24.7.2002 for E.W.) by virtue of 1999 c. 23, ss. 67(1), 68(3), Sch. 4 para. 13(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 3(3), 5(2)); S.I. 2002/1739, art. 2(f)
  2. F767S. 80: words in heading inserted (5.12.2005) by Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33), ss. 261(1), 263, Sch. 27 para. 97(4); S.I. 2005/3175, art. 2(2)
  3. F768S. 80(1)(8) repealed (24.7.2002 for E.W.) by 1999 c. 23, ss. 67(1)(3), 68(3), Sch. 4 para. 13(2), Sch. 6 (with Sch. 7 paras. 3(3), 5(2)); S.I. 2002/1739. {art. 2(f)(g)(ii)}
  4. F769S. 80(2)-(4A) substituted for s. 80(2)-(4) (24.7.2002 for E.W.) by 1999 c. 23, ss. 67(1), 68(3), Sch. 4 para. 13(3) (with Sch. 7 paras. 3(3), 5(2)); S.I. 2002/1739, art. 2(f)
  5. F770Words in s. 80(2)(2A)(3) substituted (5.12.2005) by Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33), ss. 261(1), 263, Sch. 27 para. 97(2); S.I. 2005/3175, art. 2(2)
  6. F771Words in s. 80(5) repealed (24.7.2002 for E.W.) by 1999 c. 23, ss. 67(1)(3), 68(3), Sch. 4 para. 13(4), Sch. 6 (with Sch. 7 paras. 3(3), 5(2)); S.I. 2002/1739, art. 2(f)(g)(ii)
  7. F772S. 80(5A) inserted (5.12.2005) by Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33), ss. 261(1), 263 {Sch. 27 para. 97(3)}; S.I. 2005/3175, art. 2(2)
  8. F773Words in s. 80(7) repealed (E.W.) (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), ss. 140, 141, Sch. 7; S.I. 2004/874, art. 2
  9. F774Words in s. 80(7) inserted (E.W.) (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), ss. 139, 141, Sch. 6 para. 28(2); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2
  10. F775Words in s. 80(7) inserted (17.3.2016) by The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/244), regs. 1(1), 5

Modifications

  1. C569S. 80 modified (2.10.2000) by S.I. 2000/2370, rule 27(2), Sch. 3 Pt. III para. 18(f)
  2. C570S. 80(3)(c) modified (1.10.2008) by Serious Crime Act 2007 (c. 27), ss. 63(1), 91(1), 94, Sch. 6 para. 9 (with Sch. 13 para. 5); S.I. 2008/2504, art. 2(a)

Extent

  1. E8S. 80 extends to England and Wales only with exceptions as regards courts martial, see s. 120(1)(6)-(8)

Marginal citations

  1. M481978 c. 37.
  2. M441960 c. 33.
  3. M451967 c. 60.
  4. M461977 c. 45.
  5. M471978 c. 37.
  6. M491965 c. 72.
  7. M501965 c. 72.