Joint Enterprise

ICPR, in partnership with the Prison Reform Trust and with funding from the Nuffield Foundation, undertook an exploratory study of the common law doctrine of joint enterprise in 2015-16. The study was launched in the summer of 2015, against the backdrop of controversy about joint enterprise, and an almost complete lack of systematic information about its application. The research took the form of an analysis of Crown Prosecution Service case files and associated court transcripts, in order to find out more about how, in practice, the doctrine of joint enterprise was utilised in the prosecution of serious offences. The report on the research presents a series of recommendations, aimed at policy-makers and practitioners engaged in all aspects of the judicial process, for enhancing clarity and transparency in the prosecution of joint enterprise cases.

This project was completed in April 2016.