Convictions and Fair Labelling

Extract

In a notable contribution to the memorial volume to Sir Rupert Cross Dr. Andrew Ashworth has coined the phrase “representative labelling” as a desideratum in criminal cases. “The label applied to an offence ought fairly to represent the offender's wrongdoing.” I understand this to mean not merely that the name of the abstract offence but the particulars stated in the conviction should convey the degree of the offender's moral guilt, or at least should not be positively misleading as to that guilt, the chief reason being that on a later occasion the conviction may be on the back of the indictment before the judge or be read out in court and thus affect the future sentence. It is true that if the offender receives a lenient sentence this may be an indication to the later court that the particular offence was not as serious as the words of the conviction may suggest; but fair labelling would help to minimise the possibility of misunderstanding. In any case, a man may feel a sense of injustice if the terms of the conviction do not represent his real guilt.