R v AGC & Ors (Reporting Restriction decision)

Facts

The prosecution appealed against a ruling made by His Honour Judge Collery KC at a preparatory hearing in the Basildon Crown Court, and the Court of Appeal Criminal Division gave judgment on that appeal on 4 March 2026, reported as [2026] EWCA Crim 220. Because the appeal arose from a preparatory hearing, the judgment was endorsed with the reporting restriction imposed by section 37 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, preventing reporting of the proceedings until the conclusion of the trial save for basic facts such as the name of the accused and the offence. The court afterwards refused an application to certify that the decision involved a point of law of general public importance fit for consideration by the Supreme Court. The prosecution was pursuing three planned trials; the first concluded on 30 April 2026 with four defendants convicted and one acquitted, sentence being adjourned, while the remaining two trials would not conclude until June 2027 at the earliest. The prosecution then applied for an order that section 37 should not apply, so that the appeal judgment and associated documents could be published, contending that the decision gave valuable guidance for the conduct of other investigations and prosecutions and for those advising people investigated or prosecuted in similar ways. The trial judge had lifted the Crown Court restriction to the extent necessary to allow this court to grant the application if it saw fit.