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Aiding and Abetting: Convictions

Asked by Juliet CampbellLabourMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 3 March 2025UIN 33638

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people tried under joint enterprise are successfully convicted.

Answered by Sarah Sackman

Joint enterprise is not a specific criminal offence. It is a common law doctrine which can apply in situations where two or more individuals have a common purpose to commit a criminal offence. No data is therefore available on either the average sentence or the number of individuals convicted of a criminal offence which may have been prosecuted, and resulted in a conviction, as part of a joint enterprise.

The Ministry of Justice only collects information on how many defendants are prosecuted and convicted for specific criminal offences, and the data on the average sentence for those offences, in any given year.

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