Good Character

How evidence of good character is used at trial

All contents > Good Character > Bad Character > Witness Evidence & Questioning

“If a defendant on trial is a person of good character, they will want to use this to support their case, to demonstrate that they are a person who should be believed and a person who would be less likely to involve themselves in criminal conduct.”

On this page:

What is Good Character?
The Good Character Direction - how evidence of good character is used in court
Defendants of Absolute Good Character
Defendants of Effective Good Character
Trials involving multiple defendants of good and bad character
Character witnesses
Putting your character in issue
The good character of witnesses other than the defendant
Good Character Further Information

What is Good Character?

If a defendant on trial is a person of good character, they will want to use this to support their case, to demonstrate that they are a person who should be believed and a person who would be less likely to involve themselves in criminal conduct.

In criminal cases, ‘good character’ was often used to describe a defendant who had no criminal convictions or cautions, although this concept of good character could be undermined where there was evidence of other ‘reprehensible behaviour’ on their part, such as previous criminal conduct (other than that which the defendant was on trial for) which was never charged, or other poor behaviour. (Please note that reprehensible behaviour is part of the legal definition of Bad Character.)

For example, in a case where a defendant is charged with raping his wife, there may be other evidence not specifically charged of the defendant’s tyrranical behaviour at home, both towards his wife and children. Although the defendant may not have any previous convictions or cautions, it would seem bizarre to a jury to describe him as a person of ‘good character’.

There may also be situations where the only blemish on a defendant’s character is an old, minor conviction which is irrelevant to whatever he or she is now on trial for, such as a 30 year old charged with assault who has only one previous conviction for shoplifting when he was 16.

For these reasons, good character is now broken down into the following categories:

Absolute good character - a person with no previous convictions or cautions and no ‘reprehensible behaviour’ alleged, admitted or proved against them;
Effective good character - where a defendant has old, minor and irrelevant previous convictions or cautions.

You can read more about each category below.

Note: A defendant being sentenced will want to rely on their good character to demonstrate that the offence they have pleaded guilty to, or been convicted of, is out of character for them. However, the information on the page below concerns the approach to ‘good character’ at trial rather than sentence.