What does the SQE1 Criminal Law and Practice section actually test?

Criminal offences, defences, and procedure. The SRA assessment specification breaks Criminal Law and Practice into 17 topics, each examined through single-best-answer (SBA) questions in the FLK2 paper.

Is Criminal Law and Practice part of FLK1 or FLK2?

Criminal Law and Practice sits in FLK2. From January 2027 the FLK2 paper is 170 single-best-answer questions (180 until July 2026), sat as two sessions of 85 questions, 2 hours 33 minutes each, on the same day.

How many topics are in Criminal Law and Practice?

17. Our notes, flashcards, and question bank are mapped one-to-one against the SRA's CLP specification so nothing is missed.

How long should I spend on Criminal Law and Practice?

Most candidates allocate roughly 51–85 hours across notes, flashcards, and timed practice. The exact split depends on your background — re-sitters can usually focus on weak topics rather than re-reading.

What is the best way to revise Criminal Law and Practice?

Active recall beats re-reading. Read the notes once, then practise SBA questions in mixed order, then revisit weak topics. Our weak-area tracker surfaces the topics where your accuracy is below 70%.

Are these Criminal Law and Practice SQE notes free?

The notes preview on this page and the sample topics are free, and the first chapter of the Criminal Law and Practice study guide downloads free as a PDF and EPUB. The complete notes for all 17 topics come with lifetime access to the platform, and the whole subject is also available as a £9.99 study guide.

Are the Criminal Law and Practice notes updated for the January 2027 specification?

Yes. The SRA's updated SQE1 specification applies from the January 2027 sitting, and the notes, questions and flashcards were revised against it in July 2026. Updates are included at no extra cost.

What is the difference between these notes and the Criminal Law and Practice study guide?

Same content, two formats. The platform gives you the notes alongside the CLP question bank, flashcards and mock exams with progress tracking. The study guide is the Criminal Law and Practice notes as a book, PDF and EPUB with a paperback edition, with worked questions and flashcards in every chapter, for £9.99.

Can I practise Criminal Law and Practice questions without paying?

Yes. The free readiness quiz includes a sample from every subject, and free accounts can access sample questions across all subjects. The full CLP question bank is unlocked with a one-time lifetime purchase and is covered by the 14-day money-back guarantee.

CLPFLK2 · 17 topics

Criminal Law and Practice SQE notes.

Criminal offences, defences, and procedure. Below: a preview of the notes, all 17 topics, sample questions with worked explanations, and the first chapter of the Criminal Law and Practice study guide to download free, all mapped to the SRA’s FLK2 specification.

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Free sample chapter

The first chapter of the Criminal Law and Practice study guide, with five worked questions, as a PDF and EPUB. The full guide is £9.99 on its own, and every subject is included with lifetime access.

From the notes

Topic 01: Advising at the Police Station: Rights and Detention

How the Criminal Law and Practice notes read. Every one of the 17 topics is written the same way: the rule, the trap the examiners set, and a worked question.

Advising a client at the police station is one of the most important things a criminal solicitor does. Decisions made at this stage can affect the entire case. Your client may be frightened, confused, and unaware of their rights. You are there to protect those rights and ensure the police act lawfully. Getting this wrong can mean evidence gets excluded, the case collapses, or an innocent person is convicted.

The custody officer must inform the detainee of the right to free legal advice (Code C, para 3.1)
The detainee can choose their own solicitor or use the duty solicitor scheme
Legal advice is free at the police station under the Duty Solicitor Scheme
The right to consult a solicitor includes the right to have the solicitor present during interview

Delay Must Be Proportionate: Even where one of the grounds in para 6.6 applies, the delay must be proportionate to the harm it is intended to prevent. The police cannot delay legal advice indefinitely. If a solicitor has been instructed and arrives at the station, the police should not generally continue to delay access unless there is a genuine risk that would arise from the consultation taking place at that time.

Full notes for all 17 topics are included with lifetime access, or as the Criminal Law and Practice study guide (£9.99).

All 17 topics in Criminal Law and Practice

SRA-aligned

01
Advising at the Police Station: Rights and Detention
Rights of a suspect detained by police, detention time limits, and advising vulnerable clients
Free
02
Identification Procedures
PACE Code D identification procedures and when they must be held
03
Advising on Police Questions and Interviews
Right to silence, adverse inferences, interview procedure, appropriate adults, and vulnerable clients
04
Bail Applications
Right to bail, exceptions to bail, conditional and unconditional bail, police and court bail, further applications and appeals
05
First Hearings and Representation
Classification of offences, representation orders, procedural overview of first hearings, and the defence solicitor's role
06
Plea Before Venue and Allocation
Plea before venue procedure, advising on trial venue, mode of trial, and sending without allocation
07
Case Management and Disclosure
Case management directions, prosecution and defence disclosure under CPIA, PII, and third-party disclosure
08
Burden and Standard of Proof
The golden thread of criminal law, legal and evidential burdens, statutory reversals, and Article 6(2) ECHR
09
Identification Evidence and Inferences from Silence
Turnbull guidance on identification evidence, ss.34-38 CJPOA 1994 on inferences from silence, and advising clients
10
Hearsay Evidence
Definition of hearsay, common law exceptions, and CJA 2003 statutory provisions
11
Confession Evidence
Definition, admissibility, and exclusion of confession evidence under PACE 1984
12
Character Evidence
Bad character evidence, the 7 gateways for admission, and exclusion under CJA 2003
13
Exclusion of Evidence
s.78 PACE 1984, Article 6 ECHR, abuse of process, and the right to a fair trial
14
Trial Procedure
Stages of a criminal trial, courtroom etiquette, evidence rules, competence, compellability, and special measures
15
Sentencing
Sentencing guidelines, determining seriousness, types of sentences, and Newton hearings
16
Appeals
Appeals from magistrates' court and Crown Court, case stated, judicial review, Court of Appeal powers, Attorney General's reference, and the CCRC
17
Youth Court and Welsh Language
Youth court jurisdiction, sentencing children and young people, referral orders, youth rehabilitation orders, detention and training orders, and Welsh language rights in criminal proceedings

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4 sample CLP questions

Real SBA questions from the Criminal Law and Practice bank, with the full explanation. The paid bank covers all 17 topics and difficulty levels.

A man is arrested at his home on suspicion of stealing stock from his employer and arrives at a police station at 9:00 pm. When his rights are explained he says he wants to speak to a solicitor before answering any questions. The custody officer tells him that a solicitor cannot see him until the first interview has been completed, and that he will have to pay for the advice himself unless he is receiving benefits. No officer of superintendent rank has authorised any delay in his access to legal advice.

Is the man entitled to consult a solicitor before he is interviewed?

Yes, because a detainee is entitled to consult a solicitor privately at any time, free of charge. Correct
Yes, but only once the custody officer has authorised the request and recorded it in the custody record.
No, because the right to legal advice arises once the first interview has been completed.
No, because free legal advice is available only to a detainee who cannot afford to pay.
No, because a detainee is entitled to a telephone call to a solicitor rather than a consultation.

Why: The correct answer is A. Under PACE s.58(1) a person arrested and held in custody at a police station is entitled, if he so requests, to consult a solicitor privately at any time, and he must be permitted to do so as soon as is practicable. Advice at the police station is free and is not means-tested, and Code C, para 6.1 requires the detainee to be told that free independent legal advice is available. Delay is possible only where the detainee is held for an indictable offence and an officer of at least superintendent rank authorises it on one of the grounds in s.58(6)-(8); no such authorisation was given here, so the interview must wait until he has seen a solicitor. B is incorrect because the custody officer has no gatekeeping role: the entitlement does not depend on his authorisation, although the request must be recorded. C is incorrect because the right applies throughout detention and is at its most valuable before the first interview. D is incorrect because advice at the police station is free to every detainee, whatever their means. E is incorrect because the detainee may consult his solicitor in person, in writing or by telephone; a call is not a substitute for a private consultation.

A solicitor is called to a police station to advise a woman arrested four hours ago on suspicion of assault. On arrival the solicitor is told that the client asked for legal advice when she arrived, that no interview has yet taken place, and that the investigating officer wants to begin questioning in twenty minutes. That officer offers to summarise the allegation on the way to the interview room, and the custody officer adds that the client has been "no trouble at all". The solicitor has not yet met her.

What should the solicitor do first on arriving at the police station?

Ask the investigating officer for full disclosure of the evidence against the client.
Ask the custody officer whether the police have yet decided to charge the client.
Ask to inspect the custody record before taking instructions from the client. Correct
Ask the client for her instructions and advise her before looking at any paperwork.
Ask the investigating officer to postpone the interview until the following morning.

Why: The correct answer is C. A detainee's solicitor must be permitted to inspect the whole of the custody record as soon as practicable after arriving at the station, and at any other time on request (Code C, para 2.4). The record is the only reliable account of the detention: when the client arrived, when her detention was authorised, whether and when she asked for legal advice and whether it was delayed, when reviews took place, and what welfare and medical entries have been made. Reading it first shows the solicitor whether the four hours since her arrest have been lawful, and equips the solicitor to take instructions and to challenge any breach later under s.78 PACE. A is incorrect because disclosure matters but is the police account of the case, and is no substitute for the record of how the client has been treated. B is incorrect because the charging decision is one of the entries the custody record will show, along with everything else the solicitor needs. D is incorrect because instructions taken in ignorance of the record may miss breaches the client cannot be expected to identify herself. E is incorrect because there is no basis for seeking a postponement until the solicitor knows what has happened, and delay is not an end in itself.

A woman is arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and detained at a police station while the officers wait for a witness to attend. She has been told that free legal advice is available, but says she wants to read the codes of practice for herself before she decides whether to ask for a solicitor. The custody officer replies that the codes are kept in the inspector's office, that they are handed out only to solicitors, and that she may look at them once she has been interviewed.

Is the custody officer right to refuse the woman the codes of practice until after her interview?

Yes, because a detainee may consult the codes only through a solicitor acting for her.
Yes, because consulting the codes may be deferred until the police have finished their enquiries.
No, because the custody officer must instead read the codes aloud to her before any interview.
No, because she is entitled to be given her own copy of the codes to keep in her cell.
No, because she must be allowed to consult the codes at any time during her detention. Correct

Why: The correct answer is E. The right to consult the Codes of Practice is one of the continuing rights which the custody officer must tell a detainee about on arrival at the station (Code C, para 3.1(iii)), and a detainee must be allowed to consult a copy at any time while detained. The right does not depend on having a solicitor and cannot be postponed until after interview; it is of most use to a detainee who is deciding whether to ask for legal advice. Its only qualification is that a detainee may not use it to delay any necessary investigative or administrative action unreasonably, which reading the codes while the police wait for a witness would not do. A is incorrect because the right belongs to the detainee herself and is not exercised for her by a solicitor. B is incorrect because the right runs throughout detention rather than arising once the investigation is complete. C is incorrect because the detainee is entitled to consult the codes; the custody officer is under no duty to read them aloud. D is incorrect because she must be allowed to consult a copy, not given one of her own to keep.

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