Until about a decade ago, if a defendant in a criminal trial could lay claim to a good character, it was a matter of discretion whether the judge made any reference to this fact in the summation. However, the Court of Appeal in 1989 and 1995 ruled that a direction was to be delivered in all such cases. The Court of Appeal and House of Lords, in 1993 and 1996 decisions, laid down the following general principles. Provided that the issue of good character has been raised by the defendant by either calling evidence or questioning witnesses: (1) in cases in which the defendant has testified or has made pretrial statements whose truth is in issue, the judge must direct the jury on the relevance of good character to their assessment of the defendant's credibility; (2) in all cases, the judge must instruct the jury on the relevance of the defendant's good character to his propensity to have committed the offense charged; and (3) even in the case of joint trials, in which one defendant is of good character and the other is not, these directions are to be given regarding the "good character" defendant irrespective of the adverse implications for the other defendant. Notes