Monday 14 September 2026
Your weekly SQE Prep Quiz has arrived
Dear Subscriber,
Hope you had a great weekend. Please see below for the question, the answer to the previous question and associated resources. This is the web version of this newsletter.
LAST CHANCE: I will be holding a live FLK Contract Law SQE Super Session on 19 September. 30 Places available upon application. If you would like to join, email me asap on events@glintiss.co.uk as places are filling up.
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This Week’s Question: A private company has suffered heavy losses and is struggling to pay suppliers as debts fall due. The directors believe there is still a realistic possibility that a major new contract could rescue the business, but the contract has not yet been signed. One director proposes that the company should repay in full a £60,000 loan owed to a company owned by that director’s spouse, while delaying payment to other unsecured creditors. The board approves the repayment. Which of the following best describes the directors’ duties at this stage?
A. The directors may continue to prioritise the interests of the shareholders until the company is formally placed into liquidation or administration.
B. The directors must treat all creditors equally as soon as the company has any difficulty paying debts, so the proposed repayment is automatically unlawful.
C. The directors must consider creditors’ interests where the company is insolvent or bordering on insolvency, and those interests become increasingly important as the prospect of insolvent liquidation or administration becomes more probable.
D. The directors owe direct fiduciary duties to each individual creditor once the company cannot pay every debt immediately when it falls due.
E. The directors are free to make the repayment because a director’s general duties under the Companies Act 2006 cease to apply once insolvency becomes a possibility.
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Last Week’s Question: A vulnerable man is arrested on suspicion of robbery. The custody officer records that he requires an appropriate adult, but police begin an interview before one arrives because they want to obtain an account quickly. No exceptional circumstances justify an urgent interview. After prolonged questioning, the man admits participating in the robbery. At trial, the prosecution seeks to rely on the admission, and the defence challenges its admissibility. Which of the following best describes the court’s approach to the confession?
A. The confession must automatically be admitted because the man was cautioned before making it and its truth is ultimately a matter for the jury.
B. The confession must automatically be excluded because any breach of a PACE Code renders evidence obtained during the interview inadmissible.
C. The confession can be excluded only if the defence proves on the balance of probabilities that the police deliberately caused the man to make a false admission.
D. If the confession may have been obtained by oppression or by something likely to render it unreliable, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was not so obtained; the court may also consider exclusion under section 78 PACE.
E. The confession is admissible unless the man can establish that the absence of an appropriate adult amounted to oppression within the statutory definition.
Correct answer: D. If the confession may have been obtained by oppression or by something likely to render it unreliable, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was not so obtained; the court may also consider exclusion under section 78 PACE. Feedback: A confession is not automatically admissible merely because it is relevant. Under section 76(2) Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, where it is represented that a confession was or may have been obtained either by oppression or as a consequence of something said or done that was likely, in the circumstances, to render any resulting confession unreliable, the court must exclude it unless the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that it was not obtained in that way. The facts also raise a significant PACE Code C issue. A vulnerable suspect should not ordinarily be interviewed about suspected involvement in an offence without an appropriate adult present. The appropriate adult is not merely an observer: their functions include advising the suspect, helping communication, and monitoring whether the interview is being conducted properly and fairly. An interview without one is permitted only in specified exceptional circumstances. The failure to provide an appropriate adult does not, by itself, mean that the confession is automatically inadmissible. However, it may contribute to an argument that the confession was rendered unreliable for the purposes of section 76, particularly given the man’s vulnerability and the prolonged questioning. Separately, the defence may ask the court to exclude prosecution evidence under section 78 PACE 1984 where, having regard to all the circumstances in which the evidence was obtained, admitting it would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that it ought not be admitted. The serious procedural breach here would therefore be highly relevant to that discretion.
The other options are incorrect because:
A is incorrect because a caution does not prevent the court from excluding an improperly obtained confession.
B is incorrect because breach of a PACE Code does not automatically make evidence inadmissible.
C reverses the statutory burden. Once section 76(2) is properly raised, it is the prosecution that must satisfy the court beyond reasonable doubt.
E is too narrow because section 76 applies not only to oppression but also to circumstances likely to render a confession unreliable, and section 78 provides a separate basis for exclusion.
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All the best
Dr Ioannis (Yannis) Glinavos
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