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Blog

Call for More Diverse Juries

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The family of a 14-year-old boy who was chased through the streets, racially abused and stabbed to death are calling for new laws to improve diversity on juries, after his...

CPS Launches Defendants Strategy

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A commitment to fairness for all parties is at the heart of a new Defendants Strategy, launched this week by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The three-year strategy addresses areas where...

Barristers’ Strike Action

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With effect from 27th June 2022 barristers in England & Wales will be taking industrial action in order to protest against what they see as the deteriorating state of the...
A recent Court of Appeal case shed some light on the use of algorithms to measure the likely quantities of drugs supplied by a particular defendant. The algorithm has been...

Corporate Criminal Liability

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The problem The general rule for attributing liability to companies in English and Welsh criminal law is the ‘identification principle’. This states that where a particular mental state is required,...

New Criminal Justice Initiatives

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It has been a busy week for new policy announcements, with these coming from the Ministry of Justice in the last few days. Prison leavers tagged to cut alcohol-fuelled crime...
The Sentencing Council has this week published revised sentencing guidelines for a number of sexual offences. These new guidelines will apply to those sentenced on or after 31 May 2022,...
Revised sentencing guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences in England and Wales, which come into effect on 1 July 2022 (for persons sentenced on or after that date),...

Alcohol Tags

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Alcohol tags were launched as part of the government’s plans to reduce alcohol-fuelled crime. Following a successful rollout in Wales, the tags were introduced in England in March 2021. Offenders...

Technology and the Justice System

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The Justice and Home Affairs Committee has published a report, “Technology Rules? The advent of new technologies in the justice system”. The development of artificial intelligence or AI has impacted...

Prison Leavers Project

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The government has announced further projects as part of the Prison Leavers Project, which is a cross-government initiative helping offenders released from prison. Statistics demonstrate that offenders who are released...

Criminal Charges and Protests

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The Attorney General has referred questions of law to the Court Appeal, acting in her role as the Guardian of the Public Interest. The questions concern the proper scope of...

Crackdown on Waste Crime

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The Environment Agency Chief Executive, Sir James Bevan, has made a speech on waste crime at an event with Let’s Recycle and the Environmental Services Association. The Executive said that...
In 1987 a private investigator called Daniel Morgan was murdered in Sydenham; despite several investigations, no one has been convicted for his murder. It was long suspected that police corruption...

Cyberflashing

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The Government has announced that a new offence of cyberflashing is to be introduced. The offence will be included in the Online Safety Bill as part of the Government’s efforts...

Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

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Europol has issued a report on the way criminal networks have adapted to new opportunities and demand for products generated by the pandemic. The Intellectual Property Crime Theft Assessment 2022...

Economic Crime

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A Bill is progressing through Parliament to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners and require overseas entities who own land to register in certain circumstances....

Tinder Fraud

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A number of cases have hit the news recently relating to scams or frauds carried out using Tinder. The Tinder app is available in nearly two hundred countries, with an...

Domestic Abuse

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced funding for councils in England to support domestic abuse victims. The funding is to be used to provide safe accommodation...

Environment Agency Prosecutions

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Supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency is an executive non-departmental public body. The Agency was established in 1996 “to protect and improve the...

Community Payback

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The government has announced the recruitment of more than 500 staff to work in Community Payback. The aim is to be able to enable offenders to serve an extra 3...

Court Backlog

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The backlog in the criminal courts has been an issue for some time. Although the number of outstanding cases grew during the pandemic, there was already a backlog. The government...

Automated Vehicles

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A joint report from the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission has been published. The topic is automated vehicles and makes recommendations for the safe...

School Absence

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The government has announced new proposals to address the way schools deal with avoidable absences. They refer to the current system as a postcode lottery with different approaches to sanctions...

Bill of Rights

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The Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, has announced an overhaul of human rights law following the publication of the Independent Human Rights Act Review. The Review was set up to consider...
The Competition and Markets Authority has issued a Statement of Objections to a supplier of domestic lighting products. DAR Lighting Ltd was alleged to have restricted retailers from setting their...
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