About
A free weekly collection of criminal law links - for practitioners, law students, and anyone with an interest in the criminal justice system of England and Wales.
Curated by Sam Willis, a barrister at 5 King's Bench Walk.
News
'Government to overhaul non-crime hate incident rules after review'
The UK government is to change when police forces in England and Wales record non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), in a bid to end the policing of "everyday arguments". New Home Office guidance will say that forces should only log incidents that are potentially "relevant to policing". It comes after a review by police chiefs found the system, developed in the mid-2000s, had increasingly seen officers drawn into policing debates on social media. However the Conservatives say the move from Labour ministers does not go far enough, calling it "simply a rebrand"...
NCHIs are recorded when police receive a report perceived by the caller to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards people with certain characteristics, such as race or gender, but which does not meet the bar for prosecution under hate crime laws. Though they are not crimes, NCHIs stay on police records and can be disclosed during enhanced background checks when applying for certain jobs. Police guidance on the recording of NCHIs was first published in 2005, following recommendations by an inquiry into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in a racist attack in 1993. They were originally intended to help forces gather intelligence to prevent crime, and safeguard vulnerable people. But in a report published on Tuesday, the body representing police chiefs will say their use has become disproportionate in recent years, and the definition should be redrawn to reflect the social media age...
'Cracking down on sex-based harassment in public'
Everyone will be safer to walk the streets freely without fear of public sexual harassment after the government brought in a powerful new law today. For far too long, women and girls in particular have been expected to endure obscene comments, threats of sexual violence, and unnecessary, threatening invasions of their personal space to intimidate them in public. These behaviours can force women and girls to change their routes, routines and behaviour just to feel safe. The perpetrators can all too often leave their victims feeling anxious, shattering their confidence, and forcing them to stay on high alert just to go about their lives freely. Too often, when this behaviour goes unchecked, we know that it can form part of a wider pattern of behaviour involving more serious crimes...
The new sex-based harassment offence introduced today gives police stronger powers to act decisively. It covers intentional harassment directed at someone because of their sex including where perpetrators target women and girls in public places, including streets, parks, public transport, taxis, shops and other everyday spaces. Crucially, the law, which began as a Private Members’ Bill brought in by Greg Clark and Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, sees perpetrators receiving tougher consequences, including up to 2 years behind bars. The government will work closely with police, frontline organisations, and campaign groups to ensure the new law is enforced robustly. Police will follow new statutory guidance published today so the law is applied consistently across England and Wales, ensuring offenders have nowhere to hide and face real consequences...
'Community sentences not fit for purpose without reform, magistrates say'
The government’s planned criminal justice reforms will fail without proper investment in community sentences, the Magistrates' Association has said. In a position statement, the organisation makes 14 recommendations for reform which it says will help restore confidence in community sentencing. The statement calls for a ‘renewed national focus on community sentencing’ built on credibility, transparency and local coherence. While the association welcomed the government’s intention to strengthen community sentencing, it said it ‘remains concerned that its success will depend entirely on delivery, resourcing and clarity’.
The 14 recommendations include: to ‘fully’ fund and rebuild probation capacity, so that community orders can start promptly and be monitored effectively; accessible real-time data on programme availability, completion and breach rates for magistrates; ensuring community sentences include both punitive elements and rehabilitative support; and clarifying judicial discretion over short custodial sentences. Other recommendations include ‘rapid’ evaluation of all new sentencing pilots and a guarantee of consistent national provision...
'Appointment and reappointment of members of the Sentencing Council'
The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointment, without competition, of Tim de Meyer as member of experience of policing. This appointment is made, without competition, from 9 December 2025 until 30 June 2026. Ministers consulted the Commissioner for Public Appointments before making this appointment without competition. This will ensure that the Sentencing Council has a member with experience of policing pending a the outcome of a recruitment exercise. The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointments, for three years from 2 March 2026, of Jessica Jacobson and Rokaiya Khan as members with expertise in academic research and the rehabilitation of offenders respectively. The Lord Chancellor has also approved the reappointment of Johanna Robinson, as member with experience of promotion of the welfare of victims, for a second three-year term from 5 October 2026...
'Barristers push for government to keep its promise over specialist rape courts'
Barristers are calling on the government to honour its 2024 manifesto promise and open specialist courts to try sexual offences and domestic abuse cases. In proposed amendments to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, the Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association suggest that rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse cases where the defendant is on bail be given priority and heard by the specialist court with a jury. The courts would be ‘similar’ to the Nightingale court scheme set up during the pandemic and ‘would directly reduce the waiting times currently impacting vulnerable victims/complainants, unlike the government’s proposal to reduce jury trials’, the Bar Council said.
At its 2022 party conference, Labour pledged to introduce specialist rape courts in every Crown court. This year the government said it remained committed to fast-tracking rape cases. Bar chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: ‘There needs to be focus on the delays caused by slow police and delays in charging by the CPS. In rape cases, looking at median average, this is where most delay occurs. Instead of limiting jury trials, the government should focus on measures that have a direct impact on delays experienced by vulnerable witnesses. The government should do what it pledged and prioritise those cases of vulnerable people through a specialist court to reduce delays’...
Cases
R v OEM & Anor [2026] EWCA Crim 411
... Late on Friday afternoon on 12 December 2025 the clerk to counsel who had previously been instructed informed the court that no counsel had been identified who could prosecute the case as a trial but that the counsel for whom he was acting would be able to attend to attempt to assist the court on the morning of the trial date by CVP (that is to say attending remotely). That is what occurred... In those circumstances there was a contested application to adjourn the case... The judge then concluded his ruling by referring to his view that because both of these defendants were on bail any new trial date would not occur before 2029. Finally, he said: "I find that the balance falls in favour of the defendants for allowing the case to be dealt with today so for those reasons ... I refuse the prosecution’s application for an adjournment of the trial"...
... We consider that the judge was in error in saying as he did that the reasons for the failure of the trial to conclude during the first two trial listings were irrelevant. On the contrary, we consider that they were important. If the prosecution was attending for the third time, having failed in some important respect and therefore craving the indulgence of the court by breaking the fixture and refixing it, that would be a matter which would tell against it. On the other hand, if the first two adjournments were not the fault of the prosecution and had arisen for other reasons altogether, then they would be in a much stronger position. The judge failed to articulate or to give effect to that expression of the proper approach to previous failed trial listings and in so doing in our judgment fell into error...
...First of all, by modern standards unhappily this is not an old case. The criminality which is alleged occurred in the last quarter of 2023. There are a great many cases in the criminal justice system which are much older than this one. In those circumstances the age of the case ought to have told in favour of allowing some further time so that it could be justly decided according to the evidence, rather than causing it to come to an end. The interests of the defendants are of course of significance but their interests have to be assessed against the background which we have just recited. It is indeed a difficult and damaging thing to have to await a serious criminal trial for a period in excess of two years. It will have adverse consequences for those who are subjected to it. However, those adverse consequences are by no means unusual or exceptional in the context of the criminal justice system as it is in 2026. There was nothing about the interests of these two defendants which was of such weight that it should drive the court to frustrate rather than serve the interests of a fair trial with a just outcome...
... Finally, we consider that the judge erred in addressing in terms the interests of the defendants, victims, witnesses and jurors. What he did not do was to have specific regard to the public interest. These proceedings strongly engaged the public interest. This is a serious offence with a large number of victims by expert criminals. Whether those expert criminals were these two defendants or some other people will in due course be for the jury to consider. But it is important in the public interest that criminality of this kind should find a response in the criminal justice system. We consider that the judge undervalued that important element of the balance which he struck...
Other
'Millions invested to boost UK's position as a global tech leader'
The economy will benefit from a boost to legal services funding thanks to the extension of the LawtechUK programme. The government is investing an additional £4.5 million in the programme over the next three years, bolstering the UK’s position as a global leader in lawtech. The Ministry of Justice-backed initiative supports startups developing cutting-edge legal tech - speeding up services, driving down costs, and making justice more accessible. Last year, UK-founded lawtech companies secured a total investment of almost £189 million – up 35% from the year before...