Issue 121  21st December 2019

Queen's Speech

My Government is committed to a fair justice system that keeps people safe. My ministers will establish a Royal Commission to review and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice process. New sentencing laws will ensure the most serious violent offenders, including terrorists, serve longer in custody. New laws will require schools, police, councils and health authorities to work together to prevent serious crime. My Government will ensure those charged with knife possession face swift justice and that the courts work better for all those who engage with them, including victims of domestic abuse. Legislation will be brought forward to support victims of crime and their families. Measures will be developed to tackle hostile activity conducted by foreign states.

Queen's Speech Briefing Notes

Proposed legislation includes:

• Tougher sentences for the most serious terrorist offenders and a 14-year minimum for the worst terrorist offenders.
• Removing the possibility of any early release from custody for dangerous terrorist offenders who receive an Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS).
• Moving the earliest point for discretionary release by the Parole Board from half-way to two thirds for terrorist offenders who are not deemed “dangerous” and therefore do not receive an EDS.
• Changing the automatic release point from halfway to the two-thirds point for adult offenders sentenced for serious violent or sexual offences, bringing this in line with the earliest release point for those considered to be dangerous.
• Tougher community sentences that include longer curfews and more hours of unpaid work
• Extending the range of circumstances where the starting point for the sentence in cases of murder is a whole life order. This will particularly focus on those who have murdered children.
• New court orders to target known knife carriers, to make it easier for the police to stop and search those convicted for knife crime offences. The power will apply only to those convicted of a knife related offence.
• Introducing a new test to assess the standard of driving of a police officer, so that their skills and training can be taken into account should there be any subsequent investigations into their actions.
• Potential measures to criminalise the act of trespassing when setting up an unauthorised encampment in England and Wales, and the introduction of new police powers to arrest and seize the property and vehicles of trespassers who set up unauthorised encampments.
• Amending the life sentence and the extended determinate sentence release test to direct the Parole Board to take into account circumstances where an offender, who has been convicted of murder or manslaughter, has not disclosed the location of a victim’s remains.
• Amending the extended determinate sentence release test to direct the Parole Board to take into account circumstances where an offender, who has been convicted of taking or making indecent photographs of children, has not disclosed the identities of the child or children in the image(s).
• Creating a statutory presumption that victims of domestic abuse are eligible for special measures in the criminal courts (for example, to enable them to give evidence via a video link).
• Extending the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the UK courts so that, where appropriate, UK nationals and residents who commit certain violent and sexual offences outside the UK may be brought to trial in the UK.
• A new power to enable the immediate arrest of an individual for a serious offence and wanted by trusted partners, in whose use of Interpol Notices and criminal justice systems we have a high level of confidence.
• Creating new offences, to criminalise other harmful activity conducted by, and on behalf of states.
• The Government is committed to ensuring a fair justice system that works for the law-abiding majority and gives a second chance to those who wish to make a fair start. As set out in the manifesto, we will establish a Royal Commission on the criminal justice process in England and Wales.

'CPS to raise bar with 500 new prosecutors' (£££)

Almost 500 new prosecutors will be recruited in the next six months after concerns that criminal cases were being dropped or delayed because of a shortage of resources.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it had begun a recruitment drive and expects 390 senior and standard prosecutors to start in the courts by next June. Another 40 specialist casework lawyers are being recruited along with 50 legal managers and 20 legal trainees. Last August, The Times reported that the CPS budget was at that stage 30 per cent lower than in 2010. Cuts had forced a reduction in administrative staff and front-line lawyers.

TV Licence Decriminalisation Considered

The government is to consider whether failure to pay the TV licence fee should cease to be a criminal offence, a Treasury minister has said. Rishi Sunak confirmed Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a review of the sanction for non-payment of the £154.50 charge, which funds the BBC. Prosecution for non-payment of the fee can currently end in a court appearance and potential fine of up to £1,000.

HMCPSI Report - a thematic review of rape cases

If 58,657 allegations of rape were made in the year ending March 2019 but only 1,925 successful prosecutions for the offence followed, something must be wrong. The National Criminal Justice Board has commissioned work to determine where exactly the justice system is failing victims.

This inspection looks at one small part of the overall picture. It examines whether the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is part of the problem. Has the CPS changed the test it applies when deciding whether to prosecute? Is the CPS demanding unnecessary further investigations be carried out before being prepared to reach a decision? Is the CPS risk averse? The three questions are interlinked and our conclusions are set out in the report that follows, as well as in the underlying data published on our website. What we found is a complex series of issues that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, although we have tried to simplify them in the summary that follows.

...There can only be an effective criminal justice system – and one in which the public can have confidence – if it is properly resourced. The one we have has been under-resourced so that it is close to breaking point. In the case of the police, it may have gone beyond that, and while that is for others to assess, the number of rape allegations lost in the investigative process is damning.

'Calls to reform bail terms after lawyer stabbed to death'

Ewan Ireland was 17 when he attacked Peter Duncan in August... At the time Ireland was “released under investigation (RUI)” for an offence of affray, was being investigated for a robbery, and subject to a 12-month conditional discharge for a battery offence the previous summer.

RUI is increasingly being used rather than imposing strict bail controls on suspects before trial. Tens of thousands of suspects including many accused of violent crimes are being released by police without bail restrictions, leaving victims and the public increasingly at risk, the Law Society has warned.