Issue 132  7th March 2020

Sentencing Code

Plans to simplify the country’s complex sentencing laws moved a step closer today (5 March 2020) as Ministers unveiled a Bill in Parliament.

The Code will bring the sentencing procedural law that courts rely on into one place, with a clear and logical structure, making it more accessible for the public, judiciary and practitioners. It follows a pre-consolidation Bill, introduced in January which makes technical amendments to existing legislation to pave the way for the Code.

New Victim Rights

Victims of crime will have clearer rights regarding the support they should receive from the police, courts and other criminal justice agencies as a new Victims’ Code is published today (5 March 2020). A six-week consultation seeks views on a revised Code, which sets out the minimum level of information and service victims can expect from criminal justice agencies. It brings together 12 overarching rights that are clear, concise and easy to understand.

Proposals set out in the new Code include:

• Changing the Victim Contact Scheme from an opt-in to automatic referral scheme.
• New rights for victims of mentally disordered offenders, allowing them access to a Victim Liaison Officer to provide information on an offender’s management and potential release from hospital.
• For the first time, the Code sets out the rights of victims of Foreign National Offenders to be updated on when an offender’s deportation may occur.

The consultation on the new Victims’ Code will run from 5 March 2020 to 16 April 2020.

Coronavirus Special Measures

Court witnesses will appear by video in many cases under sweeping emergency powers to cope with coronavirus. The move is among special measures contained in a draft “beast of a Bill” that ministers intend to rush through Parliament by the end of this month.

Pilot of Knife Crime Prevention Orders in London

The Home Office has announced that legislation has been laid in parliament to pilot knife crime prevention orders, first introduced by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. The pilot will take place in London and will run for 14 months, begining on 6 April 2020.

The civil orders can be imposed by courts on anyone aged 12 or over if they are believed by the police to be carrying a knife. The orders can contain both restrictions and requirements eg the individual may not be able to visit a particular place or mix with specific individuals, or they might be required to attend anger management or drug rehabilitation classes.

Inspection of Serious Youth Crime

Inspectors from HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have reviewed how the CPS handles serious youth crime...

Inspectors found that there were far fewer children entering the youth justice system, but the cases that do reach the court are often complex, serious and sensitive in nature. Although most of the serious cases remain in the youth courts, the more serious and difficult cases go to the Crown Court. Inspectors recommended that CPS prosecutors dealing with young defendants need to be familiar with the relevant law, procedure, policy and guidance. They found that currently there were regional discrepancies between how well youth cases were dealt with which was affecting the quality of the casework... The inspection also found that youth policy and guidance was applied fully in 38% of the cases inspected. Just over half the cases examined (56.1%), case strategy and analysis were rated as satisfactory, and disclosure obligations were only dealt with fully in 51.7% of cases.

’Harriet Harman calls for rough sex defence used to protect killers to be made illegal’

Harriet Harman has called for the so-called "rough sex" defence used to protect killers to be made illegal after the Government announced it would be reviewing the controversial issue.

The amendment proposed by Ms Harman, and supported by a number of other MPs including Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy, proposes two key changes to be made to the legislation. [Firstly] It prevents a defendant, when he has admitted his actions caused injury, from arguing or raising the defence of consent, if the injuries resulted in GBH or death... Secondly, Ms Harman said, the amendment sets out that prosecutors would not be able to reduce a charge in cases such as these which, she argued, should be tried as murder. It states that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can only reduce charges in such cases with permission from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Director of Public Prosecutions would also have to consult with the immediate family of the victim before deciding whether to approve the charge being lessened.