Issue 158  

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.

5kbw.co.uk

News

'Latest court listed to resume jury trials'

Following rigorous health and safety assessments, two crown court is listed to resume jury trials. Amersham and Hove Crown Court is scheduled to resume on Monday 7 September 2020. This will bring the total number of courts to 70. Jury trials will also start from next week in the following additional locations, Knight’s Chamber, Peterborough Cathedral and Huntingdon Law Courts.

www.judiciary.uk

Magistrates’ Courts Listings on Courtserve

From today (1 September 2020), the public and legal professionals can view magistrates’ court listings online on Courtserve.

Courtserve will provide an additional method for the public to find out where, when and how magistrates’ court cases are taking place, bringing magistrates’ courts in line with other jurisdictions. Open justice remains a fundamental principle of the courts and tribunals operation and this change supports transparency.

www.gov.uk

Withdrawal of CTL Protocol

The Custody Time Limits (CTL) protocol was introduced on 9 April 2020 to streamline practice and procedure in dealing with applications to extend CTLs at a time when it was not possible to conduct any jury trials in the Crown Court due to COVID-19. In the five months since it was introduced, the situation in the Crown Court has changed significantly...

The Protocol is now out of date and has served its purpose. It is being withdrawn and will cease to have effect on 3 September 2020. The Protocol reflected much that has become good practice. Arrangements that have made the listing of CTL extension applications straightforward and convenient will, no doubt, continue, wherever practical...

www.judiciary.uk

'Record number of online child abuse logged by police'

The number of online child sex abuse cases logged by police has hit a record high, figures suggest. More than 10,000 offences were recorded between April 2019 and March 2020, an 16% increase on the previous year, according to an analysis by the NSPCC.

The charity wants the government to make its Online Harms legislation, designed to better protect vulnerable people, a priority in the coming months. "These figures suggest that online abuse was already rising before lockdown, and the risks to children appear to have spiked significantly since," said Andy Burrows, NSPCC head of child safety online policy.

bbc.co.uk

'BSB pilots reverse mentoring scheme for white QCs'

The Bar Standards Board has introduced a reverse mentoring programme in a drive to improve racial diversity, stating the ‘onus of change needs to be on the white majority and senior ranks of the profession’. The pilot scheme will see senior barristers from white backgrounds mentored by bar school students and pupil barristers from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Pairs will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss race equality issues affecting the profession.

Head of equality and access to justice at the BSB - and chair of the regulator’s race equality taskforce - Amit Popat, said: ‘This is the first race equality reverse mentoring scheme launched at the bar. It presents a new and innovative approach to promoting inclusion, which we believe will benefit both established and aspiring barristers, while making a meaningful cultural change. To all BAME bar students and senior barristers from white backgrounds who wish to practically support an anti-racist agenda, I would strongly encourage you to sign up.’

lawgazette.co.uk

Other

Review of Terrorist Supervision Arrangements

As part of the Government’s response to the terror attack at Fishmonger’s Hall in 2019, the Lord Chancellor and Home Secretary asked Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, to review the effectiveness of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) when it comes to managing terrorist offenders and other offenders who may pose a terrorist risk. The terms of reference were published in January 2020 and Jonathan Hall’s report was published on 2 September 2020.

Executive Summary

  • Clearer means of identifying Terrorist Risk Offenders are needed, so that the right offenders are referred to MAPPA at the right time
  • Police need some additional powers so that management of Terrorist Risk Offenders is effective
  • Resources that are available to other multi-agency bodies should also be made available for MAPPA
  • Intelligence needs to be shared so that better assessments of risk can be made, and the right tools can be selected to manage risk
  • MAPPA day-to-day management should move from formal periodic meetings towards active case management by a core group of professionals from police, probation and prisons. This will enable professionals to do their job better on the basis of the right information
www.gov.uk

'Government must act to protect vulnerable children excluded from school and exploited by criminal gangs warns children’s charity'

A new report by Just for Kids Law highlights how vulnerable children are being excluded from school for behaviour resulting from being criminally exploited by gangs and drugs traffickers.

Many children in the youth justice system have been excluded from school at some point with data from the prisons inspectorate showing that more than 8 out of 10 children in custody have been excluded. Evidence from casework at Just for Kids Law shows that a significant proportion of these have been excluded because they have been the victims of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and groomed into criminal activity, often into “county-lines” drug trafficking, which involves children and young people being used to transport drugs into different parts of the country.

justforkidslaw.org

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