Issue 205  7th August 2021

Almost 400 solicitors and barristers have signed an open letter to HM Courts & Tribunals Service, refusing to attend a ‘single court listing outside of regular court hours’. The Ministry of Justice responded today by denying the existence of any plan for weekend sittings. The signatories – consisting of lawyers who regularly attend the criminal courts – claim that the government has ‘overseen the obliteration’ of the profession, despite repeated warnings. ‘It has been entirely unmoved by respected legal aid firms closing down, duty solicitors and criminal barristers leaving the profession in droves, and pupils and trainees earning less than the real living wage. It has left the courts – our places of work – leaking, filthy and broken.’ The lawyers, including eight QCs, said their ‘goodwill has run dry’ and that they will not attend court listings outside of court hours ‘under any circumstances’.

Five of London’s courtrooms may be forced to close within weeks unless justice chiefs mount a last-minute effort to save them. A temporary extension to Woolwich crown court has been in place since August 2011, but planning consent for the three-storey building is due to expire this month.

Councillors in Greenwich agreed that the add-on to the southeast London courthouse could be used for a decade, but insisted the modular extension - not of sufficient quality to be retained long-term - must be “removed from the site” when the ten years is up. With the deadline fast approaching this month, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) insists it intends to keep the courtrooms but now faces a race against time to secure permission to retain the extension or replace it with a permanent structure.

The trial of a teacher accused of murdering her boyfriend has collapsed because the defence QC had to isolate after a relative tested positive for Covid. The news emerged as the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) is pushing for 'double jabbed' barristers who test negative for the virus to be included in the list of critical workers who are exempt from having to isolate if 'pinged' by the government app or come into close contact with someone testing positive.

Four days into a three-week trial the jury at Croydon Crown Court had to be discharged last week, wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money, despite pleas from the prosecution and defence for the case to continue. The lead defence barrister, Icah Peart QC, was forced to isolate by government guidelines because an asymptomatic member of his household tested positive for Covid-19.

A third Extinction Rebellion protester has had their conviction quashed at the Old Bailey in as many days. Amelia Halls, 23, was told she should not have been given a criminal record for peacefully obstructing a road during a 2019 demonstration. Her win comes amid mounting questions for the Crown Prosecution Service over cases brought against the protesters.

A judge at the Old Bailey pressed prosecutors to explain whether they stand by a string of XR convictions. Since 2019, XR says that hundreds of its followers have been convicted of blocking roads. Many of those convictions now appear to be in doubt after the Supreme Court recently ruled that peacefully and briefly obstructing a highway for a genuine political cause was lawful activity. Robert MacQueen, 65, from Haslemere, Surrey, had his conviction overturned on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a judge quashed the conviction of Emma-Rose Goodwin, 47, from Exeter. At least seven more XR-related appeals are due before courts in the coming weeks.

Today, we have published two new guidelines for sentencing individuals and organisations for the offence of Unauthorised use of a trade mark. The new guidelines, which will come into force on 1 October 2021, apply to adult offenders in England and Wales and will replace the current magistrates’ court guideline that was published in 2008 and applies to individuals only.

Unauthorised use of a trade mark can include possessing or selling counterfeit goods, or counterfeiting or possessing the means of counterfeiting goods, with a view to making a gain or causing a loss. The new guidelines will provide a clear structure for courts when sentencing this offence, which can bring financial and reputational loss to companies and can put purchasers at risk from substandard goods.