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
'Sarah Everard's murder and the questions the Met Police now face'
There is an air of crisis in British policing this weekend as it faces a great moment of reckoning. Never have leaders felt that public trust is so low they have had to advise women to consider fleeing if they are uncomfortable when confronted by one of their own officers. But that is the aftershock of the appalling crimes of Wayne Couzens, who raped and murdered Sarah Everard while working for the Metropolitan Police, after kidnapping her in a fake arrest. He was sentenced on Friday to a whole-life term in prison...
'Raab admits court delays 'unacceptable' as backlog reaches record high'
The lord chancellor has taken the unusual step of commenting on newly-released criminal court statistics, with the latest showing the Crown court backlog reaching a record high. Statistics published today show that there were 60,692 outstanding cases in the Crown court at the end of June, up from 59,942 between January to March...
Dominic Raab, who was appointed justice secretary as well as deputy prime minister this month, was quick to issue a statement this morning. He said: ‘It is unacceptable that many victims are having to wait so long to seek justice. The pandemic put unprecedented constraint on our ability to hold jury trials, but we have made strong progress in the magistrates’ courts to reduce the number of outstanding cases. With new super court rooms, the extension of the Nightingale Courts into 2022 and limit-free sitting days in crown courts, we will restore the swift access to justice that victims deserve.’
S28 Pilot Expanded
Victims of alleged sexual violence in London and the north east will be spared live cross-examination from today, as part of a pilot scheme to make trials less traumatic for complainants. According to the Ministry of Justice, intimidated complainants and witnesses of crimes such as rape and modern slavery will be allowed to pre-record their evidence at three Crown courts in London (Harrow, Isleworth, and Wood Green) and at Durham Crown Court. The recordings will be played at trial. The scheme is already in place in Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Courts, and could be introduced at others across the country subject to further evaluation.
'Fuel crisis: Judge asks for proof of why counsel can't get to court'
A judge reportedly asked a lawyer requesting a remote hearing to show how much petrol she had left in her car, as reports begin to emerge of the impact that the fuel crisis has had on the legal profession. The Cloud Video Platform enables parties to take part in a hearing remotely and has been widely used to keep the justice system running throughout the pandemic.
Yesterday, the Law Society said it hoped judges would be understanding if court users struggled to physically attend court this week due to the nationwide fuel shortages. However, Idle Courts, a Twitter account that monitors the under-use of Crown courts, was informed that a judge rejected a CVP request and asked the lawyer to provide evidence of how much fuel they had left and how many petrol stations they visited:
Education
'Quarter of pupillage hopefuls £50k in debt'
Over a third of aspiring barristers expect to have racked up over £40,000 of debt by the time they complete pupillage, as the number of applicants competing for jobs continues to rise. According to a study by the Bar Council, over half of graduates applying for jobs through the pupillage gateway will have debt of £20,000, and 37% will owe over £40,000. Of these,12.4% expect to have debt worth over £60,000.
The chance of actually securing pupillage remains slim, however, with the Bar Council reporting a ‘steady increase’ in the number of applicants per job over the past five years. People applying for pupillage for the first time have just a 5% chance of receiving an offer. For those applying for the second, third, or fourth time, the prospects of securing an offer rise to about one in 10. However, the success rate then falls again for those who apply more than five times.
Other
Wayne Couzens: Sentencing Remarks
A great deal has been said in court over the last two days, I emphasise wholly properly, about the devastating, tragic and wholly brutal circumstances of the death of Sarah Everard; additionally, many details as to her demise, along with abundant observations as to what it symbolises, have been publicized by reporters, commentators and many others. No doubt following the sentence that I am about to pass more will be said and written. Given the singular nature of this case, that is entirely unsurprising. But in and amongst the words and the voices, two things must not be forgotten during this sentencing exercise. First, the victim: who she was and what happened to her in early March. Her personal circumstances and the circumstances of her untimely death, coupled inevitably with the impact of what occurred on her family and those who were close to her, are a critical consideration. And, second, notwithstanding that vital factor, the sentence that I pass on the defendant must be just, in the all-important sense that the relevant statutory provisions are to be applied, along with the applicable case law and sentencing principles. To discharge my function faithfully, it is vital, therefore, that I focus solely on the factors that are properly relevant to determining the correct sentence, and nothing else...
Those consequences are that on the count of murder you will be imprisoned for life and the tariff is a whole life order. I have taken into account the offences of kidnapping and rape in reaching that decision and on those counts I impose no separate penalty...