Issue 224  18th December 2021

Sir Christopher’s report sets out his findings and recommendations to the government. The annexes to the report are added below along with a range of Call for Evidence submissions.

The Human Rights Act will be revised under plans unveiled by the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab today (14 December)... Today’s move seeks to strengthen quintessentially British traditions – such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial – while ensuring the system is not open to abuse... Meanwhile, greater prominence will be given to the rights to jury trial and freedom of expression - meaning the space for rigorous debate will reflect the UK’s traditions and secure its values... This consultation seeks views on how best to guarantee that the country’s human rights framework puts rights and responsibilities alongside each other to meet the needs of the society it serves. It follows a report from the Independent Human Rights Act Review Panel which examined how the Human Rights Act is working after 21 years in operation.

Britain’s online safety bill needs a sweeping overhaul to prevent children from accessing pornography, vulnerable people from being encouraged to commit self-harm and negligent tech chiefs from failing to protect users, according to a committee of MPs and peers. A wide-ranging series of proposals to amend the pioneering legislation also includes creating a new criminal offence for cyberflashing, punishing tech platforms for hosting fraudulent adverts, and exempting news organisations from content takedowns...

The committee’s recommendations include introducing new criminal offences for: cyberflashing; encouragement of serious self-harm; deliberately sending flashing images to people with epilepsy with the intention of inducing a fit; and sending false communications – such as deep-fake videos – which intentionally cause “non-trivial” emotional, psychological or physical harm.

The Law Commission has today [17 December 2021] launched a project to review how evidence is used in prosecutions of sexual offences, and to counter misconceptions about sexual harm (“rape myths”). The Law Commission will review the law, guidance and practice relating to the trial process in prosecutions of sexual offences – including rape – and consider the need for reform. The project, which arises from the Government’s 2021 rape review, aims to increase understanding of consent and sexual harm and improve the treatment of victims, while ensuring that defendants receive a fair trial. In the project, the Commission will:

• Review whether reform of the provisions which restrict the use of evidence of complainants’ prior sexual history is needed Review the rules relating to the use of the complainant’s medical and counselling records during a trial
• Consider how law and guidance can counter jurors’ misconceptions about sexual harm (“rape myths”) in relation to the credibility, behaviour and experience of complainants and defendants
• Review the availability of special measures – alternative arrangements for giving evidence – to protect complainants during the trial

Police forces will get an extra £1.1 billion next year to fight terrorism and organised crime, and support rape victims, Priti Patel announced yesterday. The money will come in part from a council tax increase of up to £10 per household should elected police chiefs decide it is needed. The home secretary announced the “inflation busting” 7 per cent cash increase to support the government’s “beating crime plan”.

Under the proposal, police and crime commissioners can increase council tax by up to £10 on a band D property to raise £796 million, with the rest coming from the government. Police will be expected to improve their performance on murder and neighbourhood crime. The Home Office said that there had been a 14 per cent fall in overall crime excluding fraud and computer misuse between June 2019 and June this year, a figure influenced by the pandemic.

The attorney general has launched an independent review after judges severely criticised Britain’s main anti-corruption agency and overturned the conviction of a businessman because of its misconduct. Three court of appeal judges concluded that the Serious Fraud Office’s failure to disclose vital evidence had unfairly led to the businessman being jailed for bribery. The judges said that the SFO had withheld “embarrassing” evidence that would have detailed its “wholly inappropriate” dealings with a private investigator, for which the agency had already been criticised.

After the ruling the office of the attorney general, Suella Braverman, issued a statement saying she was “deeply concerned about the findings in the judgment” and would discuss its “implications” with the director of the Serious Fraud Office, Lisa Osofsky. “The attorney general has today commissioned an independent review of the issues highlighted including disclosure failings at the Serious Fraud Office,” the statement said.