Issue 227  15th January 2022

'Criminal bar explores appetite for action over legal aid'

The Criminal Bar Association is asking practitioners if they would be prepared to escalate action if the government fails to commit by Valentine's Day to increasing legal aid funding. An independent criminal legal aid review, led by Sir Christopher Bellamy, found that an extra £135m a year was needed to nurse the criminal legal aid system back to health following 'years of neglect'. Lord chancellor Dominic Raab promised to respond to the review by the end of March.

However, in his latest weekly update, CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC said he made it clear at a meeting with justice ministers last month that it would be ‘utterly unacceptable’ for practitioners to wait 15 weeks to hear the government’s verdict, 'not least because the ensuing statutory consultation means that we might not know the final outcome of this long and tortuous process until the summer'. Today, the CBA began surveying criminal barristers for their verdict on the review’s recommendations and government timetable...

'CPS proposes new guidance on mercy killings'

Prosecutors should consider whether suspects in so-called mercy killings are ‘wholly motivated by compassion’ in new guidance proposed by the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS has today launched a public consultation on updated legal guidance on homicide offences, which sets out public interest factors prosecutors should take into account when dealing with suspects in deaths arising out of failed suicide pacts or mercy killings.

The proposed guidance is designed to give clear advice to prosecutors and includes reference to factors similar to those set out in guidance for prosecutors in cases of encouraging or assisting suicide, the CPS said. Factors where a prosecution would be less likely include when the victim reached ‘a voluntary, settled and informed decision to end their life’, the suspect was ‘wholly motivated by compassion’, the suspect attempted to take their own life at the same time or where they reported the death to the police and ‘fully assisted the authorities’...

The consultation can be found here.

'Racist online trolls banned from football stadiums by new law'

The Home Secretary Priti Patel is bringing forward legislation so that football banning orders, which can currently be imposed on people convicted of violence, disorder and racist or homophobic chanting, will be extended to cover online hate offences. The move comes after black players in the England football team were subject to disgraceful racism following the Euro 2020 final, and the Prime Minister pledged to get tougher on online abusers. The new law is expected to take the form of an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and will be brought forward early in the new year.

'Areas where most rape victims are denied justice to be named and shamed' (£££)

The parts of the country where most rape victims are denied justice will be named and shamed as the Attorney General pledged to expose “weak links” in the criminal justice system....