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
Nightingale Courts Extended
Thirty Nightingale Court rooms are to be extended until March next year as the government continues in its efforts to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system and secure speedier justice for victims...
The sites will remain open until March next year. The locations are as follows:
- Prospero House, London (three Crown court rooms)
- Barbican, London (two Crown court rooms)
- Croydon Jurys Inn, London (two Crown court rooms)
- Mercure Hotel, Maidstone (two Crown court rooms)
- Former court, Chichester (two Crown court rooms)
- Park Hall Hotel, Wolverhampton (two Crown court rooms)
- Maple House, Birmingham (two Crown court rooms)
- Cloth Hall court, Leeds (three Crown court rooms)
- Civic Centre, Swansea (one Crown court room)
- Former Magistrates’ court, Cirencester (one Crown court room, one Magistrates rooms)
- Negotiations to secure a new two-courtroom venue in London to replace the Nightingale at Monument are ongoing
The sites which are closing as planned are not needed because HMCTS has reopened existing hearing rooms as social distancing measures have eased...
- Monument, London (two Crown court rooms)
- Knights’ chamber and visitor Centre, Peterborough (one Crown court room)
- Mercure Hotel, Nottingham (two Crown court rooms)
- M40 J15 Warwick Hotel, Warwick (two Crown court rooms)
- Hilton Hotel, Manchester (two Crown court rooms)
- Hilton Hotel, Liverpool (one Crown court room)
- University of Bolton Stadium, Bolton (one Crown court room)
- Crowne Plaza, Chester (two Crown court rooms)
'Government takes landmark steps to further clamp down on dirty money'
Legislation to crack down on dirty money in the UK and corrupt elites will be introduced in Parliament tomorrow, 1 March 2022. Following the commitments announced by the Prime Minister last week, the government has brought forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The new legislation will help the National Crime Agency prevent foreign owners from laundering their money in UK property and ensure more corrupt oligarchs can be handed an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO).
The new register will require anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies, setting a new global standard for transparency. Entities who do not declare their ‘beneficial owner’ will face restrictions over selling their property, and those who break the rules could face up to 5 years in prison.
Under the reforms being brought in on UWOs, those who hold property in the UK in a trust will be brought within scope and the definition of an asset’s ‘holder’ will also be expanded to ensure individuals can’t hide behind opaque shell companies and foundations. The reforms will also remove key barriers to the use of UWOs by increasing time available to law enforcement to review material provided in response to a UWO and reforming cost rules to protect law enforcement agencies from incurring substantial legal costs if they bring a reasonable case that is ultimately unsuccessful.
Cases
R v Keeling [2022] EWCA Crim 178
This is an application by Her Majesty's Solicitor General for leave to refer a sentence on the basis that it was unduly lenient and should be increased...
...The court was troubled, unsurprisingly, by the conduct of the judge. The court was concerned that the offender Mr Keeling may have been put under inappropriate pressure to plead guilty and was resistant to the suggestion that it should simply proceed to increase the sentence, thereby reneging on a promise which had been made by a judge to Mr Keeling...
...After receiving advice, Mr Keeling has elected not to take that course for reasons which we have not been told, but which no doubt include the very strong case that he faces and the significant admissions that he has made at different stages of the proceedings. He has elected, in effect, to have his sentence determined on the basis of the full facts of the case and has chosen not to be put in the position that he would have been in had that hearing of 15 September 2021 never taken place. We make it clear that for the reasons explained in the conviction appeal judgment [2021] EWCA Crim 2003 in the AB case, had Mr Keeling sought to appeal against his conviction on the basis that it was unsafe because of the conduct of the judge, that appeal would have succeeded. That in truth was the remedy available to him to cure the adverse impact on him of the judge's conduct. We therefore put out of our mind that conduct when deciding whether we should quash the sentence imposed by the judge and substitute for it the appropriate sentence...
International
'Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, on the Situation in Ukraine'
On 28 February, I announced my decision to seek authorisation to open an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine, on the basis of my Office's earlier conclusions arising from its preliminary examination, and encompassing any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court"). In the same statement, I indicated that active investigations by my Office would be significantly expedited if a State Party to the Rome Statute (the "Statute") were to refer the situation to my Office, as provided in article 14 of the Statute.
Today, I can confirm that, my Office has received referrals of the Situation in Ukraine from the following 39 ICC States Parties... These referrals enable my Office to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards, thereby encompassing within its scope any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person.
I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the Situation. Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced...
'Could the international criminal court bring Putin to justice over Ukraine?'
The prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague announced on Wednesday that he had launched an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine. How likely are Putin or other Russian political or military leaders to be brought to justice and what are the obstacles that must be overcome for that to happen?
Other
'Public defenders: wasteful or wise?'
Thanks to the popularity of American legal dramas, most people are familiar with the US public defender system, which provides a lawyer for any defendant who cannot afford one. Far fewer know that since 2001 there has been a small public defender service in England and Wales. It provides representation from the police station through to the courts...