Issue 244  14th May 2022

More victims of rape and sexual offences will be spared the stress of being cross-examined in court under a measure rolled out to a further 14 locations today (12 May 2022). The scheme, which has already been successful in 12 Crown Courts, allows victims and witnesses of crimes such as rape and modern slavery to have their cross-examination video-recorded and played later during trial...

From today (12 May 2022), the measure will be available immediately at Crown Courts in:

• Sheffield
• Doncaster
• Newcastle
• Portsmouth
• Southampton
• Isle of Wight
• Winchester
• Bournemouth
• Bristol
• Exeter
• Gloucester
• Plymouth
• Salisbury
• Truro

The existing sentencing guideline for animal cruelty was last revised in 2017 and, until 2021, the offences it covered were summary only, triable in magistrates’ courts and subject to a maximum penalty of six months’ custody. In 2021, Parliament passed the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, which increased the maximum sentence for specific offences under the 2006 Act from six months’ to five years’ custody and made these either way offences, meaning they could be heard in magistrates’ courts or the Crown Court...

In light of this legislative change, we are seeking to revise and update the sentencing guideline for animal cruelty, to provide fuller guidance to sentencers. This will also replace the interim guidance that was issued when the statutory maximum penalty was increased...

A new group looking at whether to decriminalise cannabis in the UK has been set up by London mayor Sadiq Khan. Former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer QC will chair the first London Drugs Commission. Mr Khan described his visit to a cannabis dispensary in the US state of California as "fascinating". But Home Secretary Priti Patel said the mayor of London was wasting his time as he "has no powers to legalise drugs"... Once it has completed its work, the commission will make recommendations to City Hall, the government, the police, the criminal justice system and public health services.

The head of the Criminal Bar Association has hailed the ‘extraordinary’ commitment of barristers participating in a nationwide protest over legal aid funding – with trials being listed deep into 2023. Since 11 April, hundreds of barristers have adopted ‘no returns’ – declining to cover for colleagues on cases that have been ‘returned’ – over the government’s refusal to increase criminal legal aid advocacy fees by 25%. Today, CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC said that the action was already causing widespread disruption and ‘the breadth and depth of commitment to the pursuit of our action has been nothing short of extraordinary’...

Her Majesty The Queen, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, has approved the reappointment of 7 Commissioners of the Criminal Cases Review Commission... The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was established by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 (“the Act”) and commenced operation in 1997. The CCRC considers - on application - cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where a miscarriage of justice is alleged or suspected. The CCRC decides if there is any new evidence or new argument which raises a real possibility that an appeal court would quash a conviction or reduce a sentence.