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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 to remain open to boost capacity and speed up justice'
A total of 24 temporary courtrooms, which were set up to boost capacity during the pandemic, will remain open in 2023 to allow more cases to be heard... Nightingale courts were introduced in 2020 when buildings such as sports arenas, hotels, and conference centres were rapidly transformed into courtrooms to provide more space for jury trials in line with social distancing restrictions. Following their success, the use of temporary courtrooms has continued to provide additional capacity. Today’s (17 February 2023) announcement marks the third year of the use of Nightingale courts and comes alongside a raft of measures implemented by the Ministry of Justice to tackle the backlog court cases.
'Joint enterprise prosecutions to be monitored for racial bias'
Joint enterprise prosecutions in England and Wales are to be monitored after a legal challenge from campaigners who argued it disproportionately targets black males and young men...
Studies indicate that joint enterprise prosecutions are more likely to target young men and black boys, particularly in so-called gang-related cases – with whole groups often convicted for a crime committed by one person on the back of allegations that they are in a gang. A 2014 study by the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge found that, of young male prisoners serving 15 years or more for joint enterprise convictions, 38.5% were white and 57.4% BAME, including 37.7% black. In 2016, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies found that joint enterprise prisoners who identify as BAME were significantly younger than their white counterparts and were serving longer sentences on average. The Crown Prosecution Service’s pilot scheme will record data on the age, race, sex and disability of those prosecuted under the joint enterprise doctrine.
'Sentencing guidelines for underage sale of knives published'
The Sentencing Council has published two new guidelines for sentencing retailers convicted of selling knives to children under 18. The new guidelines come into effect on 1 April 2023. The two guidelines – one for sentencing organisations and one for individuals – apply to offenders who fail to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to prevent the sale of knives to under 18s either in store or online.
The guidelines cover one offence: selling knives etc to persons under the age of 18 contrary to s.141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The offence carries a maximum of six months’ imprisonment for individual offenders and an unlimited fine for organisations, and can be dealt with only in magistrates’ courts.
'Community courts on Labour's justice agenda'
Australian-style 'community courts', a 50% increase in the number of Crown prosecutors, a more racially diverse judiciary and an extension of human rights would be on the agenda of a future Labour government, the shadow justice secretary has revealed. In a major speech at London's Middle Temple, Steve Reed MP also hinted at reviving the idea of a levy on City law firms. Reed's speech, which included a reference to Tony Blair's 'tough on crime' statement as well as to Magna Carta and the 1689 Bill of Rights, will be interpreted as an attempt to seize the law and order agenda. It included a raft of proposals to 'prevent crime, punish criminals and protect the public'...
Focusing on anti-social behaviour, he cited Australia's community courts, involving 'community leaders, social workers, school teachers and others' as a way to tackle low-level offending. 'They do this by harnessing the power of the community, of leaders whose authority a young offender respects, and they steer them away from offending with a persuasive mixture of sanctions and support.' He pledged to 'work with the legal and children's professions to explore how we could introduce community courts as a pre-charge diversion here in the UK'. In a specific spending commitment, Reed pledged to increase by one half the number of staff employed by the government to serve as Crown prosecutors. 'We will do that by allowing associate prosecutors, with proper training, to use their skills and qualifications to get the wheels of justice turning.' He also promised to open specialist rape courts across the country and to 'work with the judiciary to list rape cases as a higher priority, and fast-track them through the system'. On judicial diversity, he said 'It can't be right that our highest court currently has only one woman serving on it and has never had a judge from an ethnic minority.' He pledged to work with the judiciary and the professions to extend non-traditional routes to the bench. 'This includes employed barristers, legal executives and others,' he said. 'We must create a wider and deeper pool of candidates for the highest judicial positions.'
'Recruitment drive to toughen parole scrutiny with more ex-police officers and detectives'
A national recruitment campaign launched on Wednesday (15 February 2023) will see the number of Parole Board panellists from policing backgrounds almost double, from 26 to 51. Panellists are responsible for making finely balanced risk assessments when deciding whether to release prisoners on life and other indeterminate sentences once they’ve served their minimum term.
Recruiting 25 more Parole Board panellists will double the number who have first-hand policing experience of managing serious offenders and the risk they pose – placing a greater focus on public protection in parole hearings. The government will also legislate to make sure parole reviews of ‘top-tier’ cases will involve members with policing backgrounds. This category includes the most dangerous offenders convicted of murder, rape, causing or allowing the death of a child and terrorist offences... New panellists are expected to be in place before the end of the year and will at least double the proportion of Parole Board members from policing backgrounds from 8% to 16%.