Issue 332  10th February 2024

The Old Bailey is expected to reopen on Monday following a fire inside the high-security building. About 1,500 people were evacuated from the central London building after an electrical substation fire on Wednesday. London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire was "accidental" and not being treated as suspicious. Emergency works were taking place to restore power to the building on Thursday and Friday...

The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the building, which houses 18 courtrooms, would reopen on Monday but various health and safety checks needed to be made before this could happen. He added cases would be listed from 12:00 GMT on Monday to allow staff to check courtroom systems were working properly.

Four fire engines and 25 firefighters were sent to the scene of the incident after a member of security staff heard a loud explosion, London Fire Brigade said. As a result of the fire there was a power cut and windowless courtrooms were plunged into darkness. Black smoke was seen billowing from the rear of the building in Warwick Lane...

One of London’s crown courts will be shuttered for an extra year thanks to dangerous concrete found in the roof, it has emerged, in a blow to efforts to tackle the criminal case backlog. Harrow crown court was closed down last August after Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was discovered during upgrade work, and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) said the closure would last six to nine months. But it emerged on Tuesday that the closure is set to be far longer than originally expected, as the RAAC was more widespread than first thought.

Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas took to social media to say he is “very disappointed” with the news that the closure of the courthouse, which has eight hearing rooms for for jury trials, is now expected to continue until April 2025.

Police will be given powers to arrest protesters who wear face coverings to threaten others and avoid prosecution, and pyrotechnics will be banned at protests. The new laws will crack down on dangerous disorder, following warnings from police chiefs that some protesters are using face coverings to conceal their identities, not only to intimidate the law-abiding majority, but also to avoid criminal convictions. Whilst police already have powers to ask individuals to remove these at designated protests, where police believe criminality is likely to occur, this new offence will empower officers to arrest individuals who disregard their orders, with those who flout the rules facing a month behind bars and a £1,000 fine.

Flares and other pyrotechnics will also be banned from protests, and protesters will no longer be able to cite the right to protest as a reasonable excuse to get away with disruptive offences, such as blocking roads. Flares and other pyrotechnics have been used during recent large scale protests, including being fired at police officers, posing significant risk of injury. The new offence will make the possession of flares, fireworks and any other pyrotechnics at public processions and assemblies for protest illegal. Perpetrators may be forced to pay a £1,000 fine.

The measures, which will be introduced in the Criminal Justice Bill, will also make climbing on war memorials a specific public order offence, carrying a 3 month sentence and a £1,000 fine. This comes after recent incidents where individuals have broken away from large protests and scaled national monuments, demonstrating brazen disrespect to those who have given their lives for this country.

Alongside the new offences, the ability to use the right to protest as a reasonable or lawful excuse to commit some crimes would also be removed, ensuring that protest is not used as a defence for criminality such as obstructing public highways, locking on, as well as public nuisance...

Ministers have held talks about an alternative to Rishi Sunak’s plan to exonerate those wrongfully convicted in the Post Office Horizon scandal. No 10 insisted it was pressing ahead with the bill announced last month, which would immediately quash the convictions of hundreds of post office operators. But this week the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, and business minister, Kevin Hollinrake, held discussions about an alternative put forward by the judiciary, under which the courts would overturn wrongful convictions, a process likely to take much longer.

Some senior lawyers have expressed concerns that quashing convictions by statute sets a dangerous precedent by allowing parliament and politicians to overturn the decisions of courts. Critics also say it lumps together innocent and guilty. At least three MPs and one peer were briefed by ministers about the details of the alternative option. A fourth MP was told by a senior minister that the government was examining a new approach. The alternative plan would bundle together wrongful convictions and overturn them through the court system, according to four people briefed on the details. They all said the new plan would require some more limited legislation. The fact that the judiciary has proposed an alternative demonstrates the concern among its members...

Today, the Home Secretary has announced the appointment of Jonathan Hall KC as the government’s new Independent Reviewer of State Threat Legislation, following a robust open competition. It is a new role, brought in as part of the new National Security Act 2023. The new independent reviewer will assess the fairness, effectiveness and proportionality of UK state threats legislation, and report their findings and recommendations.