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
Spring Budget 2024
Jeremy Hunt has promised £170m in order to deliver a justice system “fit for the modern era” during his much-vaunted Spring Budget...
The government will invest £100m into prisons to support rehabilitative activities and to reduce re-offending. While £15m will be used to introduce digital solutions, with the aim to reduce administrative burdens in the courts...
The Crown Prosecution Service will be provided with £10m in additional funding for digitising jury bundles in the criminal courts, which the government stated will reduce paper wastage and unnecessary trial delays. It’s also said that by digitising the process, it will save up to 55,000 hours a year in court preparation time to enable reducing the length of trials...
'Judges pledge to surge rape cases to cut backlogs'
Judges across England and Wales are to prioritise the longest-delayed rape cases in a bid to end the anguish of victims in a backlogs limbo. The unprecedented move to surge resources into the oldest rape cases is an attempt by the judiciary to crack some of the worst court delays. Under the plan, 181 trials waiting more than two years to finish will go ahead by the end of July. Lord Justice Edis, the judge in charge, said victims faced unacceptable delays.
As of January there were 3,355 rape cases awaiting trial in England and Wales, with an average wait time for defendants on bail of 358 days. Those delays have been caused by a combination of the pandemic, government cuts before it and a strike by barristers over pay. In practice, the average wait time for rape trials is far longer for some defendants and victims - and 6% of the cases have been in the list since December 2021...
Lord Justice Edis, who co-ordinates the Crown Courts, said those 181 cases would now be prioritised to go before a jury by the end of July to end a "significant injustice" for both defendants and complainants. That means that in many courts other trials will have to be rescheduled - but the senior judge said the strategy would help to cut delays overall.
'New laws to crack down on online prison content'
The Prison Media Bill, introduced by Katherine Fletcher MP, will for the first time put beyond doubt the illegality of filming and uploading footage filmed behind bars. Currently it is not an offence for someone outside a prison to upload a video they have been sent by someone in custody. The new laws close this loophole and criminalise posting of videos – as well as photographs and audio recordings – regardless of whether the uploader is in custody or not. It will also criminalise unauthorised filming of staff, including by so-called ‘auditors’, or content captured by drones. Those found guilty will face prosecution and an unlimited fine. Crucially by creating new offences social media companies will now be compelled to remove the illegal content quicker.
Cases
Thompson v Crown Prosecution Service [2024] EWHC 470 (Admin)
This is an appeal by way of case stated. It concerns the statutory definition of a "zombie knife" contained in paragraph 1(s) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 ("the 1988 Order"), and whether a knife within the possession of the appellant fell within that definition...
On 15th September 2022 the appellant appeared before District Judge Waite. The sole issue before the judge was whether or not the knife fell within the definition of a "zombie knife", to which reference has been made above. The following facts were agreed: (1) the knife was a bladed weapon with a cutting edge and a serrated edge; (2) the knife bore the words "Rambo First Blood Part 1"; (3) the knife blade was nine inches long; and (4) the handle of the knife could be unscrewed and inside was a compass, fishing line and a match...
There may well be other cases where the images and words refer to more obscure characters, events or films, but which, on analysis, are clearly suggest that the purpose is the use of the knife in violence. Each case will depend on its own facts and on the particular words and images in question. It may be that in some cases the Crown considers it appropriate to adduce expert evidence as to the meaning of certain images and words in particular contexts in the same way that such evidence is adduced to explain street slang or drug references. This was not a case where such evidence was necessary. The judge was entitled to say that the words on this knife did not contain an obscure reference; that they did refer to a violent character in a series of violent films; and that, as a result, they suggest that the knife is to be used for the purposes of violence. In my judgment, the judge's decision and reasoning disclosed no error of law. For these reasons, the answer to the question identified in the case stated is, "No, the judge was not wrong"...
International
'Police Scotland will not investigate every crime'
Police Scotland will no longer investigate every low level crime after the success of a pilot scheme. A report says the new approach to certain reported offences where there is no CCTV or witnesses should be rolled across Scotland. It follows the success of a 12-week trial in the north east which allowed officers to focus on other priorities. The trial freed up 2,657 police officer hours, the Proportionate Response to Crime report said.
During the pilot, 5% of crime reports in A Division (Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray) were recorded and filed for no further inquiry following an assessment of threat, harm, risk, vulnerability and available evidence. The report said it meant that in cases where there were no investigative opportunities, such as CCTV or witnesses, callers were informed about the progress of their report quicker, rather than waiting days for officers to make contact and inform them of the same outcome. However, if circumstances suggested any vulnerability, police officers would still attend and the new process was not applied...