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
'Domestic killers face tougher sentences in latest move to halve violence against women and girls'
Jealous ex-partners and murderers who use their hands as weapons to strangle victims face severe prison sentences under new laws set to be brought in by the government....
Two new statutory aggravating factors for murder sentencing announced today (6 December 2024) will mean judges will have to consider tougher jail terms for murders involving strangulation or when the killing is connected to the end of a relationship. The move will implement two outstanding recommendations from Clare Wade KC’s independent Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review. It is the latest step in the Government’s Plan for Change and is central to its mission to keep our streets safe and halve violence against women and girls.
In recognition of wider concerns about inconsistencies in murder sentencing and homicide law, the government has also asked the Law Commission to conduct a wholesale review of the sentencing framework for murder and the law of homicide. The review will examine complex issues raised by campaigners, such as how diminished responsibility is considered and whether the sentencing framework adequately reflects the seriousness of murders committed in the home...
It is anticipated the statutory aggravating factors will be implemented by secondary legislation, following consultation with the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. Subject to parliamentary time, it is expected the legislation will come into force next year. The review will assume the continuing existence of the mandatory life sentence for murder (or the most serious form of murder if a tiered structure for homicide is recommended), and that the sentencing framework for the mandatory life sentence will continue to be set out in primary legislation...
'Victims to be given more protection in stalking crackdown'
Stalking victims are to be given more protection and perpetrators will face robust management under a raft of new measures unveiled by the Home Office today (3 December). Not knowing the identity of an online stalker can be extremely unsettling with victims left in the dark as to whether the offender is known to them, which can put them in more danger.
For the first time, the Home Secretary will issue new ‘Right to Know’ statutory guidance to empower the police to release the identity of an online stalker at the earliest opportunity. This will set out the process for disclosure more clearly to the police and provide victims who are subject to this chilling crime with greater reassurance that they will be quickly told the identity of the individual threatening them online...
In further measures to tackle stalking, victims will also be given more protection from offenders by making Stalking Protection Orders more widely available – these orders can ban stalkers from going within a certain distance of their victims or contacting them, and can also compel them to attend a perpetrator programme to address the root causes of their behaviour. Currently, Stalking Protection Orders can only be made by the courts if the police apply for them. Under new measures, courts will be given the power to impose Stalking Protection Orders directly at conviction – or even on acquittal if there is enough evidence to suggest that they are still a risk to the victim. This will help stop, for example, offenders from contacting their victims from prison...
'Rape trials collapse as victims abandon cases amid long court delays'
The number of rape victims pulling out of prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in five years amid record delays in the courts system in England and Wales, Guardian analysis has found. There is also growing evidence that measures designed to make justice more bearable for those involved in rape cases are resulting in longer delays – and making them less likely to secure a conviction.
Insight into impacts on rape victims comes as the Guardian launches an examination of the crisis in courts across England and Wales, with the crown court backlog predicted to hit 100,000 without radical action. In the past year, more than 280 rape prosecutions (7.3% of the total) have fallen through after potential victims withdrew in the wake of a charge. The rate of attrition has more than doubled in five years, up from 62 potential victims abandoning cases between charge and trial in 2019, or 2.8% of the total. The court backlog for adult rape cases stands at a record high, with 3,656 people awaiting trial in June 2024, more than five times the number in 2019...
James Oliveira-Agnew, the secretary of the Criminal Bar Association, said specialist rape courts were a “waste of time” while there was such a chronic backlog. He said: “I’m a bit confused as to what it is that a specialist rape court is supposed to do that nothing else does. You’d be better just to get these cases listed and get them heard.” A shortage of lawyers willing to take on rape and serious sexual assault cases is exacerbating the problem. They say the work is increasingly complex and poorly paid compared with other areas. Last year, 139 sex offence trials did not go ahead on the day because no prosecution lawyer was available; a further 113 were postponed because of a lack of defence lawyers. This happened four times in 2018 and nine times in 2019...
'Overnight accommodation and subsistence rates set to rise'
With effect from 5 December 2024, the guideline rates for overnight accommodation and subsistence are increasing for both providers and experts... The rates will increase to up to £165 in London (within the M25) and up to £100 elsewhere (per person, per night, inclusive of VAT). This compares to the current guideline rates of £100 per night in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle, and £65 per night elsewhere. Where necessary, our caseworkers will retain their discretionary authority to agree rates in excess of the guidelines. This applies where providers are able to demonstrate a lack of suitable accommodation at these prices. The overnight subsistence rate will also increase from £21 to £25...
Cases
R v BOB & Ors [2024] EWCA Crim 1494
This is an appeal by the prosecution against a ruling (“the Ruling”) by the judge on 18 July 2024 when he decided that a series of witness statements from each of two witnesses who had died before trial were inadmissible hearsay...
... Having made those observations, we suggest that the Riat 6 steps may be reformulated as follows, resulting in 7 steps. There is a new step 1 dealing with disclosure and an expanded steps 3 and 7, formerly (ii) and (vi). In most cases the review of disclosure should not be a burden on the court. The obligation is on the prosecution to inform the court that it has done its job properly and to produce the results of the investigation. It is to be hoped that that will be enough in most cases. In including the disclosure obligation as one of the steps we are adding it to a checklist, but not in any way changing what Riat already requires:-
“The statutory framework provided for hearsay evidence by the CJA 2003 can usefully be considered in these successive steps:
is the court satisfied that the prosecution has adduced all relevant evidence, and disclosed all relevant unused material to enable the court to assess the extent to which the hearsay evidence is demonstrably reliable and, if not, the extent to which it can be safely assessed and tested? If not, should the court simply refuse the application or do the interests of justice require directions for a proper disclosure process?
is there a specific statutory justification (or “gateway”) permitting the admission of hearsay evidence (ss.116–118)?
what material is there which can help to test or assess the hearsay? This may be undermining evidence admitted under s.124, or other inconsistent evidence and it may also be independent dovetailing or supporting evidence. The court is required to make a judgment on the basis of all the evidence, having regard to the issues in the case and the importance of the hearsay to those issues.
is there a specific “interests of justice” test at the admissibility stage?
if there is no other justification or gateway, should the evidence nevertheless be considered for admission on the grounds that admission is, despite the difficulties, in the interests of justice (s.114(1)(d))?
even if admissible, ought the evidence to be ruled inadmissible (s.78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and/or s.126 of the CJA 2003)?
if the evidence is admitted, then should the case subsequently be stopped under s.125? This safeguard should be considered in all cases where it applies, at the initiative of the court if the parties do not raise it. It will generally be best determined at the conclusion of all the evidence. This is reinforced by the fact that this is the stage when the judge is likely to have drafted legal directions and to be consulting counsel about them. In a case of this kind, where the prosecution seeks to prove an important and disputed fact by relying on hearsay, the judge is required to give a careful and tailored direction to assist the jury in deciding whether they can safely rely on the hearsay or not. Its sufficiency will be relevant to the safety of any resulting conviction and it will be helpful for the judge to have regard to it when carrying out the assessment required by section 125...
International
'International operation takes down another encrypted messaging service used by criminals'
Authorities are staying on top of the encrypted messaging services that criminals use to undertake their activities. A joint investigation team (JIT) involving French and Dutch authorities has taken down another sophisticated encrypted messaging service, MATRIX. For three months, authorities were able to monitor the messages from possible criminals, which will now be used to support other investigations. During a coordinated operation supported by Eurojust and Europol, the messaging service was taken down by Dutch and French authorities and follow-up actions were executed by their Italian, Lithuanian and Spanish counterparts...
MATRIX, a messaging service made by criminals for criminals, was first discovered by Dutch authorities on the phone of a criminal convicted for the murder of a Dutch journalist in 2021. A large-scale investigation into the messaging service was initiated. It was soon clear that the infrastructure of this platform was technically more complex than previous platforms such as Sky ECC and EncroChat. The founders were convinced that the service was superior and more secure than previous applications used by criminals. Users were only able to join the service if they received an invitation. The infrastructure to run MATRIX consisted of more than 40 servers in several countries with important servers found in France and Germany. Cooperation between the Dutch and French authorities started through a JIT set up at Eurojust. By using innovative technology, the authorities were able to intercept the messaging service and monitor the activity on the service for three months. More than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages were intercepted and deciphered during the investigation. The messages that were intercepted are linked to serious crimes such as international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering...
Other
'Inside the UK's 'wild west' court system where people may have to wait until 2028 for justice to take place'
A Sky News team found crumbling buildings, lawyers almost in open revolt and a judge prepared to speak out at Leicester Crown court...
Are you free on 9 March 2026? You might be a traumatised victim of crime, you may be the suspect accused of wrongdoing, either way you'll be waiting for the next 460 days… and probably beyond. That's exactly what we have just seen inside Leicester Crown Court. Not just once, but case after case shunted into 2026. The judge in court four isn't doing it by choice but necessity. "It is sad because it happened a very long time ago," he says of the next case, as he consigns everyone involved in an already long-running saga to a further two-year wait...
The judge then takes the unusual step of addressing the crisis to us in open court. "I have cases day in, day out that I am having put over. It can be years, if you lose a date in 2025 it is 2026. All these cases you have to decide who gets priority... fraud cases are being put on the back burner. In my position I have cases put over for months, even years." As a rule, judges don't do interviews, so this is as close as we'll get to hearing what he thinks. He is clearly exasperated and remarkably candid: "I don't know where things are going to go but they aren't going to get any better," he says. It is a small audience - two court administrators, two barristers, a defendant and two Sky News journalists - but the judge has had enough of this incredibly slow justice. He is asking victims, defendants, families on both sides, witnesses, the police, court staff, barristers and solicitors to just keep waiting. Every week the backlog gets bigger...
'The crisis in the courts in England and Wales: how did we get here?'
Barristers and judges spread too thinly. Prisons filled with the untried or unsentenced. Victims dropping out of prosecutions altogether. Such is the bleak picture that official government figures paint of the court system in England and Wales. How did we get here? Experts have said the crisis in the courts – greatly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic – is down to a variety of factors. Using government data, the Guardian has outlined some of the issues below...
'Chris Kinch KC: Court underfunding made the past few years a struggle'
The former senior judge at Woolwich tells Catherine Baksi that, despite retiring, he is keeping track of the chaos in the system and says trial delays are ‘unconscionable’...