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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
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England and Wales'
Cyclists who kill pedestrians by dangerous cycling could face life imprisonment in England and Wales under new amendments to the crime and policing bill. The offence of causing death by dangerous cycling would be brought into line with driving laws under amendments tabled on Thursday, the Department for Transport said. Dangerous or reckless cycling is usually punished with a maximum two-year jail term. The amendments renew a planned change of the law under the Conservatives that was derailed by the general election. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, plans to close a loophole whereby reckless cycling was caught under legislation dating back to the 1860s...
'SFO sets out route for businesses to avoid prosecution'
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today launched new guidance, stating for the first time that if a corporate self-reports suspected wrongdoing and co-operates fully with investigators, it can expect to be invited to negotiate a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) rather than face prosecution, unless exceptional circumstances apply.
At a legal conference in London, SFO Director Nick Ephgrave introduced new corporate co-operation guidance that will make it simpler for corporates to report suspected wrongdoing by a direct route to the SFO’s Intelligence Division via a secure reporting portal. The guidance also provides greater clarity on what the SFO views as ‘genuine co-operation’, including preservation of digital and hard copy material, presenting the facts on suspected criminal conduct and early engagement with the SFO on any internal investigation. The guidance also gives examples of what the SFO views as uncooperative conduct, including attempts to “forum shop” by unreasonably reporting offending to another jurisdiction for strategic reasons and attempts to minimise or obfuscate the involvement of individuals...
'Police chiefs granted powers to remove officers unfit for duty'
Police chiefs will be able to automatically sack officers who fail background checks, under new government measures to boost confidence in policing. The reforms, which come into effect next month, will make passing background checks a legal requirement for all serving officers. Calls for a change to police vetting procedures began after an independent report into the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called the reforms "essential" to the government's plans to "restore confidence in policing". In some circumstances, those who do not pass vetting - a background check used to identify unsuitable individuals - can currently stay in their force on full pay, but are not allowed to undertake a public-facing role. Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police said 29 officers and staff were on special vetting leave and receiving full pay and pension...
Sir Mark said in February that policing had been left in a "hopeless position" after the High Court ruled that Sgt Lino Di Maria, an officer accused of rape, could not be dismissed because the process was fundamentally unfair. Sgt Di Maria had mounted a legal challenge after having his vetting removed following sexual assault allegations, which he denied and was not charged over. Mrs Justice Lang said the dismissal process which had been used by the Met was unlawful as those suspected of wrongdoing were denied an opportunity to defend themselves. She said the Met's powers did not "extend to the dismissal of a police officer by reason of withdrawal of vetting clearance"...
'Major step for fraud prevention with landmark ban on SIM farms'
Members of the public will be better protected from fraudsters and scammers through a landmark, Europe-first ban on the possession and supply of SIM farms, the Fraud Minister Lord Hanson has confirmed today. SIM farms are technical devices capable of holding multiple SIM cards enabling criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people at once or set up ‘verified’ online accounts in large volumes. They increase the chances of innocent consumers falling victim to major financial losses...
The new offence will make the possession or supply of SIM farms without a legitimate reason illegal, shutting down a key route used by criminals to exploit the public, and will carry an unlimited fine in England and Wales and a £5,000 fine in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The ban will come into effect 6 months after the Crime and Policing Bill receives Royal Assent...
'Toughest measures yet to protect children from knife content'
As part of the Plan for Change, tougher sanctions will be brought in to combat the unacceptable content circulating online that advertises deadly and illegal knives and other offensive weapons to young people – or which glorifies or incites violence. The government has already announced a significant fine of up to £10,000 for individual tech bosses whose platforms fail to remove this content within 48 hours following a police warning. Following significant consultation with the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime, the government is going even further with an additional fine of up to £60,000 to be paid by the company. This means tech platforms and their executives could collectively face up to £70,000 in fines for every post relating to knife crime they fail to remove. A greater range of online platforms will be liable under these new laws to also include online search engines as well as social media platforms and marketplaces, to capture all online providers which might currently be failing to remove content...
As previously announced, the Home Office will introduce a new system to be carried out by a new policing unit backed by £1.75 million of funding to tackle the sale of knives online. This will have a national capability and be run by the National Police Chiefs’ Council. They will be responsible for issuing Content Removal Notices which inform the tech platform of illegal content, giving them a 48 hour window in which they must remove it. Failure to comply will now result in a Civil Penalty Notice rather than taking the company to civil court, which include the respective fines for both executives and the wider company. This will mean sanctions can be inflicted much more quickly and is the same penalty that an employer may receive for employing an illegal worker to reflect the vital importance of removing harmful knife related content...
'Nationalities of foreign criminals to be published for first time'
The nationalities of foreign criminals in the UK are due to be published for the first time under plans being unveiled later. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have ordered officials to publish the data, including crimes that have been committed, by the end of the year. There were more than 19,000 foreign offenders awaiting deportation at the end of last year, up from almost 18,000 when the Conservatives left office, figures show. A Home Office source said the government wanted the public to be better informed about foreign criminals, including where they come from...
International
'US prosecutors may end oversight tool in corporate criminal cases'
The US Department of Justice might axe an important tool used to ensure companies that have broken the law do not do so again: monitors who continue to scrutinise corporate conduct after criminal cases have been resolved. The move is part of an effort to loosen corporate enforcement policies, including for companies that already accepted monitors as a condition of government settlements, according to people familiar with the department leadership’s thinking. The DoJ declined to comment.
US defence contractor Raytheon agreed in October to pay more than $950mn to defer prosecution on charges of foreign bribery and overbilling the Pentagon. A three-year monitorship it agreed to under the deal should already have started but has yet to begin as prosecutors review how to proceed, according to a person familiar with the matter. Raytheon did not respond to a request for comment. In another case, the justice department allowed Swiss commodity trader Glencore, which pleaded guilty to foreign bribery charges in 2022, to end its monitorship 15 months early.
Monitorships began to proliferate with the wave of corporate prosecutions in the early 2000s, such as the WorldCom and Enron cases, and over the years have become a routine element of corporate criminal resolutions. The terms require companies to retain an outside firm, usually a law firm or consultancy, and allow them to review internal records or talk to employees at will. They investigate apparent violations, ensure compliance with their plea agreements and report their findings to the courts or government...
Other
'Teach about crime and its consequences in school, urges lawyer'
A solicitor is calling for the compulsory teaching in schools of criminal offences and their consequences. Aysha Moore has launched the petition because she has “represented far too many young people in the police station and in court simply because they dd not know or understand the law”. Moore, who is also a parent, says too often young people “unknowingly or unintentionally” commit offences “due to being led astray or due to peer pressure and not knowing how to avoid certain situations”. She wants to ensure they are being taught in schools to be “make better or informed decisions” around the potential to be convicted of a crime.
Her petition has been launched on the UK Parliament’s website. It currently has just under 500 signatures. The government will respond if it reaches 10,000, and if it gains 100,000 signatures the issue will be considered for debate in Parliament. In launching the petition Moore cites latest youth justice figures showing that just under 8,300 children were first time entrants to the justice system during 2023/24. This year also saw the first increase in custodial sentences in a decade, when 660 children were locked up. In addition, during 2023/24 the reoffending rate of children committing offences increased for the second consecutive year to just under one in three...