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
'Laws to largely abolish use of short prison sentences to be introduced within weeks'
New laws to reduce the use of short prison sentences and toughen up community punishments are expected to be introduced within weeks. Ministers are expected to introduce the new legislation to the Commons after the summer recess. The changes will abolish most short-term prison sentences and introduce an earned release scheme, based on a model used in Texas, where prisoners who demonstrate good behaviour can be freed earlier - while those who disobey prison rules are detained for longer. This will include some prisoners jailed for violent offences, although those convicted of the most dangerous crimes and for terrorism will be excluded.
The new bill will introduce many of the changes recommended by the independent sentencing review, carried out by former Conservative justice minister David Gauke earlier this year. It represents one of the largest overhauls of sentencing in a generation and marks a cornerstone of the government's effort to reduce the size of the prison population in England and Wales. As well as reducing the use of short custodial sentences, the changes will also toughen up community sentences, introducing a wider range of punishments for those serving time outside of prison. This could include bans on going to stadiums to watch sports or music events, as well as restrictions on visiting pubs, and the wider use of drug testing...
Under the legislation, which it is understood will be introduced in September, prison sentences of 12 months or less will be scrapped, except for in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases. Meanwhile, the length of suspended sentences - where an offender is not sent to prison immediately unless they commit a further crime - will be extended from two years to three...
'Ministers vow to give sexual violence victims the justice they deserve'
Ministers have vowed to give victims of sexual violence “the justice they deserve” as figures showed that growing numbers of sentences for such crimes in England and Wales were being referred back to judges as unduly lenient. According to internal government figures seen by the Guardian, the number of sentences for rape and sexual assault that were increased by the court of appeal after being referred by the public and the attorney general’s office has risen this year. Lucy Rigby, the solicitor general for England and Wales, said ministers were using “every possible means” to punish perpetrators who “need to know the book will be thrown at them”. Rigby oversees referrals to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which allows anyone who is concerned about the length of a crown court sentence handed down for a serious crime to ask for it to be reviewed by the government. She reviews sentences highlighted by members of the public and refers those she believes appear unduly lenient to the court of appeal.
According to government figures, 62% of the sentences increased by the court of appeal in the first half of this year were for rape and serious sexual offences. This was up from 30% in the second half of 2024 and 41% in the first half. In 2023, the figures were 25% for the second half of the year and 30% in the first six months. The proportion of sentences for rape and serious sexual offences flagged as unduly lenient by the public and the attorney general’s office has also risen...
'Serious Fraud Office’s counsel rates increase from 1 September'
This change will apply to all counsel and the change will be made automatically. The increase will be met from within the SFO’s existing budget funded by savings and efficiencies found during the Spending Review... These new rates are applicable to all counsel on one of the SFO panels as set out below. They will apply to all work carried out from 1 September 2025. Counsel who progress to a higher panel or who are appointed to King’s Counsel during the lifetime of an instruction will have their fees uplifted accordingly to that higher rate from the applicable date...
- King’s Counsel - For five years or more on 1 September, your Hourly Rate will increase from £185 to £230.
- King’s Counsel For less than five years on 1 September, your Hourly Rate will increase from £165 to £205.
- Panel A, your Hourly Rate will increase from £105 to £130.
- Panel B, your Hourly Rate will increase from £85 to £105.
- Panel C, your Hourly Rate will increase from £75 to £95.
International
'Why Scotland's criminal appeal court going live is a big deal for justice'
The Criminal Appeal Court is to become the first criminal court in Scotland with a regular livestreaming service, allowing hearings to be viewed online by the public. Beginning on Friday, August 29, solemn criminal appeals will be broadcast live in a bid to improve access, openness and transparency in the appeal court. The launch of Criminal Appeal Court Live is part of the Judiciary and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service's commitment to open justice and follows a similar successful project in the Court of Session, dating back to 2023. The scheme will initially focus on appeals against conviction and Crown appeals against sentence, but eventually the aim is for all appeals to be broadcast...
Other
'The Jury: Murder Trial could change our legal system forever'
You will probably have noticed that television is increasingly full of reality game shows desperately attempting to emulate The Traitors. Destination X, Genius Game and The Fortune Hotel are joined next week by Channel 4’s The Inheritance (with Liz Hurley in the Claudia Winkleman role!). The series that unwittingly captures the essence of The Traitors is not a brazen copycat, however, but a serious-minded experiment designed to test the efficacy of trial by jury. The idea behind The Jury: Murder Trial is that 12 “ordinary people” (or at least the sort of ordinary people who want to appear on TV) watch a re-staged version of a genuine murder trial. Actors use actual trial transcripts that have been edited down, but will these mock jurors reach the same verdict as the real jury did? Or, as narrator Greg Wise somewhat sweepingly asks: “Can we trust our justice system?”
Obscurity
'Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent'
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday were unable to persuade a grand jury to approve a felony indictment against a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of Washington this month, according to two people familiar with the matter...