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
'New register for people convicted of child cruelty offences'
Parents and caregivers who physically harm children will face tougher, lasting consequences for their actions following a new child cruelty register. Adults who subject children in their care to cruel, heartless crimes, such as neglect and abandonment, will be more closely monitored by police and face similar restrictions as registered sex offenders – reducing the chances of reoffending and providing better protection to children. This could include having to inform police if they move house, change their identities, travel abroad, or start living with children again after their sentence. The register will also cover all offences related to child female genital mutilation. The move follows calls for such a register from campaigners including Paula Hudgell, the adoptive mother of Tony Hudgell, who became a double amputee following severe neglect by his birth parents.
The government has tabled amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to establish the register today... rimes covered by the register will include those convicted of causing or allowing the death or serious physical harm of a child. This includes child cruelty, abandonment or neglect, female genital mutilation and infanticide...
'Lead of independent review on new number of forces appointed'
Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe has been appointed to lead the Independent Review of Police Force Structures that will lead to a smaller number of larger forces across England and Wales. As set out in the landmark, Police Reform White Paper, the independent review will make evidence-based recommendations on how to restructure policing across England and Wales into fewer, larger forces.
The review will identify the optimum number of forces and the geographic areas they will cover. It will also consider how the new forces are governed and held accountable to ensure the new system is effective in delivering local policing across the country and responding to the priorities of local communities. Under the new structure, regional forces will carry out complex investigations such as homicide, drugs and county lines. Fewer, larger forces will ensure each one has the capacity to meet surges in demand. Bringing together specialist functions such as firearms, roads policing and cybercrime into larger forces will help build expertise and ensure these resources are deployed effectively. Within these larger forces, there will be Local Policing Areas focussed exclusively on the issues that matter most to residents and businesses, such as shop theft, drug dealing, phone theft and anti-social behaviour. They will be tasked with delivering high quality local and neighbourhood policing, no matter where they are in the country. The terms of reference for the review will be confirmed shortly and its recommendations will be given to the Home Secretary by summer...
'MPs to debate legislation curbing jury trials on 10 March'
Lord chancellor David Lammy’s bill curbing jury trials will be debated in the House of Commons for the first time on 10 March as an influential group of MPs issued a call for evidence to inform scrutiny of the proposed legislation. The House of Commons justice select committee wants submissions on the clauses in the Courts and Tribunals Bill and their overall policy objectives.
Committee chair Andy Slaughter said: ‘It is imperative that in bringing forward these proposed reforms the government explains exactly what type and number of cases will lose the right to a jury trial and how much this will contribute to reducing the backlog. Any such changes need to be evidence-based, and the committee will examine the details of the Bill in the coming weeks, informed by this call for evidence.’ The call for evidence closes on 11 March and the committee will hold its first oral evidence session on 17 March...
Cases
Fahad Ansari, R (on the application of) v Chief Constable of North Wales Police & Anor [2026] EWHC 472 (Admin)
... In short, the claimant is an experienced solicitor specialising in national security and human rights work and currently represents Hamas in its application for deproscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 (“the 2000 Act”). He challenges the decisions taken by officers serving under the Chief Constable of North Wales Police to stop and question him at Holyhead Port in August 2025 pursuant to Sch. 7 to the 2000 Act and to seize, download, retain and inspect the contents of his mobile phone...
... One of the issues which continues to divide the parties is whether the disclosure standard in Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF (No. 3) [2009] UKHL 28, [2010] 2 AC 269 (“AF (No. 3)”) applies to this case. If it does, the claimant is entitled to be provided with a sufficient gist of the case against him to enable him to disprove that case, even if doing so would be damaging to national security. If not, information falls to be disclosed to the claimant only to the extent that its disclosure would not be damaging to the interests of national security...
... In Haralambous, the Supreme Court held that AF (No. 3) does not apply in proceedings to challenge search warrants. That was in part because the search and seizure of documents involved a shorter-term interference with liberty than was involved in AF (No. 3) and in part because the proceedings did not affect the subject’s “substantive position”. That would be affected if and only if the search gave rise to criminal proceedings, in which case the full range of procedural protections would apply. Whether one sees this as putting search warrants into the “lower end” of a “hierarchy” (as Irwin J said in Terra Services) or as carving out search warrants as a special class of case for policy reasons, I do not consider that this case can be convincingly distinguished from Haralambous...
... I therefore conclude that the disclosure standard in AF (No. 3) does not apply; and that neither defendant is required to give any disclosure which would be damaging to the interests of national security.
Other
'The Law Show - The plans to limit jury trials in England and Wales'
The courts system in England and Wales is in an unprecedented crisis. The backlog has reached 80,000 cases, and some defendants are being told they won't be able to have a criminal trial until 2030. The government has introduced the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which contains a raft of measures to tackle delays and bring down the backlog; but the Justice Secretary David Lammy has admitted that things are going to get even worse before they get better. The most controversial change is a plan to restrict the number of jury trials. The right to judgement by your peers has existed for more than 800 years, but for some offences, that's going to end... But will the reforms make a difference?
'In depth: Lord chancellor stands firm on jury trial curbs'
Criminal lawyers have united to oppose jury trial curbs, but David Lammy is refusing to budge. Backbench MPs may yet pitch an eleventh-hour compromise plan...
Criminal Bar Association - The Nutshell Guide to the Courts and Tribunals Bill 2026
The Courts and Tribunals Bill 2026 was published last week, together with the Impact Assessment... We have set out our response to the proposals in greater depth in our ‘Nutshell Guide to the Courts and Tribunals Bill 2026’, which you can read here...