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
CBA Ballot
Criminals barristers in England and Wales are to vote over a national walkout on 1 July in protest at low fees, which they say can be as low as £46.50 for a day in court.
The Criminal Bar Association’s (CBA) announcement of a ballot, among thousands of lawyers who carry out defence and prosecution work, marks a sharp escalation in the long-running dispute over payment for legal work.
The details can be found here.
CPS Response to CBA Ballot
We are well aware of the concerns being raised by the Bar but are disappointed they have taken this step. We wrote to them earlier this month to make clear that we hugely value their work and share their desire for a swift and positive conclusion to the review of fees schemes.
Work is underway, but a significant amount of research and analysis is necessary to develop new schemes that are simple, fair, affordable and sustainable. We expect to conclude this work by September. This is an ambitious timescale, but reflects the importance attached to this work.
Sentencing Code
The new Sentencing Code to simplify and tidy up the country’s complex sentencing laws moved a step closer today (23 May 2019), as the government introduced a Bill in Parliament.
The Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Bill brought forward today will make necessary technical amendments and remove historic, now redundant layers of legislation, to pave the way for the Sentencing Code. This will include enacting a ‘clean sweep’ to sentencing procedural law, which will allow for all offenders convicted after the Sentencing Code comes into force to be sentenced according to the most up to date law, irrespective of when they committed the offence.
The 'Pre-consolidation' Bill can be found here. The proposed Sentencing Code can be found here.
Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation Appointed
The Home Secretary has announced today in a speech at New Scotland Yard the appointment of Jonathan Hall QC as the government’s new Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
Jonathan Hall has been a QC for 5 years and has been involved in complex and high profile cases involving fraud, law enforcement, and national security.
'Revenge porn laws not working, says victims group'
Laws covering so-called revenge porn are not fit for purpose and police still need more training, experts say. Victims should receive anonymity and laws need to include threats to share images, according to Sophie Mortimer from the Revenge Porn helpline.
Figures from 19 forces in England and Wales revealed police investigations have doubled in the last four years but the number of charges has fallen. The National Police Chiefs Council said forces take the crime "very seriously".
'Met may start trialling thermal-image scanners for knife searches'
The Met says it is liaising with a private security firm over testing the technology as a means of tackling violent crime and an alternative to stop and search.
Police said they were considering trials of the “scanning software” as Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey pledged to deploy £800,000 scanners if he was elected. He said one company, Thermal Matrix, had scanners being used by law enforcement in the United States and Indonesia. The technology uses thermal-imaging cameras and software to detect concealed weapons and Mr Bailey said they could be deployed to scan large crowds at events.
Cases
R v RR [2019] EWCA Crim 866
They convicted the appellant by a majority of eleven to one on count 3, perverting the course of justice.
Developing the ground in his written argument Mr Greenhall submitted that the trial judge's direction was to the effect that a tendency to bring the criminal prosecution for rape to an end was of itself a tendency to pervert the course of justice, and that an intention to bring the criminal prosecution for rape to an end was necessarily an intention to pervert the course of justice. He submits that the trial judge should have directed the jury that if they concluded that the appellant intended to bring the prosecution to an end but that he genuinely believed the rape allegations were false then the jury should consider the propriety of the means adopted by the appellant to achieve his end...
On behalf of the prosecution Mr Bassano has realistically and responsibly conceded that the judge's direction was inadequate, and in particular that there should have been a fuller direction in answer to the jury's question.
Other
'Ignorant, dishonest or both? Boris Johnson’s ramblings about prisoners and spa breaks are divorced from reality'
As today’s resignation announcement by the Prime Minister prefigures, in bookmakers’ eyes at least, the dawn of a Boris Johnson premiership, I thought it worth typing up a thread I posted earlier this week in response to Mr Johnson’s latest column for the Daily Telegraph.
Sponsored
Crime Fees 3 - Crown Court Fees Calculator for iOS and Android
Crime Fees enables criminal barristers in England and Wales to easily calculate Crown Court advocate fees for both prosecution and defence. All fee schemes are covered: the CPS Scheme C, the new December 2018 AGFS (Scheme 11), the April 2018 AGFS (Scheme 10), and the old 2012 AGFS (Scheme 9).