News
CBA Action Vote
QUESTION 1: Do you support the CBA proposal for action now in respect Prosecution Fees?
Of the 2725 individuals who answered this question:
2586 (94.90%) answered yes
139 (5.10%) answered noQUESTION 2: Do you support the CBA proposal for action now in respect of AGFS Scheme 11?
Of the 2735 individuals who answered this question:
2567 (93.86%) answered yes
168 (6.14%) answered no
Judicial Pay
Responding to a major review from the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has introduced a temporary recruitment and retention allowance at 25% for High Court judges and 15% for Circuit and Upper Tribunal judges who are eligible for the new pension scheme 2015... It replaces the existing allowance of 11% for High Court judges and falls below SSRB’s recommendation of a 32% permanent salary increase for High Court judges and 22% for Circuit and Upper Tribunal judges covered by the new pension scheme.
Today’s package also includes a 2% pay award for all members of the judiciary in 2019/20. This was made following careful consideration of SSRB’s overall evidence.
Boris Johnson Summons Quashed
Boris Johnson today successfully blocked a bid to prosecute him for claims made about a £350m "Brexit dividend" during the EU referendum. Two High Court judges took barely five minutes to quash a decision by a district judge to allow the case to proceed to a criminal trial.
Mr Justice Supperstone said: "We are quashing the decision of the District Judge." The judges said they would issue their reasons at a later date, when court costs will also be sorted out.
‘Pre-trial cross-examination of sexual offence complainants’
From 3 June 2019 complainants in trials for sex offences at Kingston-upon-Thames, Liverpool and Leeds Crown Courts will be eligible to have their cross-examination pre-recorded.
'Magistrates call for end to prison sentences under eight weeks'
Prison sentences of less than eight weeks should no longer be imposed by the courts, the Magistrates’ Association is urging, in defiance of more radical government proposals.
This spring the justice secretary, David Gauke, made a clean break with traditional Conservative policy and suggested following Scotland’s initiative in adopting a presumption against prison sentences of less than six months... The Magistrates’ Association, which speaks on behalf of about 16,000 lay magistrates, argues that a distinction should be made between very short sentences of up to eight weeks and those of about six months.
'Sally Challen: No fresh trial over husband murder'
Sally Challen, 65, was found guilty of murdering 61-year-old Richard in Surrey and jailed for life in 2011. Her conviction was quashed in February and she was due to face a retrial for his murder next month.
She was jailed for nine years and four months for manslaughter but walked free due to time already served. The lesser charge was accepted by prosecutors at the Old Bailey on the grounds of diminished responsibility, after a psychiatric report concluded Mrs Challen was suffering an "adjustment disorder".
Cases
R v Chall [2019] EWCA Crim 865
The five cases which are now before the court, though otherwise unconnected, have been listed together because they raise a common issue as to the approach a sentencing judge should take when assessing for the purposes of a relevant sentencing guideline whether a victim of crime has suffered severe psychological harm.
In summary, our views on the common issue raised in these cases are as follows:
- Expert evidence is not an essential precondition of a finding that a victim has suffered severe psychological harm.
- A judge may assess that such harm has been suffered on the basis of evidence from the victim, including evidence contained in a VPS, and may rely on his or her observation of the victim whilst giving evidence.
- Whether a VPS provides evidence which is sufficient for a finding of severe psychological harm depends on the circumstances of the particular case and the contents of the VPS.
- A VPS must comply with the requirements of the Criminal Practice Direction and be served on the defence in sufficient time to enable them to consider its contents and decide how to address them. If late service gives rise to genuine problems for the defence, an application for an adjournment can be made.
Bahbahani, R (On the Application Of) v Ealing Magistrates' Court [2019] EWHC 1385 (Admin)
The facts of this case are extraordinary, and we think it almost inconceivable that they will ever be replicated. The Claimant Mr Bahbahani applies for judicial review of his convictions following a summary trial as long ago as 26th August 2014. It now appears that the man who attended that trial (and earlier court appearances) and identified himself as the Claimant, and who gave evidence in the Claimant's name, was not in fact the Claimant but rather his trusted agent Saad Maki Abdul-Jalil, to whom he had granted power of attorney. In essence, the Claimant contends that the proceedings as a whole were unlawful because he had been impersonated.
Other
‘Expert witnesses: a crisis in the criminal courts’
Last month the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee published a report on the critical state of forensic science in the United Kingdom. Several private forensic science providers are close to financial collapse. At the same time the police are increasingly taking forensic science in-house – raising obvious questions of independence and impartiality – or outsourcing it to unregulated providers that do not met minimum quality standards.
This report was alarming enough, but the problem with expert evidence in criminal cases goes much deeper even than the alarming House of Lords report suggests. Such evidence is not confined to forensic science, and the dubious status of some of the expert witnesses who appear in the criminal courts was highlighted by a fraud trial that collapsed last week.
Sponsored
Crime Fees 4 - Fees Calculator for iOS and Android
Crime Fees enables lawyers in England and Wales to easily calculate legal aid fees for both prosecution and defence. All fee schemes are covered: LGFS, CPS Scheme C, the new December 2018 AGFS (Scheme 11), the April 2018 AGFS (Scheme 10), and the old 2012 AGFS (Scheme 9).