Our justice system is being turned into Profit & Growth plc – The Guardian
“Under Chris Grayling’s plans, lawyers will become unit-shifters employed by large corporations.”
The Guardian, 1st April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Category: criminal justice
Regina v Applied Language Solutions Ltd – WLR Daily
Regina v Applied Language Solutions Ltd: [2013] EWCA Crim 326; [2013] WLR (D) 123
“Where a company had an agreement with the Ministry of Justice to provide interpreters, including interpreters for criminal proceedings, it was essential that an interpreter was provided on every occasion when one was required. If there was successive non-attendance of an individual interpreter or successive failures in systems a court was entitled to view that as amounting to serious misconduct rendering the company liable for the costs thereby incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service and the defence.”
WLR Daily, 25th March 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
No consultation on principle of criminal legal aid tendering – LAG News Blog
“It was clear from the meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid yesterday evening that there is a wide gulf between legal aid practitioners and the government on the issue of competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services. Members of the audience, many of whom were solicitors and barristers specialising in criminal work, were shocked to hear Dr Elizabeth Gibby, the senior official at the Ministry of Justice responsible for the policy, declare that the consultation on competitive tendering planned for next month ‘will be on the model only and not the principle’.”
LAG News Blog, 21st March 2013
Source: www.legalactiongroupnews.org.uk
Has The Golden Thread Finally Been Snapped? – Zenith Chambers
“‘Throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner’s guilt subject to what I have already said as to the defence of insanity and subject also to any statutory exception
No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained.’
Per Viscount Sankey in Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462 – emphasis added.
There cannot be an English lawyer who is unaware of this paragraph in Viscount Sankey’s judgment in Woolmington. Many non-lawyers who have chanced to read the Rumpole stories will also be as aware of, if not as attached to, it.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 19th March 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Criminal legal aid scheme of the future must be based on quality and public interest, not just price – The Bar Council
“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has today responded to the Ministry of Justice’s announcement that its consultation and implementation of a new scheme for criminal legal aid will be brought forward, with price competition put forward as one key proposal.”
The Bar Council, 5th March 2013
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
Criminal legal aid tenders – LAG News Blog
“Lord McNally, the minister with responsibility for legal aid, has announced a decision to ‘accelerate’ the timetable to introduce competitive tendering for criminal legal aid. The government wants to save cash, but LAG asks can it succeed where the last government failed, as designing a tender system will be complex with no guarantee of savings?”
LAG News Blog, 5th March 2013
Source: www.legalactiongroupnews.org.uk
Legal aid: Chris Grayling plans further cuts – BBC News
“Plans to make further savings to the £2bn bill for legal aid in England and Wales have been announced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.”
BBC News, 5th March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Kenneth Clarke’s plans for secret courts savaged by lawyers – The Guardian
“Controversial government plans to introduce a new generation of secret courts have been dealt a major blow after hundreds of lawyers attacked them as ‘contrary to the rule of law’.”
The Guardian, 28th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lawyers debate whether trial by jury is the best option – BBC News
“John Cooper QC and Kirsty Brimelow QC discuss whether trial by jury is the best option.”
BBC News, 21st February 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Damian Green: Unacceptable delays in criminal justice system – Ministry of Justice
“There are unacceptable delays in Magistrates’ Courts which slows down justice for victims, said Justice Minister Damian Green as he announced plans to modernise the system.”
Ministry of Justice, 19th February 2013
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
R v Druce – why the truth alone is not always enough – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
“The judgment of the Court of Appeal in R v Druce [2013] EWCA 40 delivered on 31 January is a stark lesson in how confiscation proceedings can go badly wrong for an ill-prepared defendant.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 19th February 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Criminal justice watchdog set to overhaul flawed system – The Guardian
“A criminal justice watchdog is to be formed to help overhaul a system that does not deliver the level of service the public ‘expect, want or deserve’, a senior minister is to announce.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Rape suspects ‘should not be named’ – The Guardian
“Anti-rape campaigners have dismissed proposals for alleged rapists to be granted anonymity to avoid lasting stigma if they are cleared.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Rummun v State of Mauritius – WLR Daily
Rummun v State of Mauritius [2013] UKPC 6; [2013] WLR (D) 53
“Where there had been substantial delay in a criminal trial it was the duty of the court, whether at sentence or on appeal and whether or not the matter had been raised by the defence, to examine the possibility of there having been a breach of the defendant’s right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, and if so whether that should influence the sentence to be imposed. The court should consider the factors which had caused the delay, including the responsibility of the defendant for any delay, but was to exercise caution in respect of any decision by him to contest the case on grounds which proved to be unfeasible, since a defendant to a criminal charge was entitled to put the prosecuting authorities to proof of his guilt.”
WLR Daily, 7th February 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
A new approach: access to justice in criminal cases – LegalVoice
“Anyone concerned over the need to check the power of the police and prosecution authorities by providing a counter-balance holding these state funded entities to account may find this paper helpful, writes Robin Murray. It is a proposal to save millions of pounds of tax-payers’ money whilst at the same time preserving independent access to justice, an essential pre-requisite to prevent abuse and injustice to which anyone of us, high or low can become a victim.”
LegalVoice, 5th February 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
What has the European Court of Human Rights ever done for us? – The Independent
“The Court of Human Rights has a bad press in Britain – but for thousands of desperate people it is their last shot at justice.”
The Independent, 14th January 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Unreliable Evidence – BBC Radio 4
“Clive Anderson and top lawyers and judges reveal why the wheels of our legal system turn so slowly and discuss concerns that Government proposals to speed up proceedings in our criminal courts could lead to injustices.”
BBC Radio 4, 2nd January 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Victims to be given back their voice – Home Office
“Victims of antisocial behaviour and low level crime will be able to have their say on out-of-court punishments of offenders, the Home Office announced today.”
Home Office, 13th December 2012
Source: www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Regina v Smith (Mark) – WLR Daily
Regina v Smith (Mark) [2012] EWCA Crim 2566; [2012] WLR (D) 362
“The court had to identify the potential victim in a restraining order under section 5A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to reflect the underlying purpose of the provision to protect that person or class of persons from an acquitted defendant and could only impose an order if satisfied that the defendant was likely to pursue a course of conduct which amounted to harassment within the meaning of section 1 of the Act.”
WLR Daily, 29th November 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
A restorative justice system – the view from the bench – Ministry of Justice
“Lawrence Kershen QC, a commercial mediator at Tooks Chambers and former Chairman of the Restorative Justice Council, discusses restorative justice in the criminal justice system. Restorative justice allows victims of crime to be given the opportunity to confront their offender and to have a say in the resolution of the offence.”
Ministry of Justice, 29th November 2012
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
