Drop juries for less serious crimes in England and Wales, judges say – The Guardian

Posted June 17th, 2020 in coronavirus, criminal justice, Crown Court, delay, juries, news, trials by sally

‘Less serious crimes should be tried in crown courts before a judge without a jury in order to tackle the thousands of cases building up during the pandemic crisis, judges have suggested.’

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The Guardian, 16th June 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Overseas Production Orders – A New Tool to Obtain Foreign Electronic Evidence – 6KBW College Hill

Posted June 5th, 2020 in Crown Court, data protection, evidence, foreign jurisdictions, news by sally

‘For years, prosecutors and defenders have acted in the confident knowledge that obtaining certain types of important electronic evidence from overseas in time for use at trial has been very difficult. That may now change: the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 (“the Act”) received the Royal Assent on 12 February 2019. The provisions of the Act came into force on 9 October 2019.’

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6KBW College Hill, 25th May 2020

Source: blog.6kbw.com

Jury trials to resume in England and Wales with physical distancing – The Guardian

Posted May 12th, 2020 in coronavirus, Crown Court, juries, news by sally

‘Jury trials will resume under physical distancing restrictions in a limited number of crown courts in England and Wales from 18 May, the lord chief justice has announced.’

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The Guardian, 11th May 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Old Bailey jury trials to resume this week – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 11th, 2020 in coronavirus, courts, criminal justice, Crown Court, juries, news, trials by sally

‘Two jury trials will resume at the Old Bailey this week as first steps toward Crown court cases restarting around the country. However, the criminal bar warned that a resumption of normal service “remains many weeks off”.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 10th May 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The impact of Coronavirus, part 2: attending hearings in the Crown Court remotely – 6KBW College Hill

‘On 25 March 2020, the Coronavirus Act 2020 (‘the 2020 Act’) was given Royal Assent. Most of its provisions came into force immediately (s. 87). Almost all of them will expire within two years (s. 89). As an additional safeguard, Parliament is required to conduct a review of the legislation every six months (s. 98). The 2020 Act has, at least for the time being, radically changed the appearance of proceedings in the Crown Court: there will now be hearings where neither the parties nor the judge will actually be in court at all.’

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6KBW College Hill, 2nd April 2020

Source: blog.6kbw.com

Number of outstanding crown court cases reaches two-year high – The Guardian

Posted March 27th, 2020 in coronavirus, criminal justice, Crown Court, delay, news, statistics by sally

‘The number of outstanding crown court cases in England and Wales has reached the highest level for two years, figures show, amid growing concerns about pressures on the criminal justice system caused by the Covid-19 crisis.’

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The Guardian, 26th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Quarter of criminal trials in England and Wales face disruption – The Guardian

Posted March 19th, 2020 in coronavirus, criminal justice, Crown Court, news by sally

‘A quarter of crown court trials will be disrupted due to restrictions unveiled overnight by the most senior judge in England and Wales to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the justice secretary has said.’

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The Guardian, 18th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020: Questions We Should Be Asking – KCH Garden Sq

Posted February 6th, 2020 in chambers articles, Crown Court, media, news, video recordings by sally

‘When we think of televised court proceedings our minds instantly turn to the catchy maxim – ‘if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit’. Johnnie Cochran’s words, spoken during the defence team’s closing argument of OJ Simpson’s trial, came to embody a sensational trial which was televised over 134 days. And who can forget the footage of OJ, putting on the black gloves and showing his hands to the judge and jury? Then we fast forward to 2016, and the world watched as Oscar Pistorius – Paralympic champion and breaker of glass ceilings – walked across the courtroom on his stumps at his resentencing hearing for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.’

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KCH Garden Sq, 29th January 2020

Source: kchgardensquare.co.uk

Crown court sitting days increase ‘nowhere near enough’ – criminal bar – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 5th, 2020 in barristers, criminal justice, Crown Court, delay, news, statistics by sally

‘The criminal bar has welcomed the thousands of extra Crown court sitting days announced by the government this week but says it is not even close to what is needed.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 5th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Crown court disposals fall despite growing caseload – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted December 16th, 2019 in budgets, Crown Court, news, statistics by sally

‘The Crown court faces a growing backlog of work, as the number of criminal cases reaching court rises but the number of disposals falls.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 16th December 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 – Law in Action: ‘Magistracy: a jewel in the crown of justice’ – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted November 7th, 2019 in cross-examination, Crown Court, magistrates, press releases, witnesses by sally

‘Joshua Rozenberg from BBC Radio 4 spoke with Maidstone Bench Chair Gill Fryzer and John Bache from the Magistrates Association for his Law in Action programme.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 7th November 2019

Source: www.judiciary.ukwww.judiciary.ukwww.judiciary.uk

‘Incomprehensible’ MoJ guides airbrush barristers out, says Bar Council – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 14th, 2019 in barristers, courts, criminal justice, Crown Court, news, solicitors by sally

‘Guides explaining the workings of criminal courts should be corrected “as a matter of urgency” according to the Bar Council, which claims they “effectively airbrush out of history the role of barristers”.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th October 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Barristers accuse MoJ of false economies in crown court backlogs – The Guardian

Posted September 24th, 2019 in barristers, Crown Court, delay, Ministry of Justice, news by sally

‘A dispute over delays to crown court trials has broken out after criminal barristers accused the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of making false economies by not reducing case backlogs.’

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The Guardian, 23rd September 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Trial collapses after woman ‘followed the crowd’ and accidentally joined the jury – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 16th, 2019 in Crown Court, juries, mistake, news, oaths by sally

‘A crown court case collapsed after a woman “simply followed the crowd” and accidentally joined the jury.’

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Daily Telegraph, 15th September 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Junior judges face zero-hours working conditions, say lawyers – The Guardian

Posted July 1st, 2019 in budgets, courts, criminal justice, Crown Court, judiciary, news, part-time work by sally

‘Junior judges are being put on what are in effect zero-hours contracts as the criminal justice system succumbs to a fresh round of austerity and courtrooms are closed down, lawyers are warning.’

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The Guardian, 30th June 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Public Order Offences Consultation – Sentencing Council

Posted May 31st, 2018 in consultations, Crown Court, magistrates, news, public order, sentencing by sally

‘The Sentencing Council has produced this consultation paper in order to seek views from as many people as possible interested in the sentencing of Public Order Act offences.’

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Sentencing Council, 9th May 2018

Source: consult.justice.gov.uk

Allocation: Assessment of guideline – Sentencing Council

Posted March 8th, 2018 in courts, Crown Court, magistrates, news, sentencing, trials by sally

‘The Sentencing Council has published its assessment of the impact of its Allocation Guideline, under its statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its sentencing guidelines and to draw conclusions from this information.’

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Sentencing Council, 6th March 2018

Source: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Better case management – Counsel

Posted October 12th, 2017 in case management, criminal procedure, Crown Court, evidence, news by sally

‘Two years on, how have collective efforts to make every court hearing count evolved? Peter Hungerford-Welch summarises the procedural changes and the message from case law.’

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Counsel, October 2017

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘Soft sentence’ correction scheme extended to terror offences – Ministry of Justice

’19 terror-related offences will be added to Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to keep families and communities safe.’

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Ministry of Justice, 15th July 2017

Source: www.gov.uk

Lawyer who started her career with work experience aged 15 becomes UK’s youngest ever female judge at just 31 – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 8th, 2017 in Crown Court, judges, news, solicitors by sally

‘A woman who began her career in law as a 15-year-old on work experience has become the country’s youngest ever female judge.’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th March 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk