“In October 2012, in light of the more recent allegations of sexual offending by Jimmy Savile, I asked my Principal Legal Advisor, Alison Levitt QC, to examine the decisions taken by the CPS in relation to the four allegations made in 2007 and 2008 and advise me whether they were correct or not.”
Crown Prosecution Service, 11th January 2013
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
“The failure to punish anyone for carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) in almost a decade since Labour introduced a new law designed to stamp out the practice is forcing prosecutors to seek alternative methods to tackle the problem. The Government was facing growing criticism from campaigners after an Independent on Sunday investigation into the horrifying practice known as ‘cutting’, in which the genitals of women and girls are severed by unqualified people in the belief it will preserve the girl’s virginity.”
The Independent, 6th January 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Drunken Twitter and Facebook users who post grossly offensive messages online may be less likely to face prosecution if they hit delete and express remorse after they sober up, Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, indicated.”
The Guardian, 19th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published interim guidance on when to prosecute people for grossly offensive and obscene messages they send on social media. The guidelines are now subject to a full public consultation. Earlier this year, I took part in a series of round table discussions with the DPP over how the guidelines would look.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 19th December 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has today published interim guidelines setting out the approach prosecutors should take in cases involving communications sent via social media.”
Crown Prosecution Service, 19th December 2012
Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk
“OPINION: A seemingly attractive plan to make judges responsible for predicting the cost of court action is not the best way to encourage the accurate prediction of costs, but it is better than nothing.”
OUT-LAW.com, 17th December 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
” ‘Hold the front page: news-gathering in a time of change,’ speech by Lord Justice Leveson, University of Melbourne, Australia, 12 December 2012.”
Judiciary of England and Wales, 12th December 2012
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“The story of what has happened to Detective Superintendent Fulcher would drive anyone to despair for the sanity of our legal system,” reflected a journalist in the Daily Telegraph in October. Certainly, there have been plenty of calls for reform of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 following the debacle over Christopher Halliwell, who abducted and killed a young clubber, but escaped prosecution for the murder of a second victim, despite having confessed and taken the police to where she was buried.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 13th December 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“It is not uncommon for a potential personal injury or clinical negligence claimant to have been subjected to a series of events that may all be linked to causation of his injury – we’ve all met the unfortunate client for whom nothing seems to go right. Sometimes the events will be the acts of third parties, which
may or may not be tortious; at other times, the individual’s own actions may have played a part in the causation of his injuries. The third party acts may involve personal injury, or clinical negligence, or even assault. In such circumstances, there may be multiple potential defendants to any legal claim
and serious thought needs to be given to the question of whom to claim against, to avoid potential adverse costs consequences from bringing proceedings against the wrong, or too many, defendant(s) or – worse – failing to sue the tortfeasor ultimately found to be primarily or even solely responsible for the claimant’s losses.”
Full story (PDF)
Cloisters, November 2012
Source: www.cloisters.com
“This week the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling will bring forward legislation to give householders even greater protection from burglars, via amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill.”
Ministry of Justice, 27th November 2012
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“Two Metropolitan Police officers have been cleared of making racially offensive comments.”
BBC News, 29th November 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The justice secretary’s promise to give householders the right to deploy ‘disproportionate force’ in defending their homes will be incorporated into a parliamentary bill this week.”
The Guardian, 25th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Two specific criminal offences of stalking have come into force in England and Wales for the first time.”
The Independent, 26th November 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“There has been legislation in this country to criminalise female genital mutilation (FGM) for a long time and not one successful prosecution. The three cases referred to the CPS in the last two years had significant evidential difficulties and there was no realistic prospect of conviction.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 19th November 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“Alison Levitt, QC, Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions, oversees CPS decision making and all potential prosecutions in relation to the ongoing phone hacking investigations and other related matters.”
Crown Prosecution Service, 20th November 2012
Source: www.blog.cps.gov.uk
“Users of the social networking site Twitter who wrongly linked Tory peer, Lord McAlpine, with the North Wales care home child abuse scandal, are bracing themselves for a barrage of lawsuits.”
The Independent, 19th November 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The nature of messages posted on social media platforms and not how many people read those comments should determine whether public prosecutors pursue legal action against those that breach UK communications laws, an expert has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 15th November 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
“Twitter account holders with few followers could escape prosecution for posting ‘grossly offensive’ messages as part of an attempt to protect free speech online, under new guidelines being developed by Britain’s most senior prosecutor.”
Daily Telegraph, 13th November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“There has been legislation in this country to criminalise female genital mutilation (FGM) for 27 years and not one successful prosecution. Three cases referred to the Crown Prosection Service (CPS) in the last two years had significant evidential difficulties and were not pursued. Last week the Association of Women Barristers (AWB) and the CPS held a joint seminar to address these issues.”
The Guardian, 13th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The family of a man who died in the back of a police van following a ‘catalogue of errors’ by officers supposed to be monitoring him today spoke of their anger that nobody would face a criminal prosecution over his death.”
The Independent, 1st November 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2025