Addressing Racial Disparity in the Youth Justice System – A Critical Analysis – Mountford Chambers

‘Fatima Jama examines the report by Revolving Doors which reviews good and promising local practices that aims to tackle ethnic disparity and minority over-representation in youth justice across England and Wales.’

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Mountford Chambers, 5th November 2024

Source: www.mountfordchambers.com

IOPC clears armed police who arrested 13-year-old playing with water pistol – The Guardian

‘The actions of armed police who surrounded and arrested a 13-year-old boy after an officer mistook his water pistol for a real gun were “reasonable in the circumstances”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.’

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The Guardian, 13th December 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Race at the Bar: time to double down on race equality work – The Bar Council

Posted December 10th, 2024 in barristers, equality, news, race discrimination, reports by tracey

‘The Bar Council is calling on individuals, chambers, and organisations at the Bar to step up work on race equality and keep the momentum going, as it publishes the follow up report to the landmark Race at the Bar report 2021.”

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The Bar Council, 4th December 2024

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

High public confidence in barristers falters among ethnic minorities – Legal Futures

Posted December 2nd, 2024 in barristers, equality, legal profession, news, race discrimination, statistics by tracey

‘Public confidence in barristers is high, but lower among those from minority backgrounds, especially when it comes to perceptions of whether they treat everyone fairly, new research has found.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd December 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

CPS sets out Action Plan to tackle disproportionality in charging decisions – Crown Prosecution Service

‘An ambitious plan to tackle racial disproportionality and safeguard fair prosecution decision-making for all has been published today by the Crown Prosecution Service.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 28th November 2024

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Children taken away from parents due to misreporting of drug tests, say experts – The Guardian

‘Children are at risk of being wrongly removed from their parents’ care by the family courts because drug tests are being misinterpreted, experts have warned.’

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The Guardian, 9th November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met settles £1m civil case after wrongful arrest of black bank manager in 2017 – The Guardian

‘A black executive who sued the Metropolitan police for £1m has told of the “bitter-sweet moment” of reaching a settlement with the force after alleging that he was racially profiled.’

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The Guardian, 1st October 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met police chief hails race action plan as ‘a step in the right direction’ – The Guardian

‘Scotland Yard has launched its latest steps to try to rebuild trust with London’s black community, which the Met police commissioner acknowledged had been let down for many years.

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The Guardian, 23rd September 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Government-backed knife crime campaigner wins Met Police payout over wrongful strip-search – The Independent

‘A government-backed anti-knife crime campaigner has won damages from the Met Police after being strip-searched by officers, The Independent can reveal.’

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The Independent, 12th September 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Met officer sacked over antisemitic comments – BBC News

‘A constable in the Metropolitan Police has been dismissed for using antisemitic language at work.’

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BBC News, 9th September 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mel B among Britons taking fight against afro hair discrimination to parliament – The Guardian

Posted September 10th, 2024 in equality, minorities, news, race discrimination by tracey

‘The Labour MP Paulette Hamilton and singer Mel B are among leading Black Britons urging parliamentarians to make the UK the first western country to introduce a law to end afro hair discrimination.’

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The Guardian, 10th September 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Positive action v positive discrimination: how to avoid crossing the (thin blue) line – Local Government Lawyer

‘To what extent can employers appoint or promote someone because they have a protected characteristic that is under-represented in their organisation? Jo Moseley analyses a recent Employment Tribunal ruling involving a police force.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th August 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘It was so painful’: Diversity officer on suing University of Arts for discrimination – The Independent

‘An equality and diversity officer who successfully sued her university employer for discrimination has criticised the sector’s failures to tackle racism in an exclusive interview with The Independent.’

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The Independent, 26th August 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Stop and search study in England and Wales ‘casts doubt’ on effectiveness – The Guardian

‘Stop and search is one of the less effective tactics to tackle rising violence such as knife crime, according to the results of a study.’

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The Guardian, 21st August 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Child strip-searched every 14 hours by police in England and Wales, report finds – The Independent

‘A child was strip-searched every 14 hours by police in England and Wales, new data has revealed, with the youngest aged just eight years old.’

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The Independent , 19th August 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Face of British army recruitment drive wins payout for racist and sexist abuse – The Guardian

‘A former soldier who appeared on recruitment posters for the British army has received a settlement and an apology after taking it to an employment tribunal over the racist and sexist abuse she was subjected to during her career.’

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The Guardian, 2nd August 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

South Asian lawyers “experience discrimination in career progression” – Legal Futures

Posted July 24th, 2024 in law firms, London, news, race discrimination, solicitors by sally

‘Two-thirds of South Asian partners in large London law firms have experienced racial discrimination in career progression, a new report has found.’

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Legal Futures, 24th July 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Suella Braverman’s decision to drop Windrush recommendations unlawful, court rules – The Guardian

‘A decision by the former home secretary Suella Braverman to drop two recommendations intended to repair some of the harm done to the Windrush generation was unlawful, the high court has ruled.’

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The Guardian, 19th June 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Parts of police act ‘intrude’ on lives of Gypsies and Travellers, court finds – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2024 in equality, human rights, news, police, race discrimination, travellers by sally

‘A high court judge has found parts of the UK government’s policing legislation to be in breach of human rights law, with its powers capable of causing a “significant intrusion” on the lives of Gypsies and Travellers.’

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The Guardian, 14th May 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Joint enterprise in England and Wales: why problems persist despite legal change – Current Issues in Criminal Justice

‘The law in England and Wales (as in Australia and other jurisdictions) enables a person to be convicted of an offence committed by another using complicity liability, sometimes termed ‘joint enterprise’. In England and Wales, ‘joint enterprise’ has been widely criticised for: failing to distinguish between the moral and legal culpability of the person who commits the substantive offence and those on the periphery of it; being disproportionality applied in cases involving young men from black and mixed ethnic backgrounds; and for lacking legal legitimacy. Thus, it was hoped that the decision of the Supreme Court in England and Wales in 2016 to abolish the extended form of complicity liability, known as Parasitic Accessorial Liability (PAL), would resolve these issues. Reporting on interviews with police detectives, and prosecution and defence lawyers in England involved in cases of serious youth violence, this paper argues that the problems associated with ‘joint enterprise’ in England and Wales remain, despite the change in the law. This is due to there being only ‘subtle shift’ in practice and a continued reliance on racialised inferences about young men from black and mixed ethnic backgrounds. To reduce problems with disproportionality and improve the fairness of the law related to complicity liability, changes to police and prosecutorial practice are required, alongside meaningful law reform.’

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Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 29th April 2024

Source: www.tandfonline.com