Criminal Law in 2020 - What Can We Expect In legislative terms 2019 was a pretty quiet year with parliament being so heavily occupied with Brexit, there was little time for anything else. 2020 promises to be somewhat different, the government has a substantial parliamentary majority, and...
Passport Offences Immigration is a very political issue at the present time, and the hurdles facing those wishing to settle in the UK are getting harder to surmount, tempting some people to buy false passports to try and secure entry and in some cases gainful employment. Section...
The Morning After the Night Before When people think about drink/drug driving, it is often based on a narrative that involves a man, leaving a pub late at night, driving erratically and being stopped by the police. This scenario is sometimes the backdrop to an arrest...
Pre-sentence Reports In some cases, a court must order a pre-sentence report (s 156 Criminal Justice Act 2003), and a report will be appropriate in many instances when it is not a legal requirement. Sometimes a court may not be receptive to the idea of ordering...
Investigating and Prosecuting Rape Cases Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has published a new report in relation to the investigation and prosecution of rape cases. The significant findings are: Since 2016, the number of cases prosecuted by the CPS has fallen by 52%. This is...
Unduly Lenient Sentences - Scheme to Be Extended The government has announced changes to the Unduly Lenient Sentence ('ULS') Scheme. There are certain offences where the prosecution (via the Attorney General) can ask the Court of Appeal to review a sentence if it is thought to be...
Public Order - New Sentencing Guidelines New sentencing guidelines for public order offences come in to force for adults sentenced on or after 1 January 2020. In August 2008, the Sentencing Guidelines Council published Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines (MCSG) guidelines on sentencing the offence of affray...
Firearms - Sentencing Reform The Sentencing Council is consulting on a new guideline for some of the most commonly prosecuted firearms offences. At the moment, guidance is to be found only in case law, and this can lead to a challenging sentencing exercise. The purpose of the...
Rights - A Mere Illusion? The EU has published a report, 'Rights in practice: access to a lawyer and procedural rights in criminal and European arrest warrant proceedings', that details the extent to which fundamental human rights, in the context of criminal justice, are upheld across...
The Absent Witness In some instances, it is not convenient for a witness to be present in court to give evidence, generally because they live or work some distance away from the court, or some other good reason. There are legal provisions that cater for this scenario,...