Private Prosecutions - 'Doing a Boris' A District Judge sitting at Westminster Magistrates' Court last week authorised that a summons be issued against the prominent conservative member of parliament, Boris Johnson. The allegations relate to alleged conduct during the Brexit referendum campaign and in particular the £350m...
Release on Temporary Licence The government has conducted a review of the process for prisoners to be released on temporary licence (ROTL); the drive behind the changes being the rehabilitation of offenders. Research has shown that working in the community prior to release significantly reduces the likelihood...
Tough New Weapons Laws Hit the Statute Book On 16th May 2019 the controversial Offensive Weapons bill received Royal Assent, bringing into law the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. Why was this law passed? This legislation has been passed in order to assist in stemming the current problems in...
Who Guards the Guards? This perennial question was back in the news following a Ministry of Justice announcement that further steps would be taken to root out dishonest prison officers and others working in custodial institutions. A new counter-corruption unit will be tasked with 'proactively [pursuing] those...
Undercover Policing - Beyond the Line of Duty The television drama 'Line of Duty' continues to captivate audiences keen to discover the identity of 'H' and the top copper involved in organised crime gangs. Central to the plot of this series has been undercover cop John Corbett,...
Policing Public Protest – A Question of Balance Environmental protests across London have caused massive disruption across parts of London and are set to spread across other towns and cities over the coming weeks and months. Public protest has always been a legitimate and important part of...
What To Do If You Are Too Unwell To Attend Court Many people face very lengthy court proceedings, and it is therefore hardly unusual that on occasion a person may not be well enough to attend court. Despite this fact, courts are sceptical of alleged illness and...
Mental Health and Criminal Law Mental Health is a complicated business. Conditions are not easy to diagnose, doctors can disagree on which disorder a person is suffering from, or even if they have a mental health condition at all. Those with mental disorders might have a host...
Government Tightens Terrorism Laws The Manchester Arena bombing, the London Bridge attack, Shamima Begum. These are some examples of terrorism headlines in the past few years. The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 is the Government’s latest answer to curbing and punishing terrorist activity. The Act creates...
Appeals from Beyond the Grave The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in the case of R v Max Clifford, the disgraced celebrity PR guru who was convicted in 2014 of a number of sexual offences and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. Clifford died in 2017,...