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  The government has announced that there will be new legislation designed to cut “crime and build safer communities”.   The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is intended to give the police "the powers and tools they need to protect themselves and the public".   The measures include:   Positions of trust -...

  The Criminal Cases Review Commission began its work on 31 March 1997. It was created by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995, 25 years ago. It came into being after some appalling miscarriages of justice under the previous system of consideration by Home Office ministers. That...

    On 1 April 2020, The Release of Prisoners (Alteration of Relevant Proportion of Sentence) Order 2020 came into force.   This statutory instrument's effect was to alter the early release provisions for some offenders receiving relatively determinate lengthy custodial sentences.   By way of example, an offender who received...

    More prosecution casework is carried out locally by prosecutors based in regional hubs.   For some cases, the position is entirely different, and a specialised team of prosecutors takes over.   Specialist Casework - Criteria   The Crown Prosecution Service produces national guidance that specifies the criteria for casework that must...

  On 1 April 2020, The Release of Prisoners (Alteration of Relevant Proportion of Sentence) Order 2020 came into force.   This statutory instrument's effect was to alter the early release provisions for some offenders receiving relatively determinate lengthy custodial sentences.   By way of example, an offender who received...

  Police forces must explain the disproportionate use of police powers such as stop and search and use of force on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people or risk losing the trust of the communities they serve, a report published today has found.   The Police Service Inspectorate...

  A number of the definitive guidelines published by the Sentencing Council direct sentencers to consider whether the victim of an offence has suffered severe psychological harm.   In some guidelines, that question has to be considered at step 1 of the sentencing process: a finding of severe...

  In the case of Mahmood [2019] EWCA Crim 1532, the court dealt with the relevance of cash when determining which sentencing category an offence fell into.   A large quantity of drugs was seized from Mahmood's premises along with around £30,000 in cash.   The Judge found that the...

  The British Broadcasting Corporation ('BBC') found itself in the embarrassing position of being fined £28,000 this week after admitting being in contempt of Court. Why was the BBC in trouble? On the morning of 17 November 2020, the BBC made a video and audio recording of half...

  In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the government introduced changes to the custody time limit regulations that extended the custody time limits in the Crown Court by two months to address ongoing delays in the criminal justice system worsened during the pandemic.   In September, Just for...