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...
The licensing of air weapons is different across the UK: In England and Wales there is no need to acquire a licence to hold an air weapon. In Scotland air weapons owners need a specific air weapons licence. In Northern Ireland air weapons owners need...
There is a defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for a person who is compelled to do an act, where that compulsion is as a result of slavery or exploitation, and a reasonable person in the same position with the same...
When a life sentence is imposed, a tariff is attached to it. This tariff is the minimum amount of time that a person must spend in custody before being considered for parole and release. In certain circumstances, a whole life tariff (order) can be imposed,...
The death of PC Harper has been in the news again recently. He died after he was dragged behind a car that was fleeing from the scene of a theft. Unusually, at the same time that the Attorney General applied for leave to refer all three...
There are typically less than 100 prosecutions each year for this offence but given that the defendants are public servants such as police officers, prison officers and the like, the consequences of a conviction on careers, pensions and even liberty can be very severe. This week...