Addressing the gender imbalance of the superior courts
Roger Smith Lady Hale did not reach her position as the sole woman at the top of the judicial tree without a degree of steel in her soul. So, no surprise that she let a fellow justice of the Supreme...
View ArticleShould prison be reserved for dangerous criminals?
By Lyndon Harris This month we saw eight-month sentences handed out to Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce for perverting the course of justice. Both had been warned to “be under no illusion as to...
View ArticleCypriot bailout: can authorities get away with paying nothing at all?
By Amanda Cohen Cypriot authorities are considering imposing levies on account holders to meet a condition of an IMF/ECB bailout to support Cypriot banks which have lost 4.5bn Euros on their holdings...
View ArticleCriminal law updates: March round-up
By Lyndon Harris The HLE monthly round-up of criminal law updates. Huhne & Pryce It seems an age ago now, but the beginning of the month saw Vicky Pryce convicted at her retrial for perverting the...
View ArticleProposed reforms undermine the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
By Lucy Corrin Imagine you are a middle-aged man with a young family looking to change career to work as a primary school teacher. When you were 12 you took a chocolate bar from a shop. You learnt a...
View ArticleWhat now for the victims of the legal aid cuts?
By Roger Smith Labour’s Lord Bach fought a good deal harder in the House of Lords to defend legal aid from the coalition’s cuts than many of his colleagues. But, the key provisions of the Legal Aid,...
View ArticleImportant guidance on criminal confiscation: R v Mahmood
By David Corker The recent Court of Appeal judgment in R v Mahmood [2013] EWCA 325 provides important guidance on several important issues which often arise in criminal confiscation proceedings before...
View ArticleWhy consensual sex may still be rape
By Felicity Gerry The BBC has reported today that the law on consent has been further defined by the Lord Chief Justice. The article reads: “A woman who agreed to sex might still be the victim of rape,...
View ArticleWhistleblowing – what’s in the public interest?
By Shonali Routray Hardly a day goes by without whistleblowing being in the news. Just last month, two police officers were suspended in Cumbria for leaking information to the press about the expenses...
View ArticleDoes the need for sensation justify the public’s right to be informed?
By Lucy Corrin The need for sensation alone has placed Jimmy Tarbuck’s name in the press for being questioned regarding an alleged sexual offence dating back to the 1970s. Jimmy Tarbuck is one of a...
View ArticleCriminal law updates – May round-up
By Lyndon Harris Legal Aid demo Chris Grayling and his Ministry of Justice colleagues are plotting to decimate legal aid and generally destroy the criminal justice system. Unsurprisingly, the legal...
View ArticleThe truth about gay marriage: legally there is nothing to be gained
By Elaine Freer The law pertaining to same-sex relationships has come a long way. Until the Sexual Offences Act 1967, homosexual relationships were illegal. Until the Civil Partnership Act 2004, there...
View ArticleWarning: CPS keep victim appeals in house
By Felicity Gerry There is a new independent Assessor (Stephen Shaw) for non-legal complaints made about the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but not for the legal ones – how very odd! It was recently...
View ArticleKeeping knives off the streets – British justice style
By David Allan Why don’t the courts have a specific power to order forfeiture of a knife from someone convicted of carrying it in public without good reason? Secondly, can anyone tell me why it is,...
View ArticleUpdated statute book won’t make anyone a legal expert; but it’s a start
By Will Macgregor I’ve been following the Parliamentary Counsel’s laudable “good law” initiative with interest (details on the Cabinet Office site here). The aim of the initiative is to have law that...
View ArticleHow do we tackle institutional abuse of minors?
By Declan O’Dempsey In this piece I examine a difficult question. Is there now a need for a duty to have due regard to the need to eliminate abuse of minors over and above the welfare duty in s 11 of...
View ArticleGay marriage: freedom of speech and conscience
By James Hand At the beginning of 2013 11 countries allowed gay marriage to be performed. By the middle of the year that number had increased to 15 with more to come. Some states in the US and Mexico...
View ArticleHow do you stop jurors using the internet?
By Lyndon Harris On 29 July 2013, two men, Mr Davey and Mr Beard, were sentenced to two months’ immediate custody each for contempt of court. On 23 July 2013, they were, despite their protestations of...
View ArticleRobert Colover investigation: the misunderstandings around sex offence trials
By Felicity Gerry Calamitous comments by barrister Robert Colover have made the headlines this week as he referred to the victim of sexual offending as “predatory” and “sexually experienced”. The...
View ArticleDavid Miranda: what’s in a name?
By Simon Hetherington Nothing, we hope, notwithstanding recent comments as to the snap judgements people form on the basis of someone’s forename. Certainly we hope that there is nothing in the surname...
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