At least 56 miscarriages of justice have occurred in cases in England and Wales where the jury was split, according to a charity, which says jury unanimity should be reintroduced to safeguard against wrongful criminal convictions. The research by Appeal, the miscarriage of justice charity, says majority verdicts “arguably dilute the principle of reasonable doubt” and have […]
On reading the new version of Judiciary’s Better Case Management hand book, it appears that all bail applications will no longer be made with a defendant being brought to court. The section of the new handbook relating to bail applications reads that remote hearings will be the default position for bail applications in a bid
Applications for Bail Now to be Made Remotely Read More »
New research reveals that murderers are now getting ‘substantially increased’ minimum prison sentences fuelling a trend of sentence inflation across other serious crimes, such as manslaughter and sexual offences. According to the report by the Sentencing Academy written by Dr Richard Martin of LSE, average minimum terms for murder have soared from 13 years in 2000 to
60% increase in murder sentences over last two decades fuelling ‘sentence inflation’ Read More »
This week the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) announced it will re-examine almost 5,500 previously rejected cases to see if DNA breakthroughs can be made. This represents a significant step forward for those of us who know that the statutory miscarriage of justice review body has denied justice to scores of wrongly convicted individuals, of which Andrew
In recent times the Serious Fraud Office has come under considerable scrutiny and criticism due to the collapse of several lengthy and hugely costly investigations, notably the 2023 collapse of the multiple million pound, 10 year investigation in to G4S tagging arm and the dropping of charges against three former directors at the company The
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Read More »
Magistrates are demanding a major overhaul to a controversial fast-track justice system, revealing they feel rushed when convicting defendants and want changes to protect the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable. An Evening Standard investigation has uncovered a litany of shocking criminal cases in the Single Justice Procedure (SJP), including elderly pensioners, cancer patients, and people with
Single Justice Procedure: Magistrates demand changes to controversial fast-track courts Read More »
The issue of when a prosecution could lawfully commence for a person issued with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) was considered recently in the case of R (Michli) v Westminster Magistrates Court [2024] EWHC 559 (Admin) The Court was asked to consider when the Crown Prosecution Service were time barred from beginning a prosecution after
Fixed Penalty Notices Read More »
There has been for some time now, a lack of clarity in the criminal justice system to the statutory definition of what is a Zombie Knife for the purposes of illegal possession? (paragraph 1(s) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 (“the 1988 Order”)The Courts have now ruled in Thompson v Crime Prosecution
The prison population is projected to increase, with a central estimate of 94,400 by March 2025 and a range of 93,100 to 106,300 by March 2027. This projected long-term increase is predicated on several factors, including increasing police officer numbers (which could increase charge volumes and in turn prison demand), and changes in sentencing policy
Prison Population Projected to Increase Read More »
A major investigation has been launched by the Home Office after faulty mobile phone data is believed to have been used as evidence in criminal cases for over a year. O2 informed police chiefs about concerns regarding the accuracy of information it was providing to forces, potentially leading to challenged convictions and delayed trials. The
Faulty mobile phone data raises concerns over convictions and trials Read More »
