News & Advice

For decades academics, policy makers, practitioners and other experts have deliberated on how best to create safer communities by preventing offending by children. For the past 20 years or more, the body of evidence known as the ‘Child First’ approach has been proven to be the best way of achieving this. With that in mind,… Continue reading What Works in Youth Justice?

A new public order bill is currently before parliament and may trigger a more authoritarian approach to protest rights. Introducing the bill, then Secretary of State for the Home Office Priti Patel spoke of an increase in disruption and criminal behaviour during protests that had diverted police resources away from communities:  “We are seeing parts… Continue reading New Public Order Laws

Changes to pre-charge bail arrangements and the current system of “release under investigation” are expected to come into force in late October 2022 when schedule 4 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing And Courts Act 2022 is commenced.   The current system An individual who has been arrested by the police but who has not yet… Continue reading Pre-charge Bail – Changes Coming Soon

HM Prison & Probation Service launched an electronic tagging programme to improve efficiency and increase the usefulness of tagging for police and probation services, but after significant setbacks and delays the failure has cost taxpayers dear.  Tagging allows the police, courts, probation and immigration services to monitor offenders’ locations and compliance with court orders, and… Continue reading Public Accounts Committee Report Condemns Government Electronic Tagging Strategy

The Sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP sentence) was introduced under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to detain people in prison who posed a significant risk of causing harm to the public.  Following criticism of the sentence and its operation, it was reformed in 2008, and subsequently abolished in 2012. In total, 8,711 individuals… Continue reading MPs Unhappy with IPP Sentencing Injustice

We were concerned that a minor piece of research, casting doubt on the quality of representation in youth cases, was widely reported in the press.   What did the study suggest? A report by “Fair Trials”, Young minds, big decisions, alleges that young people are being placed under intense pressure to plead guilty to crimes without… Continue reading Youth Cases & Quality of Representation

General deterrence raises some of the oldest questions in criminology. A general deterrent effect would occur where a disposal makes other potential offenders less likely to offend. General deterrence is said to depend on three main factors which have been explored in recent research published by the Sentencing Council:  – The certainty that an offender… Continue reading Sentencing & Deterrence

On 5th January 2022 at the Crown Court sitting at Bristol, four defendants were found not guilty of criminal damage even though they had readily admitted to removing a statue (of Edward Colston) from its plinth and tipping it into the harbour. Following the acquittals, the Attorney General referred a point of law to the… Continue reading Statues, Protest & Human Rights

An increasingly common occurrence is some defendants refusing to leave prison to attend sentencing hearings.  Judges frequently opine that there is no adequate remedy, and this has caused concern with both victim groups and politicians demanding action. Jonathan Storer, CPS lead on crime in prisons, said:  “For many victims, having their impact statement read in… Continue reading Non-Attendance At Court

Given the complexity of many criminal trials, it is inevitable that, from time to time, something will go wrong. A witness may give inadmissible evidence; the jury was shown something they ought not to have seen, or a judge or advocate making an inappropriate comment. When mistakes happen, all parties will wish to consider the… Continue reading Discharge of the Jury