High Court orders urgent trial in claim by Liverpool mayor for indemnity against legal costs – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 7th, 2021 in corruption, costs, indemnities, local government, news by sally

‘The High Court in Manchester has ordered that an urgent trial take place of the claim by Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, that Liverpool City Council are acting unlawfully in refusing to provide him with the same indemnity against legal costs offered to other council members.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th May 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Stockwell Six’: two men could have convictions overturned – The Guardian

‘Two men who were jailed nearly 50 years ago on the word of a corrupt detective could finally have their names cleared.
The cases of two members of the so-called “Stockwell Six”, who were accused of attempting to rob that officer on the underground, are now being referred to the court of appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).’

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The Guardian, 14th December 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law Commission issues proposals for reforming offence of misconduct in public office – Local Government Lawyer

‘The “outdated and unclear” common law offence of misconduct in public office should be replaced by two new statutory offences of corruption in public office and breach of duty in public office, the Law Commission has said.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th December 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Stephen Lawrence murder: CPS asked to consider new charges against police – The Guardian

‘Prosecutors are to be asked to consider whether to bring new charges in the Stephen Lawrence case against senior police officers in the first botched murder investigation, it has been announced.’

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The Guardian, 3rd November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Model Code of Conduct consultation – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Most councillors work with tireless dedication to provide, promote and lead best-quality and responsive local services in their areas. But for their pains they can often be subject to rude abuse. Even Samuel Pepys, writing on 17 March 1662, recorded his Lord Mayor as “a talking, bragging Bufflehead” (blockhead) and was “confident there is no man almost in the City cares a turd for him”. On the other hand, the dark ghost of “Donnygate” haunts public perceptions of council members’ conduct. On 13 March 2002, the Guardian reported that: “The worst local government corruption case since the Poulson scandal of the 1970s ended yesterday” when former Doncaster planning chairman, Peter Birks, was imprisoned for four years and two former council leaders and two former mayors were among 21 councillors convicted of fraud.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 3rd August 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Serious Fraud Office prosecutes Airbus subsidiary over alleged corruption – The Guardian

‘The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is prosecuting a UK subsidiary of Europe’s largest aerospace multinational, Airbus, along with three men over alleged corruption in an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.’

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The Guardian, 30th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

A ‘setback’ for unexplained wealth orders – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 27th, 2020 in corruption, news, proceeds of crime, unexplained wealth orders by sally

‘On 8 April, two prominent Kazakhstan citizens successfully persuaded the High Court to discharge three unexplained wealth orders (National Crime Agency v Baker and ors [2020] EWHC 822 (Admin)).’

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Law Society's Gazette, 27th April 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Oval Four: Final conviction quashed in corrupt detective case – BBC News

‘The final member of a group of four men who were jailed nearly 50 years ago on the evidence of a corrupt police officer has had his conviction quashed.’

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BBC News, 24th March 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lessons learned from account forfeiture proceedings (NCA v Vlad Luca Filat) – 5 SAH

Posted January 16th, 2020 in bribery, corruption, forfeiture, money laundering, news by sally

‘The Crown Court dismissed Vlad Luca Filat’s appeal against the decision to forfeit £500,000 held in three bank accounts in his name. The court held that the money derived from bribery and corruption offences committed by the appellant’s father, the former prime minister of Moldova, and was obtained by money laundering. The case was the National Crime Agency’s first contested account forfeiture application. James Fletcher, barrister at 5SAH Chambers, who appeared for the National Crime Agency, suggests that these types of applications are likely to be deployed more and more often.’

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5 SAH, 14th January 2020

Source: www.5sah.co.uk

‘Missing’ Oval Four member to have conviction reviewed after he came forward in wake of three other successful appeals – Daily Telegraph

‘The final member of the “Oval Four” – four black men who were wrongly convicted nearly 50 years ago on the evidence of a corrupt police officer – is set to have his name cleared.’

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Daily Telegraph, 13th January 2020

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘Oval Four’ men jailed in 1972 cleared by court of appeal in London – The Guardian

‘Three men who were convicted nearly 50 years ago on the evidence of a corrupt police officer have finally had their names cleared by senior judges.’

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The Guardian, 5th December 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Criminal Finance Act 2017: Crime still doesn’t pay – 5SAH

‘Financial gain provides the motivation behind all serious and organised crime. Billions of pounds are laundered through the UK every year. Understandably, it has long been the government’s policy to implement effective legislation to tackle this issue.’

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5SAH, 2nd December 2019

Source: www.5sah.co.uk

Pakistani tycoon agrees to hand over £190m to UK authorities – The Guardian

Posted December 4th, 2019 in bribery, corruption, fraud, news, proceeds of crime by tracey

‘More than £190m of assets, including a £50m mansion overlooking Hyde Park in London, have been seized from a Pakistani property tycoon after a settlement in a UK police “dirty money” investigation.’

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The Guardian, 3rd December 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Commonwealth head warns of dangers of denying justice to all – The Guardian

‘Denying access to justice risks creating fresh conflicts at a time when the international rule of law is under threat, the Commonwealth secretary general has warned ahead of a meeting of the organisation’s law enforcement officers.’

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The Guardian, 5th November 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Dozens of law firms enabling corruption, report finds – Legal Futures

Posted October 25th, 2019 in corruption, law firms, money laundering, news, professional conduct, statistics by sally

‘Dozens of UK law firms are – wittingly or unwittingly – providing corrupt individuals with services that enable them to “move, hide and defend their ill-gotten gains with impunity”, Transparency International (TI) has claimed.’

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Legal Futures, 25th October 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘Oval Four’: Men ‘framed by corrupt detective’ to go to court – BBC News

Posted October 14th, 2019 in appeals, assault, attempts, corruption, news, police, theft by tracey

‘Two men who say they were framed by a detective nearly 50 years ago have had their cases referred to the Court of Appeal.’

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BBC News, 14th October 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Banker’s wife who spent £16m in Harrods escapes extradition to Azerbaijan on embezzlement charges – Daily Telegraph

‘A banker’s wife who spent £16million during a series of shopping sprees in Harrods has escaped extradition back to Azerbaijan on fraud charges.’

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Daily Telegraph, 26th September 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

NCA freezes £100m suspected to be from corruption overseas – The Guardian

‘More than £100m suspected to have been imported to the UK from bribery and corruption overseas has been frozen following a court order obtained by the National Crime Agency.’

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The Guardian, 14th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

£100 million crackdown on crime in prison – Ministry of Justice

‘Airport-style security and cutting-edge technology to crack down on criminal activity in prisons.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 13th August 2019

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Stephen Lawrence murder: ex-detective cleared of corruption – The Guardian

Posted July 3rd, 2019 in corruption, murder, news, police, racism by sally

‘Stephen Lawrence’s best friend has said a multimillion-pound investigation into fears the murdered schoolboy’s killers were shielded by corruption has collapsed.’

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The Guardian, 2nd July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com