Insider trading conviction highlights FCA market abuse crackdown – OUT-LAW.com

‘A recent criminal conviction secured by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a case of insider trading highlights the UK regulator’s intention to proactively crackdown on cases of market abuse – not just with criminal prosecutions but through the enforcement of regulation too, a former senior market regulator has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 23rd February 2024

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

New law to stop thousands of offenders from changing their name in secret – Ministry of Justice

Posted February 26th, 2024 in bills, community service, criminal justice, Ministry of Justice, names, news, probation by tracey

‘Thousands of offenders on community and suspended sentences will no longer be able to secretly change their name as part of tough new rules to protect the public.’

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Ministry of Justice, 23rd February 2024

Source: www.gov.uk

Calls to end the ‘living nightmare’ of indefinite jail terms ahead of crunch Lords debate – The Independent

Posted February 26th, 2024 in bills, criminal justice, human rights, imprisonment, mental health, news, prisons, sentencing by tracey

‘Mental health, human rights and criminal justice experts have made a joint plea for parliament to end the “living nightmare” of indefinite jail terms, following a series of revelations by The Independent. Thousands of prisoners have been left languishing in jail for years longer than their minimum tariff, and with no hope of release, under imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences – which were scrapped more than a decade ago amid human rights concerns.’

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The Independent, 26th February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Ministers to press ahead with legislation to exonerate Post Office Horizon victims – The Guardian

‘Ministers have vowed to press ahead with legislation to automatically overturn convictions related to the Post Office Horizon scandal by the end of July.’

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The Guardian, 22nd February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Removing UK climate protesters’ defence ‘could erode right to trial by jury’ – The Guardian

‘A UK government attempt to remove one of the last remaining defences for climate protesters would be a slippery slope to the erosion of the constitutional right to trial by jury, the court of appeal was told on Wednesday.’

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The Guardian, 21st February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

£1.2bn Is Spent Convicting People By Association, Including Innocent Bystanders – Each Other

Posted February 21st, 2024 in bills, budgets, criminal justice, homicide, joint enterprise, news, prosecutions, statistics by sally

‘A recent report by Manchester Metropolitan University, ‘The Mounting Cost of Injustice: Calculating the Economic Cost of Joint Enterprise’, reveals that £1.2bn of taxpayer money is spent annually to convict an average of 1,088 individuals under joint enterprise.’

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Each Other, 19th February 2024

Source: eachother.org.uk

Tougher sentences for ‘rough sex’ killers – Ministry of Justice

‘Cowards who kill their partners with sexual violence will face longer behind bars as the government continues to clamp down on domestic abuse against women.’

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Ministry of Justice, 14th February 2024

Source: www.gov.uk

Home Office plans new protest offences and anti-Zionism is a protected belief – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Home Office has announced its intention to create new offences relating to actions taken by attendees at protests. The plans include making it an offence to possess flares or pyrotechnics at a protest, to wear a face covering at a protest, and to climb on war memorials. The changes will be added as amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. The Home Office has emphasised that the new rules are not a blanket ban on face coverings, and only apply where the protester’s intention is to conceal their identity.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 12th February 2024

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

New protest laws on face coverings and pyrotechnics – Home Office

‘Police will be given powers to arrest protesters who wear face coverings to threaten others and avoid prosecution, and pyrotechnics will be banned at protests.’

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Home Office, 8th February 2024

Source: www.gov.uk

Detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure incompatible with young murderers’ human rights – Law Society’s Gazette

‘High Court judges have ruled that to keep a young offender convicted of murder detained indefinitely is incompatible with certain rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 12th February 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Criminals gaming the justice system as cases jammed for years in court backlog – The Independent

Posted February 12th, 2024 in courts, criminal justice, delay, Ministry of Justice, news, statistics by tracey

‘Criminals are gaming the system by pleading not guilty and relying on crippling trial delays to evade justice, The Independent has been told. Laying bare the extent of the crisis in the courts, figures obtained by this publication suggest the number of cases waiting more than three years for a verdict has skyrocketed at least sevenfold since 2019 to exceed 1,280 last June.’

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The Independent, 11th February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Joint enterprise law: MP’s bill seeks to stop innocent bystanders being jailed – The Guardian

Posted February 2nd, 2024 in bills, criminal justice, gangs, homicide, joint enterprise, murder, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘A proposed amendment to English law could stop innocent people being imprisoned under the controversial joint enterprise doctrine.’

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The Guardian, 1st February 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Criminal legal aid “coming apart at the seams”, High Court says – Legal Futures

‘Two High Court judges have described the system of criminal legal aid as “slowly coming apart at the seams” and reliant on solicitors’ goodwill and sense of public duty.’

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Legal Futures, 1st February 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Valdo Calocane: CPS to be investigated over handling of Nottingham killer case – The Guardian

‘Prosecutors are to be investigated for their handling of the Valdo Calocane case, including their decision to accept his manslaughter pleas, the attorney general has announced.’

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The Guardian, 30th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Majority verdicts in England and Wales brought in ‘partly for racial and class reasons’ – The Guardian

Posted January 24th, 2024 in bias, charities, criminal justice, equality, juries, miscarriage of justice, news by sally

‘The introduction of majority verdicts in criminal trials in England and Wales was partly motivated by a desire to dilute the influence of minority ethnic people and the labouring classes serving on juries, according to research.’

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The Guardian, 24th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Two men jailed on racist police officer’s evidence have convictions overturned – The Guardian

‘Two men who were framed by a racist and corrupt detective for the same offence he was later jailed for have had their convictions posthumously quashed by the court of appeal 46 years later.’

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The Guardian, 18th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

MoJ changes to indefinite jail sentences do not go far enough, says UN expert – The Guardian

‘A UN torture expert has said changes to the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme in England and Wales do not go far enough and repeated her call for prisoners jailed under the indefinite sentencing regime to be granted release dates.’

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The Guardian, 19th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Cat and dog theft set to be made criminal offence – BBC News

Posted January 19th, 2024 in animals, bills, criminal justice, government departments, news, theft by sally

‘The government is expected to back making stealing cats and dogs a specific criminal offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.’

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BBC News, 19th January 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The inside story of two rape trials: ‘It’s as bad as I’ve ever known it’ – The Guardian

Posted January 17th, 2024 in barristers, criminal justice, news, rape, sexual offences, trials by sally

‘In sexual assault cases, the work of prosecution barristers is complex, poorly paid – and essential. With conviction rates extraordinarily low and barristers quitting criminal practice in droves, the Guardian shadowed one prosecutor for two years.’

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The Guardian, 17th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Update law on computer evidence to avoid Horizon repeat, ministers urged – The Guardian

‘Ministers need to “immediately” update the law to acknowledge that computers are fallible or risk a repeat of the Horizon scandal, legal experts say.’

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The Guardian, 12th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com