‘Under plans confirmed by ministers today (17 September 2019), the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme will be extended to 14 new offences.’
Ministry of Justice, 17th September 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘A prominent judge has told an employment tribunal that race discrimination is a “significant problem” in the judiciary that it is causing “deep distress” to black and minority ethnic lawyers. Peter Herbert, the chair of the Society of Black Lawyers who sits as a crown court recorder and an immigration judge, is suing the Ministry of Justice for race discrimination after he was disciplined for a speech he gave in 2015.’
The Guardian, 12th September 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The number of prisoners in England and Wales is projected to fall in the short term due to fewer people being charged with criminal offences.’
The Guardian, 29th August 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The former lord chancellor Chris Grayling “never believed access to social justice” was important while Liz Truss was a “disaster” in the same role, according to a highly revealing memoir by one of the country’s most senior, recently retired judges.’
The Guardian, 21st August 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The number of people prosecuted or handed penalties for crimes in England and Wales has fallen to a record low as offences rise. Statistics released by the Ministry of Justice showed the figure dropped by 2 per cent to 1.59 million people in the year to March.’
The Independent, 15th August 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The work, which begins immediately, will focus on whether violent and sexual offenders are serving sentences that truly reflect the severity of their crimes. It will consider whether changes in legislation are needed to lock criminals up for longer – by not letting them out automatically part-way through a sentence. It will also look at how to break the cycle of repeat offending.’
Ministry of Justice, 12th August 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘Children in prison are twice as likely to have special educational needs as those in the general population, new figures reveal, prompting concern that vulnerable teenagers are being let down by mainstream services.’
The Independent, 4th August 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Justice Secretary David Gauke today called for an “evidence-led” approach to tackling reoffending in order to crack down on crime and reduce the number of victims.’
Ministry of Justice, 18th July 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘The Ministry of Justice acted “unlawfully” in allowing the Sex Offender Treatment Programme to continue for five years – despite initial research which suggested it wasn’t working, a government analyst has said.’
BBC News, 16th july 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The outsourcing company Serco has been fined nearly £23m as part of a settlement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over electronic tagging contracts.’
The Guardian, 3rd July 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The whiplash portal for litigants in person will cover claims for property damage, in addition to personal injury and uninsured losses, the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) has confirmed.’
Legal Futures, 2nd July 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Both the claimant and defendant representatives have expressed frustration with the progress of the government’s whiplash reforms, and doubted it will be ready for April 2020 as planned.’
Legal Futures, 26th June 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Numbers of knife and offensive weapon offences have risen to their highest level for nearly a decade, with the number of cases dealt with by the criminal justice system up by more than a third since 2015, figures have revealed.’
The Guardian, 13th June 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A single offender has been sentenced to almost 200 jail terms of less than six months in their lifetime, new figures reveal, renewing calls for an overhaul of the justice system to curb the use of ineffective short sentences. The highest number of previous immediate prison sentences of under six months given to an offender sentenced in 2018 in England and Wales was 198, according to a response to a freedom of information request submitted by the charity Revolving Doors.’
The Guardian, 23rd May 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendment) Bill has been introduced into Parliament. This short technical Bill is necessary to pave the way for the main Sentencing Code Bill to be introduced as a consolidation Bill. Once passed, the Sentencing Code will introduce a “clean sweep” of the old sentencing law so that anyone convicted once the Code is in force would automatically be sentenced under the current law.’
Law Commission, 23rd May 2019
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk/
‘Offenders have been locked in an “expensive merry-go-round” by a key plank of Chris Grayling’s disastrous probation overhaul, which has failed to reduce reoffending, a watchdog has said.’
The Guardian, 21st May 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Family courts in England and Wales are not properly accommodating children’s voices and needs because the government has suggested “it would all cost too much”, their former head has said.’
BBC News, 16th May 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2019