Killamarsh murders: Probation failings over killer Damien Bendall – BBC News
‘A review into how a quadruple murderer was dealt with by probation officers has found failings “at every stage”.’
BBC News, 17th January 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: reports
Report Summary – Children and Families Act 2014: A failure of implementation – Spire Barristers
‘Spire Barristers’ pupils Lauren Gardner and Eleanor Suthern discuss The House of Lords Children and Families Act 2014 Committee published report “Children and Families Act 2014: A failure of implementation” in which Joint Head of Chambers, Sarah Blackmore was called to give evidence as a leading practitioner in the field of Family Law and the author of the practitioner text Family Justice Reformed – Developments since the Children’s & Families Act 2014.’
Spire Barristers, 9th December 2022
Source: spirebarristers.co.uk
Kids Company founder cleared to challenge critical watchdog report in court – The Guardian
‘The founder of the former children’s charity Kids Company, Camila Batmanghelidjh, has won permission to go to the high court to try to overturn a charities watchdog report she claims was unbalanced, unfair and unlawful.’
The Guardian, 19th December 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
Adam Tucker: Entrenchment, Parliamentary Sovereignty, and the Limited Radicalism of the Brown Report – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘The publication of the Report of the Commission on the UK’s Future is attracting widespread attention. The centrepiece of its constitutional content is the replacement of the House of Lords with a new second chamber with new composition and a reformed role, which would have particular responsibility for territorial aspects of the constitution (discussed here) and act as guardian of (newly) entrenched elements of the constitution –not just in the devolution context but also more widely.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th December 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Scathing report condemns police in England and Wales for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases – The Guardian
‘A damning official examination into how police forces tackle rape has exposed persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim-blaming” and botched investigations.’
The Guardian, 15th December 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
Report urges “impact targets” for judicial diversity initiatives – Legal Futures
‘There should be targets to help measure whether efforts to improve judicial diversity are achieving their goals, a report for the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF) has argued.’
Legal Futures, 13th December 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Children and Families Act 2014 has failed to improve lives of children and young people, peers find – Local Government Lawyer
‘A lack of focus on implementing and monitoring the impact of the Children and Families Act 2014, despite it being envisaged as a “landmark piece of legislation”, has led to the Act being “a largely missed opportunity”, a House of Lords committee has concluded in a report.’
Local Government Lawyer, 6th December 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Wait time for county court trials reaches new all-time high – Legal Futures
‘The time between issue and trial for fast- and multi-track claims has now exceeded 75 weeks, the longest this century, according to the latest government figures.’
Legal Futures, 6th December 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Prof Brice Dickson: The UK’s Engagement With International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms – UK Human Rights Blog
‘On 10 November 2022 the UN Human Rights Council conducted its fourth Universal Periodic Review of the UK’s compliance with international human rights standards. The Council’s report was adopted just six days later and contained no fewer than 302 recommendations from other States on how the UK could improve its human rights record. That figure is up from 227 in 2017. For early accounts of the review meeting see the pieces by Marcial Boo and Robert Booth.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 5th December 2022
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Deeply unjust’ postcode lottery putting lives of domestic abuse victims at risk – The Independent
‘The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has warned a “deeply unjust” postcode lottery is putting the lives of victims at risk in a report that maps services nationally for the first time ever.’
The Independent, 29th November 2022
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Nine in ten councils report backlog in planning enforcement cases amid 43% drop in spending on planning as a whole – Local Government Lawyer
‘A £364m reduction in yearly local authority spending on planning has led to “major challenges in resourcing, skills and performance” for planning authorities, new research has revealed.’
Local Government Lawyer, 28th November 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Mental health may be biggest factor in UK homicides, study finds – The Guardian
‘Mental health problems may more often be a factor in homicides than gang membership, with most killings potentially preventable, a study suggests.’
The Guardian, 14th November 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
MPs warn court system is failing to support public understanding of justice system – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Justice Committee has called for a “renewed focus” in the court system to remove barriers to the media and members of the public coming to court proceedings.’
Local Government Lawyer, 9th November 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Commission urges reform of ‘ineffective’ confiscation regime – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Codification of legal decisions reached in more than 500 cases brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is among the proposals of a call for reform of an “ineffective” confiscation regime published today.’
Law Society's Gazette, 9th November 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Police vetting failures have allowed ‘predatory’ officers to join up, watchdog finds – The Guardian
‘Defective vetting and failures by police leaders have allowed a “prevalent” culture of potentially thousands of officers who are “predatory” towards women to join and stay in the ranks, a damning official report has concluded.’
The Guardian, 2nd November 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
Bio Age “likely to impact legal practice” amid global climate change – Legal Futures
‘A report into the so-called bio age, presumed successor to the digital age, has painted a picture of a world in which innovations in bio-technology and the role of global ecosystems have a huge impact on legal practice.’
legal Futures, 28th October 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Enablers’ in spotlight as economic crime bill takes next step – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The role of “professional enablers” in white-collar crime is set to come under new scrutiny this week as the government’s Economic Crime and Transparency Bill enters its next parliamentary stage. Ministers are expected to come under pressure to accept amendments that would lower the threshold for the prosecution of individuals for corporate crimes and to create new “failure to prevent” offences.’
Law Society's Gazette, 24th October 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Judiciary in England and Wales ‘institutionally racist’, says report – The Guardian
‘The judiciary in England and Wales is “institutionally racist”, with more than half of legal professionals surveyed claiming to have witnessed a judge acting in a racially biased way, according to a report.’
The Guardian, 18th October 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
SRA “should police anti-money laundering across UK legal sector” – Legal Futures
‘A Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) with “beefed up” powers should be the single body policing money laundering across the UK legal sector, a report has recommended.’
Legal Futures, 18th October 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Met Police report: Officers getting away with breaking law – BBC News
‘Hundreds of Met Police officers have been getting away with breaking the law and misconduct, a damning report has found.’
BBC News, 17th October 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
