Revealed: one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced a criminal charge last year – The Guardian

‘Shocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.’

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The Guardian, 25th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Asylum backlog at record high, Home Office figures show – BBC News

Posted February 24th, 2023 in asylum, delay, government departments, immigration, news, refugees, statistics by sally

‘The number of asylum seekers waiting for a decision on their case in the UK has soared to record levels, with about 166,000 people in the backlog.’

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BBC News, 23rd February 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Juries in rape cases more likely to convict than acquit – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 22nd, 2023 in criminal justice, juries, news, rape, sexual offences, statistics by tracey

‘Juries in rape cases are more likely to convict than acquit a defendant, according to landmark research analysing nearly six million charges and every verdict reached between 2007 and 2021. The research, conducted by UCL’s Professor Cheryl Thomas, was commissioned by HM Judiciary after a petition was submitted to parliament calling for all jurors in rape trials to complete compulsory training about rape. The petition, signed by 16,445 people, stated that research showed jurors accepted commonly held rape myths, resulting in many incorrect not guilty verdicts.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 21st February 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Four English councils bring half of legal actions for blue badge misuse – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2023 in disabled persons, fraud, local government, news, parking, prosecutions, statistics by tracey

‘Four councils are responsible for bringing more than half of the prosecutions in England for people abusing the use of disabled parking badges. Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) show that Lambeth, Birmingham, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Bromley carried out 54% of all legal cases for people misusing the blue badge system, for the year up to the end of March 2021.’

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The Guardian, 20th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Nightingale Courts to remain open to boost capacity and speed up justice – Ministry of Justice

Posted February 17th, 2023 in courts, criminal justice, Crown Court, delay, Ministry of Justice, news, statistics by tracey

‘Nightingale Courts across England and Wales are being kept open for another year to reduce waiting times and deliver swift justice for victims.’

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Ministry of Justice, 17th February 2023

Source: www.gov.uk

Convictions under ‘racist’ gang law to be monitored by CPS for first time – The Independent

‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will monitor data on the race of those prosecuted under the joint enterprise laws for the first time following a legal challenge.’

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The Independent, 16th February 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Exeter Prison ‘needs to be safer to make community safer’ – BBC News

Posted February 17th, 2023 in death in custody, mental health, news, prisons, self-harm, statistics, suicide by tracey

‘A Devon prison has to be safer for inmates to ensure communities are safer, an inspector has said.’

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BBC News, 16th February 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Spiking: Low conviction rate is shocking, say victims – BBC News

‘A student who suspects she was a victim of spiking has said the low conviction rate is shocking but not surprising.’

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BBC News, 15th February 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Striking a balance on student migration to the UK – EIN Blog

Posted February 14th, 2023 in education, Hong Kong, news, statistics, Ukraine, universities, visas by sally

‘Net migration into the UK was 504,000 between June 2021 and June 2022, far higher than the previous record of 330,00. While the single biggest factor behind the rise in net migration was the new visas open to Ukrainians and BN(O) passport-holders from Hong Kong, it is the increase in the numbers coming to the UK on student visas that is the potential target of a government crackdown. Alan Manning argues that further research in this area is urgently needed.’

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EIN Blog, 14th February 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Bar Council launches a plan of action to improve ‘Life at the employed Bar’ – The Bar Council

Posted February 13th, 2023 in barristers, bullying, diversity, employment, harassment, news, statistics by tracey

‘Greater visibility, better career progression, and stamping out bullying and harassment are key recommendations in a new report on ‘Life at the employed Bar’ published by the Bar Council today. The employed Bar is more diverse, reports higher levels of wellbeing, and experiences greater flexibility and work/life balance than the self-employed Bar. However, the employed Bar also experiences bullying and harassment at similar levels to the whole Bar, has a far lower rate of taking Silk, and expresses some concern about perceptions of careers at the employed Bar.’

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The Bar Council, 8th February 2023

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Review of UK Prevent strategy to call for more focus on Islamist terrorism – The Guardian

Posted February 8th, 2023 in government departments, Islam, mental health, news, statistics, terrorism by sally

‘A long-awaited report on the government’s counter-extremism programme is expected to call for its focus to shift more towards Islamist terrorism instead of rightwing terrorism.’

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The Guardian, 7th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Ombudsman sees “significant increase” in heating and hot water cases – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 8th, 2023 in complaints, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news, ombudsmen, statistics by sally

‘The Housing Ombudsman has revealed that it has seen a 60% increase in complaints on heating and hot water, with 1,600 received in 2021/22 and 1,491 received already in 2022/23.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th February 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Defendants of colour more likely to be charged than white people, finds CPS study – The Guardian

‘Black and minority ethnic defendants are significantly more likely to be charged for a comparable offence than white British defendants in England and Wales, a study commissioned by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has found.’

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The Guardian, 7th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Police Receive Seven Reports Of So-Called Honour-Based Abuse A Day – Each Other

‘Between March 2021 and March 2022 there were 2,887 honour-based abuse-related (HBA) offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, the second consecutive rise in HBA-related offences. Approximately seven cases are reported every day. However, the Home Office says that these cases are likely to only represent a small proportion of the actual offences committed.’

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Each Other, 27th January 2022

Source: eachother.org.uk

BSB publishes its Report on Diversity at the Bar 2022 – Bar Standards Board

Posted January 30th, 2023 in barristers, diversity, equality, news, statistics by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a summary of the latest available diversity data for the Bar. Overall, the data shows the continuation in 2022 of several longer-term trends, including an increase in the proportion of practising barristers who are female; who are from a minority ethnic background; who have primary care of a child; who have a disability; and who are aged 55 or more. The most noticeable increase was a rise of 3.3 percentage points in the proportion of pupils who are female to 59.9 per cent.’

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Bar Standards Board, 27th January 2023

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Fifth of LGBTQ+ people in UK subjected to conversion practices – The Guardian

‘More than 400,000 people who are gay, transgender or non-binary have been subjected to someone trying to change, “cure” or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to new research that suggests a proposed ban on conversion practices will have a wider impact than previously thought.’

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The Guardian, 25th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Large rise in men referred to Prevent over women-hating incel ideology – The Guardian

‘There has been a large rise in the number of young men referred to the government’s Prevent scheme over the women-hating “incel” ideology, official statistics have shown.’

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The Guardian, 26th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Train firms ordered to stop misusing cancellation loophole – The Independent

Posted January 20th, 2023 in news, railways, statistics, transport by tracey

‘Train operators have been ordered by a regulator to stop misusing a process which removes services from schedules without them being classed as cancelled.’

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The Independent, 20th January 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

No action taken on 90% of complaints against police officers, figures show – The Independent

Posted January 13th, 2023 in complaints, disciplinary procedures, news, police, professional conduct, statistics by tracey

‘No action has been taken on almost 90 per cent of complaints against police in England and Wales, figures show. Of over 86,000 allegations handled under an official process in 2021-22, a tiny 0.2 per cent resulted in disciplinary proceedings.’

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The Independent, 12th January 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Football banning orders in England and Wales up 230% on last season – The Guardian

‘Football banning orders issued in relation to matches in England and Wales have increased notably in the first half of this season compared with the same period last season, according to police figures.’

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The Guardian, 12th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com