‘A High Court judge has said he will refuse to allow alleged domestic abusers to cross examine their victims in any future hearings he oversees.’
Law Society's Gazette, 31st May 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The case against five senior teachers accused of professional misconduct in the so-called “Trojan Horse” inquiry has been dropped.’
BBC News, 30th May 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘How should a judge direct a jury where an expert witness has given their opinion on the “ultimate issue” to be decided in the case? The answer, the Court of Appeal has confirmed, is: carefully. In R v Sellu [2016] EWCA Crim 1716, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of the Appellant, a consultant surgeon, for gross negligence manslaughter on the grounds that the trial judge had failed to adequately direct the jury as to the meaning of gross negligence, in circumstances where expert witnesses had expressly given their view as to whether the conduct of the Appellant amounted to the same.’
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Henderson Chambers, 19th April 2017
Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk
‘The Chancellor of the High Court has urged judges to “temper eagerness with restraint” in the way they conduct trials, after a circuit judge was found to have made excessive interventions while witnesses were giving evidence.’
Litigation Futures, 10th April 2017
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In the 21st century commercial practitioners often approach the question of whether the court will hear evidence by video link as one of practicality. Questions they will commonly ask themselves include the following: will the witness be in London during the trial timetable? Will the witness be able to find time (and obtain consent from a current employer) to fly to London? Where physically could the video evidence be given and is that a suitable location? How sure can the court be that the witness is not receiving clandestine assistance “off-camera”? How secure is the video link and what is the sound and picture quality? Indeed in preparing a case that involves a number of witnesses who live and work overseas the possibility of live video evidence may well feature in trial preparation as a necessity rather than an option.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 27th March 2017
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘Claims that evidence at an inquest into a baby’s death was deliberately falsified will not be pursued by police due to insufficient evidence.’
BBC News, 20th March 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Government plans for virtual court hearings and online guilty pleas for criminal offences are poorly costed, based on weak evidence and have not been subjected to proper consultation, a national justice charity says today.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 15th March 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Mark Roscoe, barrister of The 36 Group, outlines the provisions which the Government proposes to insert into section 31 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984.’
Family Law Week, 7th March 2017
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘Police officers directly involved in fatal incidents should be separated as quickly as possible to prevent conferring, a watchdog has said.’
BBC News, 21st February 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Rape complainants are being routinely questioned in court about their sexual histories and even the way they were dressed on the night they were attacked, according to a damning dossier of case studies to be presented to MPs this week. The findings have triggered calls for the law to be tightened to protect complainants better.’
The Guardian, 4th February 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘More than nine out of 10 victims and witnesses are now satisfied with the support provided to them at court by the CPS, following the implementation of a ground-breaking initiative. Since April 2016, the CPS has been rolling out a new nationwide programme in which prosecution staff or advocates provide essential information to witnesses at court in order to assist them in giving their evidence. This rollout was completed across all courts last Autumn.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 2nd February 2017
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘Witnesses and parties are frequently being excluded from County Court sessions across the country when another witness or party is giving evidence in cases when there are accusations of collusion or fraud. The fear is that if Witness A hears the responses of Witness B, Witness A may shape his/her evidence to be consistent with that of Witness B in order to strengthen their case.’
4 KBW, 5th January 2017
Source: www.4kbw.net
‘The president of the Family Division has berated the state of equipment in family courts, including his own court in London’s Royal Courts of Justice.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd January 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby has said she was threatened with arrest unless she attended the appeal hearing of a man who harassed her over her son’s death.’
The Guardian, 22nd January 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘I have been raising since 2014 the pressing need to reform the way in which vulnerable people give evidence in family proceedings. I have made clear my view that the family justice system lags woefully behind the criminal justice system.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 30th December 2016
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘John Tughan QC of 4 Paper Buildings reviews recent important judgments in the field of public children law.’
Family Law Week, 7th December 2016
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘Re: W (A child) [2016] EWCA Civ 1140. A Family Court judgment was severely critical of two witnesses and the applicant local authority. In an oral “bullet point” judgment at the end of the hearing, the Judge found that the witnesses, a social worker (“SW”) and a police officer (“PO”), had improperly conspired to prove certain allegations regardless of the truth, or professional guidelines.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 30th November 2016
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A social worker and a police officer have successfully crossed what McFarlane LJ called “legal landmines” to secure deletion of criticisms made of them by a judge.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd November 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A public hearing into allegations of child abuse against the late Lord Janner is to be put back to an undisclosed date, the national inquiry into institutional abuse has said.’
The Guardian, 16th November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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