‘The government has temporarily been banned from concluding talks on the Chagos Islands deal by a last-minute injunction by a High Court judge.’

Full Story

BBC News, 22nd May 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘A primary school teacher smashed their adoptive children’s heads together, forced them to swallow soap and called one of them a “black bastard”.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 21st May 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor has been upheld by the Supreme Court, external in a decision that is likely to reignite the debate over public access to land in England.’

Full Story

BBC News, 21st May 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘A “lack of consistent political leadership” – because of the high turnover of ministers chairing the Family Justice Board (FLB) – has contributed to the continuing court delays facing families, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 21st May 2025

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘In this article, Francesca Massarella suggests there should be a change in the way poor mental health is perceived and approached, particularly before the point of care proceedings being issued.’

Full Story

Spire Barristers, 12th May 2025

Source: www.spirebarristers.co.uk

‘This study evaluates the effectiveness of an experiential learning assignment designed for criminology and forensic psychology students, requiring them to attend a Crown Court trial in the public gallery or to engage with a virtual mock trial. 48 students were surveyed to measure the impact of experiential assignments in helping students better understand the module content, the criminal justice system and if the experience increased their motivation to continue with their course. Findings indicate strong student support for the assignment, with 81.3% stating it as valuable and 79.2% wanting more experiential learning opportunities in their criminal justice related courses. We found that in-person experiences received slightly higher student ratings, however, both in-person and virtual contributed positively to learning outcomes. We highlight the importance of experiential learning in improving student engagement, and real-world application of their degree.’

Full Story

Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 8th May 2025

Source: www.tandfonline.com

‘Remediation contribution orders (RCOs) and their operation under section 124 of the Building Safey Act are a clear example of how first-tier tribunals are interpreting new statutory mechanisms.’

Full Story

Parklane Plowden Chambers, 14th May 2025

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

‘Restrictive practices are intentional interventions used by mental health professionals with the aim of managing the risk of harm posed by patients, but have been associated with a number of harmful consequences for those who experience them. The current study aimed to explore differences in how restrictive interventions and restrictive practices more broadly were used between men and women who had been detained in secure mental health services in England and Wales, with the intention to inform policy and practice directed at developing gender-sensitive mental health services and to facilitate reduced use of restrictive practices. The sample for the study was 249 patients (203 men, 46 women) detained in low, medium, and high secure services in England and Wales. Analysis revealed significant differences in the way in which restrictive practices including observations, physical restraint, and restricted access were used with men and women. To our knowledge, few studies have previously set out to compare restrictive practices between men and women explicitly. Fewer studies still have considered the broader, day-to-day restrictive practices in place in secure mental health services. Our findings have implications for forensic mental health practice, research, and policy.’

Full Story

The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 19th May 2025

Source: www.tandfonline.com

‘An 11-year-old girl who drowned during a birthday party at a water park was a “beautiful, beaming beacon of light”, her father told an inquest where a coroner found she was unlawfully killed.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 20th May 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The proportion of children in England and Wales subject to care proceedings who are having to wait more than a year to have their case resolved has increased more than 17-fold in the last seven years, a watchdog has found.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 21st May 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘Evidence-based law is increasingly being advocated as best practice, but its implementation remains limited. The distinctively normative nature of law gives reason to pause and consider the appropriateness of an evidence-based approach to law. In this paper, I argue that the distinctively normative nature of law makes it imperative to adopt an evidence-based approach. I support this by shedding light on the relations between evidence and values in the justification of laws. Understanding of the interrelations between evidence and values in the justification of laws helps us to understand the importance of an evidence-based approach to law and thereby motivate its implementation.’

Full Story

The Theory and Practice of Legislation, 19th May 2025

Source: www.tandfonline.com

‘In the first of a series of updates, Dan Jacklin has compiled an update on Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence cases which have been in the courts this year.’

Full Story

St Philips Barristers, 15th May 2025

Source: st-philips.com

‘On 14 June 2017 a fire broke out in Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate, social housing in North Kensington, London. In just a few hours, the fire spread rapidly through the tower block resulting in 72 deaths. Described as ‘one of the most deadly preventable disasters in recent British history’, the fire, which began in a fridge-freezer, spread rapidly to the external walls and consumed almost the entire building within a short time due to the Tower’s construction from wholly inappropriate materials: highly flammable combustible polyethylene cladding boards which had been installed on its exterior. Today the skeleton of what is left of the Tower is shrouded in a protective wrap. The Government has recently announced that it will demolish the Tower gradually, a decision which has been met with a mixed response from the local community: some see the Tower as a living memorial or ‘burial ground’ for those who were lost, but others argue that it is a painful reminder of tragedy and an ongoing safety risk.’

Full Story

Law and Humanities, 13th May 2025

Source: www.tandfonline.com

‘A childminder who was jailed for 31 months after calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire after the Southport attacks has lost an appeal against her sentence at the court of appeal.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 20th May 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The Court of Appeal (Underhill LJ, with whom Peter Jackson and Elisabeth Laing LJJ agreed) has handed down an important judgment delineating the proper scope of the “natural justice exception” in s.11A(4)(c)(ii) of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (“TCEA 2007”). Section 11A contains what is widely known as the Cart ouster clause. The natural justice exception provides that the stipulation in s.11A(2) and (3), that decisions by the Upper Tribunal about permission to appeal are final, will not apply where the Upper Tribunal “is acting or has acted in such a procedurally defective way as amounts to a fundamental breach of the principles of natural justice”.’

Full Story

Administrative Court Blog, 20th May 2025

Source: administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com

‘The High Court has granted leading firm Clyde & Co an injunction banning a man from its Birmingham office after his repeated visits made staff feel “vulnerable and anxious”.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 21st May 2025

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘A UK-based people smuggler who helped exploit migrants as part of a £12 million illegal boat crossing operation has been jailed for 25 years.’

Full Story

The Independent, 20th May 2025

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘A woman who used “an array of wigs” while completing UK citizenship tests for other people has been sentenced to more than four years in jail.’

Full Story

BBC News, 20th May 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Judges and magistrates in England and Wales will be told to move away from handing out short custodial sentences in favour of community-based alternatives in a long-awaited sentencing review to be announced on Thursday.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 20th May 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com