Sentencing Review ~ some of the issues

On 21 October 2024, the prison population of England and Wales stood at 87,465 against a Useable Operational Capacity of 89,136 - Prison population: weekly estate figures 2024 - GOV.UK. That is a prison service sailing close to the wind at 98,13% full.

6 years ago, on 3 August 2018, the figures were 83,107 against capacity 86,012. That is 96.62%.

Admittedly that is a mere snapshot but indicates a system that has NOT suddenly started to struggle but one that has been running close to capacity for many years. The capacity issue ought to have been addressed by the previous government. 

Action taken by the present government includes Emergency action taken on prison population and the announcement of a Landmark Sentencing Review launched to end prison crisis - GOV.UK to be led by former (Conservative) Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor Mr David Gauke.

Whilst the sentencing review has some limitations such as

Review of Sentencing

The government has announced a review of sentencing to be led by former Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Mr David Gauke - 

Landmark Sentencing Review launched to end prison crisis - GOV.UK

The Review has been set up against the background of prisons running very close to capacity. The announcement states that the review will make sure the most serious offenders can be sent to prison to protect the public, and that the country always has the space needed to keep dangerous criminals locked up.

Launched on the day more prisoners will be leaving jail under an emergency release scheme due to chronic overcrowding, the review will make sure no government is ever placed in this position again.

Previous post - Law and Lawyers: Emergency action to be taken on prison population

Terms of Reference - Independent Sentencing Review 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK

Assisted Dying Bills ~ Background information

The term "Assisted Dying" generally refers to a person who is terminally ill receiving lethal drugs from a medical practitioner, which they administer themselves - (What do assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia mean and what is the law? - BBC News.

In The Queen (Mrs Dianne Pretty) v DPP  and Secretary of State for the Home Department Lord Bingham noted that the issue is a subject of profound and fully justified concern to very many people. The questions whether the terminally ill, or others, should be free to seek assistance in taking their own lives, and if so in what circumstances and subject to what safeguards, are of great social, ethical and religious significance and are questions on which widely differing beliefs and views are held, often strongly. 

This post is confined to the legal issues relating to assisted dying and the profound questions it raises are left to one side. Any change to the existing law will have to be very clearly drafted and must clearly address the circumstances and safeguards referred to by Lord Bingham.

The law

Suicide was a criminal offence

British Indian Ocean Territory

The UK government has agreed with Mauritius - (a nation within the Commonwealth) - to settle historic sovereignty claims over British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Negotiations started in 2022 under the previous (Conservative) government.

Mauritius will assume sovereignty over BIOT with the UK authorised to exercise the sovereign rights of Mauritius regarding Diego Garcia - an island with a military base of importance to UK, USA and others.

The government's announcement notes that the agreement is "political" and will be the subject of a treaty yet to be finalised.

UK-Mauritius deal to protect national security – safeguarding the operation of strategic military base - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)k)

General material:

Some recent new material

The Supreme Court of the UK has been operational for 15 years. See the report from the House of Commons LIbrary 

The UK Supreme Court - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)

The Criminal Cases Review Commission has published online a Case Library

Case Library - Criminal Cases Review Commission (ccrc.gov.uk)

HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published

A decade of declining quality of education in young offender institutions: the systemic shortcomings that fail children - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

R v Plummer and Holland ~ Criminal Damage at the National Gallery

On 14 October 2022, "Just Stop Oil" protesters, Phoebe Plummer (age 23) and Anna Holland (age 22) committed criminal damage at the National Gallery, London. Tomato soup was thrown at a Van Gogh painting - "SUNFLOWERS" - with the result that the patina on the frame (value £8 - 10,000) was damaged. Because of a glass protective cover, the painting itself was not actually damaged but there was a possibility that it might have been.

In July 2024, the two women were convicted after trial and were sentenced on 27 September by His Honour Judge Hehir. 

Plummer was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for criminal damage and to an additional 3 months for "Interfering with key national infrastructure" (Public Order Act 2023 s.7). Plummer also received a 3 years Criminal Behaviour Order. It should be noted that she had previous relevant convictions and was on bail at the time of the criminal damage offence.

The interfering with national infrastructure offence related to "slow walking." Further details are not provided in the sentencing remarks.

Holland was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for the criminal damage. The Judge was invited by counsel to suspend the custodial sentence but he was of the opinion that immediate custody was the only appropriate sentence because the "need for punishment and deterrence entirely outweighs the factors which might point towards suspending the sentence. ..."

The Sentencing Remarks of Judge Hehir are published on the Judiciary website and should be read in full - Rex -v- Plummer and Holland - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Key National Infrastructure

R v Hugh Edwards - Sentencing Remarks

Mr Hugh Edwards (63) has been sentenced by a court to a sentence of imprisonment - 6 months suspended for 2 years. He resigned from the BBC in 2024, during a police investigation into possession of indecent images of children to which he pleaded guilty. At the BBC, Edwards anchored coverage of state and international events including the Coronation of King Charles III.

The suspended prison sentence is subject to requirements and also to notification requirement under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 - (see HERE). Nobody ought to be under the illusion that any of the requirements are an easy option. They are rigorously by the Probation Service and breaches will usually be referred back to court.

The Sentencing Remarks are available - EDWARDS SENTENCE REMARKS FINAL (judiciary.uk)

The requirements applying to this sentence are -

Inquiries - House of Lords committee calls for reform

The House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee has published a report urging a major overhaul of the way public inquiries are set up and conducted. The report calls for significant improvements to the inquiry system, to make them more efficient and effective and to avoid the costly and wasteful process of inquiries “reinventing the wheel”.

The 63 page report is HERE (pdf) and see Lords committee calls for major overhaul of public inquiries - UK Parliament

Among the main recommendations of the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee are:

Winter Fuel Regulations

Politically, the new (Labour) government made a choice to remove Winter Fuel payments from all the elderly apart from those who qualify for pension credits. Many Labour backbench MPs - often with slim majorities from the recent general election - are unhappy -see

Keir Starmer under pressure as row grows over cut to winter fuel payments | ITV News and 

Is there a £22bn ‘black hole’ in the UK’s public finances? - BBC News.

Of course, millionaires hardly need a winter fuel payment but it is risible to describe, as some have, the majority of pensioners as "millionaires" and thousands fail

House of Lords Reform ~ Hereditary Peers to be completely excluded

On 5 September 2024 the government introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament

See also the Explanatory Notes (pdf)

The Bill seeks to implement a Labour Party manifesto commitment to remove 'the remaining connection between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords; to abolish the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in relation to claims to hereditary peerages ..'

The majority of hereditary peers were excluded from the House of Lords by the House of Lords Act 1999 (legislation.gov.uk) but a compromise was reached and section 2 of that Act provided for 90 such peers to continue as members. In addition the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain were excepted. 

The Bill states

In modern times. claims to hereditary peerages are rare and the Bill will abolish the ancient jurisdiction of the House of Lords over such claims. 

If any claims arise

Grenfell Tower Fire 14 June 2017 ~ Final Report and earlier reports

With updates - 5, 6, 7 and 8 September

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Grenfell Tower Inquiry - YouTube

On 14 June 2017, a fire occurred in Flat 16 at Grenfell Tower, Kensington. The resident promptly contacted emergency services but the fire spread rapidly and engulfed the whole tower block. That was principally due to cladding on the building which contained Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) with a polyethylene core. 72 lives were lost and many made homeless.

The Prime Minister, then Theresa May, set up an inquiry to be held under the Inquiries Act 2005 and appointed a former Lord Justice of Appeal - Sir Martin Moore-Bick - as its chair.

Here are the reports from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. I will add links to any commentaries as they become available.

October 2019 - Phase 1 report | Grenfell Tower Inquiry

September 2024 - Phase 2 report | Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Prosecutions for rail fare avoidance ~ use of Single Justice Procedure ~ Ruling by Chief Magistrate

Senior District Judge Goldspring (Chief Magistrate) has issued an 18 page ruling (dated 15 August 2024) relating to private prosecutions by Northern Trains Ltd and Greater Anglia in connection with avoidance of fares. 

The prosecutions were brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 section 5 and were dealt with in Magistrates' Courts using "Single Justice Procedure (SJP)."

This was not permissible .....

Free speech has limits

19 October 2022 - House of Lords Library -

Freedom of expression online: Communications and Digital Committee report - House of Lords Library (parliament.uk)

The rights and limits to freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is the right to express and receive opinions, ideas and information. Expression and exchanges of views increasingly take place online, including through social media platforms, websites and search engines.

The right to freedom of expression is balanced by the responsibilities held by government, media and technology, and citizens. It is not an unrestricted right

Serious Violence Reduction Orders

On 8 August 2024, in the Crown Court at Liverpool, two men were sentenced to imprisonment for offences connected to recent public disorder.

John O' Malley (age 43) and William Nelson-Morgan (age 69) each received 32 months for separate offences of violent disorder (Public Order Act 1986 s.2). 

Nelson-Morgan also received a concurrent sentence of 6 months for possession of an offensive weapon and also a serious violence reduction order (SVRO) which will take effect on his release from custody and will last for 2 years.

The sentencing remarks

DPP says CPS will consider terrorism in disorder cases

Mr Stephen Parkinson has been Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) since 1 November 2023. He is the 17th holder of the office which dates from 1880. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was DPP from 2008 to 2013. Crucially, the DPP is the Head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - see Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

Against the background of the public disorder of late July and early August, Mr Parkinson is reported to have said that "terrorism offences" would be considered . "Where you have organised groups planning activity for the purposes of advancing [an] ideology... planning really, really serious disruption then yes, we will consider terrorism offences." 

The term "terrorism" is interpreted

A note on compensation for riot damage ~ the Riot Compensation Act 2016

One of the consequences of the disorder experienced over recent days will be claims for compensation but what can be claimed?

Compensation used to be governed by the Riot (Damages) Act 1866 (now repealed). The 1866 Act was tested after the 2011 riots but, in Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co [2016] UKSC 18, the Supreme Court held that the Act did NOT cover consequential losses. For example, a claim under the Act was possible if (say) business premises were directly damaged but loss of profits could not be claimed.

Following the 2011 disorder, the Home Secretary - (then Theresa May) - commissioned a review of the 1866 Act and this reported in November 2013.    On 8th November 2013, the Home Office published -  New proposals to reform Riot Damages Act.

The outcome was

R v Axel Muganwa Rudakubana ~ Southport attack, Serious Disorder

At Liverpool on 1 August 2024, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana (aged 17) was remanded to youth detention accommodation. He is charged with the murders of Bebe King (age six); Elsie Dot Stancombe (age seven), and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (age 9). He is further charged with the attempted murders of ten  others (8 children and 2 adults) and also with possession of a bladed article. The alleged offences occurred at a dance class at the Hart Space in Southport.

The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool (HHJ Andrew Menary KC) ruled that the young person could be named - see Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 section 45 (legislation.gov.uk). Certain other reporting restrictions apply.

A plea hearing was set for 25 October 2024. Any trial will be in 2025 and a potential trial date of 20 January was set - Live updates as Southport stabbing suspect named in court - Liverpool Echo

There was considerable online misinformation about the identity of the suspect who was actually born in Wales and is not an asylum seeker.

The Prime Minister:

Serious violence took place not only in Southport but also in many other locations and it

R v Hallam ~ M25 protests ~ conspiracy to intentionally commit public nuisance

A Law Commission report in 2015 recommended the replacement of the common law offence of public nuisance. Government took no action on this aspect of the report until the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 section 78.

The section is a new statutory offence of "Intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance" and it has a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. The section also provides a defence of "reasonable excuse" - see section 78(3). 

The 2022 Act was a further step

Covid-19 Inquiry - First report

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, has issued its first report which deals with Module 1 - Resilience and Preparedness - Module 1 Report - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk)

Module 1 Report - The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk) - 240 pp. (pdf)

Module 1 Report 'In Brief' summary - The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk) - 4 pp (pdf)

The report has to be read in full and it speaks for itself. I am therefore avoiding either analysis or precis. In any event, this report is the first of several. Each "module" will be followed by its own report.

That said, Baroness Hallett notes

King's Speech ~ State Opening of Parliament ~ 17 July 2024

 The State Opening of Parliament took place on 17 July 2024 amid the usual pomp and circumstance. In the House of Lords, HM King Charles III read 'The King's Speech' setting out the new (Labour) government's legislative plans -

The King's Speech 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

FINAL - 17/07/24 King's Speech 2024 background briefing final GOV.uk.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)

King’s Speech 2024: Full list of bills - Politics.co.uk

King's Speech 2024: Research and reading lists - House of Lords Library (parliament.uk) - research briefings and reading lists by subject area

The history and ceremonial of the State Opening are described at - State Opening of Parliament -history and ceremonial

References to Liz Truss removed from King’s Speech papers after ex-PM complains (msn.com)

New Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor, and Law Officers

On Monday 15 July, the newly elected Labour government's appointees as Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor and Law Officers were sworn in at the Royal Courts of Justice.  

Swearing in of the new Lord Chancellor - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Joshua Rozenberg describes the occasion on his substack - Rule of law - by Joshua Rozenberg - A Lawyer Writes (substack.com). 

The appointees

The appointees are Shabana Mahmood, Richard Hermer KC (as Attorney-General) and Sarah Sackman MP as Solicitor General.

Shabana Mahmood has

Emergency action to be taken on prison population

Updated 18 July 2024

The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor is now Shabana Mahmood MP and found herself in the unenviable position of having to announce action to defuse prison ‘time-bomb’ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). At 12 July, the prison population stood at 87,505 against a useable operational capacity of 88,956 - (here). 

I use the word "unenviable" because it is bound to lead to accusations from political opponents that the government is putting the population in danger or that it has gone soft on crime. Because of this, I urge readers to look carefully at Mahmood's statement - Lord Chancellor sets out immediate action to defuse ticking prison ‘time-bomb’ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

It is now 30 years

Pollution of the Manchester Ship Canal

Could the Manchester Ship Canal Company (MSCC) bring a private law claim in nuisance and / or trespass against United Utilities Ltd (UU) in respect of unauthorised discharges of untreated foul water by UU into the canal?

In June 2022, the Court of Appeal (Asplin, Arnold, Nugee LJJ) said not - The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd v United Utilities Water Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 852 (27 June 2022) (bailii.org)

The Supreme Court has reversed that - The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd (Appellant) v United Utilities Water Ltd (Respondent) No 2 - The Supreme Court

See the Judgment (PDF) and the Press summary (PDF)

It was argued for United Utilities that such private law claims were excluded because of the statutory scheme for regulating sewerage established by the Water Industry Act 1991 (legislation.gov.uk)

As the summary notes - The implication of the Court of Appeal's judgment was that "no owner of a canal (or other watercourse or body of water) can bring a claim based on nuisance or trespass against a sewerage undertaker in respect of polluting discharges into the water, unless the sewerage undertaker is guilty of negligence or deliberate wrongdoing. A claim of this kind would be prevented even if the polluting discharges were frequent and had significant and damaging effects on the owner’s commercial or other interests, or on its ability to enjoy its property." 

The Supreme Coutr held that the 1991 Act does not prevent the Canal Company from bringing a claim in nuisance or trespass when the canal is polluted by discharges of foul water from United Utilities’ outfalls, even if there has been no negligence or deliberate misconduct. 

Discharge of sewage into watercourses is a major concern and

Lucy Letby

 Lucy Letby has been convicted, at a retrial, of attempting to murder Baby K. See the Crown Prosecution Service statement - Lucy Letby found guilty of attempting to murder baby following retrial | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk)

On 5 July, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for that offence - see the Sentencing Remarks.

Following the conclusion of the Baby K case, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) published its reasons for rejecting appeals by Lucy Letby relating to previous convictions for murder and attempted murder.

Letby v Rex (Rev1) [2024] EWCA Crim 748 (02 July 2024) (bailii.org)

Please note the reporting restrictions set out at the start of the judgment. 

Letby is now serving life imprisonment with a whole life term - Law and Lawyers: Letby sentenced to Whole Life Term (obiterj.blogspot.com)

The Thirlwall Inquiry - (named after the inquiry's chair - Lady Justice Thirlwall) - has been established to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and their implications following the trial, and subsequent convictions, of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby of murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital.

The Inquiry Terms of Reference are available via the Inquiry website. 

There was a preliminary hearing on 16 May 2024 and for information about future hearings see -Hearings | The Thirlwall Inquiry

Addendum 9 July 2024

Lucy Letby: killer or coincidence? Why some experts question the evidence | Lucy Letby | The Guardian

Addendum 25 October 2024

R -v- Letby - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary - Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) ruled that it was not unfair to try Letby for the attempted murder of Baby K

Letby applied for leave to appeal against her conviction in July 2024. The sole ground of the appeal was that the judge erred in refusing to stay the proceedings.

Post Office Horizon Inquiry on 11 June 2024

On Tuesday 11 June 2024, the Post Office Horizon Inquiry heard from Lord Grabiner KC. 

The live evidence is worth watching for the exchanges between Jason Beer KC (Counsel to the Inquiry) and Lord Grabiner KC who was first instructed by Post Office Ltd on 15 March 2019 and was asked to advise on whether Mr Justice Fraser should be requested to recuse himself (i.e. stand down) as Managing Judge of the Post Office Group litigation.

Lord Grabiner's witness statement is on the Inquiry website - All Evidence | Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk) and his live evidence session may be seen on the Inquiry's Youtube channel - Phases 5/6 - 11 June 2024 | Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk).

Fraser was appointed as Managing Judge

Nealon and Hallam v UK - European Court of Human Rights - Compensation for miscarriage of justice

A previous post noted the 2019 judgment of the Supreme Court in R (Nealon) v Secretary of State for Justice [2019] UKSC 2 and R (Hallam) v Secretary of State for Justice. [2019] UKSC 2. The two men were unsuccessful in their challenge to the decision of the Secretary of State to refuse their claims for compensation for miscarriage of justice.

They petitioned the European Court of Human Rights and, in February 2023, it was decided that the case would be heard by the Grand Chamber - Relinquishment in favour of the Grand Chamber Nealon v. UK and Hallam v. UK (coe.int)

On 11 June 2024 the Grand Chamber gave judgment and, by a majority of 12 to 5, the court held that their applications failed.

The court’s judgment

The High Court Chancery Division - Rahman v Hassan and others - Donationes Mortis Causa

This blog began on 14 January 2010. Back in September 2022 I posted that it was coming to an end but, as you can see, it did not! I continued to find the law too interesting to actually stop altogether and so I posted items albeit more occasionally. There is, and always will be, much of interest in our law and legal system and so, energy and time permitting, I hope to continue.  Anyway, enough of that !

A very interesting case has just been decided in the High Court's CHANCERY Division. The Division is the successor to the former Court of Chancery which, along with other courts (e.g. Queen's Bench), became part of the High Court under the reforms of 1873-75. 

At the present time, there are

Parliament Dissolved

HM The King has issued the Proclamation required to dissolve Parliament. 

In law, the King acts under the Royal Prerogative but, by convention , he is advised by the government which, in this case, has formally acted through the Privy Council.

Following the 4 July general election, the new Parliament will meet on 9 July 2024.

Privy Council 30 May 2024 - Proclamation

The Proclamation reads:

Infected Blood Inquiry ~ Report ~ Compensation Scheme

More than 30,000 NHS patients were given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 80s in what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the health service. It is thought around 3,000 later died, after contracting HIV or hepatitis C from a treatment made from blood plasma or a blood transfusion.

In July 2017 the Prime Minister (then Theresa May) announced an inquiry to examine 'the circumstances in which men, women and children treated by national Health Services in the United Kingdom (collectively, the “NHS”) were given infected blood and infected blood products, in particular since 1970.'

 Following consultation with interested parties, Terms of Reference were issued in September 2018. The Inquiry began its hearings in April 2019. The Inquiry operated under the Inquiries Act 2005.

Infected Blood Inquiry - Chair Sir Brian Langstaff. 

On Monday 20 May 2024, the Inquiry published

Parliament Prorogued to 31 May.

On 22 May 2024, the Prime Minister stood in Downing Street and announced that he had requested HM The King to dissolve Parliament so that a general election could be held on 4 July 2024 - Election 2024: Drenched Rishi Sunak calls for vote in July - YouTube

On 23 May 2024, the Privy Council met at Buckingham Palace and ordered a Prorogation of Parliament - see the order at List of Business - 23rd May 2024 (independent.gov.uk). Prorogation differs from Dissolution in that the prorogation is to last from 24 May to Friday 31 May and will "be then holden for the despatch of divers urgent and important affairs."

In the House of Lords Chamber on 24 May a Commission for Royal Assent and Prorogation was

The Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 - High Court judgment

 

An earlier post (9 May 2023) referred to The Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 - Law and Lawyers: Coronation Day arrests - Public Order law (obiterj.blogspot.com). 

The government (mainly Home Secretary Suella Braverman) chose to use secondary legislation to define the statutory meaning of 'serious disruption' even though, the same change had recently been explicitly rejected by Parliament during the passage of a public order bill;. The Regulations came to define "serious disruption" as "more than minor." 

There was contemporaneous criticism

ICC Prosecutor seeks arrest warrants

On 20 May the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (the ICC) announced that he is seeking warrants for the arrest of:

Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip)

Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and 

Ismail HANIYEH ((Head of Hamas Political Bureau).

ALSO, warrants are sought for 

Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and 

Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel

The Prosecutor's (Mr Karim A. A. Khan KC)'s statement is available via the ICC website - Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine | International Criminal Court (icc-cpi.int)

Khan explains that the applications are 'the outcome of

Rv Calocane ~ application by Solicitor General refused

In the early hours of the morning of 13 June 2023, Valdo Calocane went out on the streets of Nottingham, having armed himself with knives. He attacked and killed Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, two students walking home from a night out. Just over an hour later, he attacked a school caretaker, Ian Coates, who was on his way to work, killed him and stole his van. He then drove to the city centre, where he deliberately drove the van, at speed, into another man, Wayne Birkett, causing him a serious brain injury. Minutes later he deliberately drove into two other victims, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, also causing serious injury. These were random attacks: none of his six victims were known to the offender.

On 28th November 2023, in the Crown Court at Nottingham, the offender pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter, and three counts of attempted murder.

On 24 January 2024, again at Nottingham Crown Court, the offender was sentenced by Turner J. The unanimous opinion of the medical experts retained by the prosecution and the defence was that the offender was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time when he committed these offences. 

The judge sentenced the offender to

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 Part 3 + Report by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

On 1 May 2024, Part 3 of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 is fully in force.

Part 3 deals with Investigations, legal proceedings etc and release of prisoners. The Explanatory Notes explain the effect of the legislation. 

Part 2 of the Act created an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) and defined its role and powers.

The effect of Part 3 is to bring into force a conditional immunity scheme, allowing those who cooperate with the ICRIR to receive immunity from prosecution for offences resulting in or connected with Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries. The Act also prevents new Troubles-related civil claims and inquests.

Acting on requests from

Amnesty International - Annual Report - critical of UK

Amnesty International, in its annual report for 2023-24, claims that the UK is weakening human rights protections both nationally and globally.

Flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors (amnesty.org).

The UK section of the report commences at page 390 and contains much that should be of considerable concern to anyone concerned with protection of human rights. 

Will human rights in the UK continue to have the strong protection that currently exists? The UK is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and convention rights are woven into domestic law as a result of the Human Rights Act 1998.

There is sound reason

A note on the enactment of the Safety of Rwanda Act

'Every decision-maker must conclusively treat the Republic of Rwanda as a safe country.'

So states section 2 of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 (legislation.gov.uk) which received Royal Assent on 25 April 2024.

The passage of the Act was met with a brief statement from No 10 Downing Street - PM statement on Safety of Rwanda Bill: 23 April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As a Bill it received considerable criticism both within Parliament (especially the House of Lords) and from international bodies - e.g.

UK: Rwanda Bill threatens to undermine independence of judiciary, UN experts say | OHCHR

Serious human rights concerns about United Kingdom’s Rwanda Bill - Portal (coe.int)

The legislation results from

Do juries have an absolute right to acquit a defendant?

Updated Monday 22 April 2024

Do jurors in criminal cases actually have a right to decide a case against the weight of the evidence or, as it is often phrased, "according to conscience" or "jury equity"?

Historically, Bushel's Case (1670) 124 ER 1006  has been thought to have decided that they may

BUT

Each juror either swears or affirms an oath to 'faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence."

Claiming to be protecting the public interest in the administration of justice, the Attorney-General is seeking to bring contempt of court proceedings against Trudi Warner because, outside a Crown Court venue, she held the sign shown above. The Attorney argues