Pesky Time Limits and Abu Qatada - No.2

On 19th April Law and Lawyers posted on Pesky Time Limits and Abu Qatada.  In that post it was argued that when a judgment was handed down on 17th January, it would be 17th April when the 3 month time limit for a party to request a reference to the Grand Chamber would expire.  (Such references are permitted by European Convention on Human Rights Article 43).  This view was based on the court's own case law - 5th section of the E Ct HR in Otto v. Germany.  Abu Qatada lodged his request for a reference on 17th April.  A five judge panel of the European Court of Human Rights has held that he was in time.  This is, of course, a finding against the British government which insisted that the time limit expired on 16th April.

Interestingly, the expiry time was not entirely easy

LASPO - Part 3 Chapter 9 - Offences and Criminal Law

Part 3 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. (LASPO) deals with Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders. Part 3 divides into 9 Chapters which cover a very considerable range of criminal justice issues: 1. Sentencing; 2. Bail; 3. Remands of children otherwise than on bail; 4. Release on licence; 5. Dangerous Offenders; 6. Prisoners; 7. Out of Court disposals; 8. Rehabilitation of Offenders; 9. Offences (including more legislation on the use of reasonable force in self-defence).  The 9 Chapters cover sections 63 to 141 and bring into play Schedules 9 to 27.

Previous posts on this blog have considered LASPO Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Chapter 1 and Part 3 Chapters 2 to 8.  This post is the final one of this series on LASPO and looks at Part 3 Chapter 9  where a number of new criminal offences are created.

I hope that this series will give the reader at least an overview of this very detailed and far-reaching legislation.

LASPO - Part 3 Chapters 2 to 8

Part 3 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. deals with Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders. Part 3 divides into 9 Chapters which cover a very considerable range of criminal justice issues: 1. Sentencing; 2. Bail; 3. Remands of children otherwise than on bail; 4. Release on licence; 5. Dangerous Offenders; 6. Prisoners; 7. Out of Court disposals; 8. Rehabilitation of Offenders; 9. Offences (including more legislation on the use of reasonable force in self-defence).  The 9 Chapters cover sections 63 to 141 and bring into play Schedules 9 to 27.  The previous posts on this blog have considered LASPO Part 1, Part 2 and Chapter 1 of Part 3.  This post is an overview of Chapters 2 to 8.

LASPO - Part 3 Chapter 1 - Sentencing

Part 3 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. deals with Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders.  Part 3 divides into 9 Chapters which cover a very considerable range of criminal justice issues: 1. Sentencing; 2. Bail; 3. Remands of children otherwise than on bail; 4. Release on licence; 5. Dangerous Offenders; 6. Prisoners; 7. Out of Court disposals; 8. Rehabilitation of Offenders; 9. Offences (including more legislation on the use of reasonable force in self-defence).  The 9 Chapters cover sections 63 to 141 and bring into play Schedules 9 to 27.

In December 2010 Law and Lawyers looked at the Green Paper - "Breaking the Cycle ...." - which set out the government's thinking on reforms to the ways in which offenders are dealt with.  This post looks at the Sentencing aspects in LASPO Part 3 Chapter 1.   Many of the changes are aimed at improving then efficacy of community sentencing and some new requirements for Community Orders enter the law.  Certain amendments are made to youth justice - referral orders, detention and training orders and youth rehabilitation orders.  The maximum sentence power of the Magistrates' Court will be lifted.  Some sentences (Custody Plus and Intermittent Custody) are consigned to history.  More of the detail follows together with links to the relevant sections.

LASPO - Part 2 - Litigation funding and Costs

Lord Justice Jackson

Introduction:  

Part 2 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. deals with some aspects of Litigation funding and Costs.  It is vital to note from the outset that LASPO is by no means the full story.  Other reforms, not requiring primary legislation, are in the pipeline including amendments to Civil Procedure Rules.  The international law firm - Kennedys - views the changes in LASPO as part of an integrated package of reforms - (see Kennedys - Liability Brief - March 2012).  Downloadable from this last link is a Briefing Paper which contains a very useful diagram illustrating the reform package.

Part 2 of LASPO implements, but only in part, Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations set out in his report of December 2009 (published January 2010) - see Judiciary - The Jackson report.  Between November 2010 and February 2011, the Ministry of Justice consulted on the Jackson report and issued their response on 29th March 2011 - the various documents may be seen via National Archives.   Over 600 formal responses were received. In general, defendant

LASPO - Part 1 - the detail

Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke PC QC MP

General:   Part 1 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. deals with Legal Aid.  The 43 sections of Part 1 deal with both civil and criminal legal aid.  Schedule 1 (Civil Legal Aid) is of central importance. Most of the provisions of the Act come into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor (pictured) or the Secretary of State may appoint by order.


In many ways, the Act is a radical rethink and is designed to save some £350m per year on legal aid.  The Legal Services Commission will disappear to be replaced by a Director of Legal Aid Casework ('the Director') - a civil servant appointed by the Lord Chancellor.  The Act offers the Director some independence but only in respect of individual case decisions.  Whether this arrangement will prove to be satisfactory remains open to question.  Civil servants are always influenced by the general ethos of the Department to which they are attached.

The Act is a marked improvement on the original Bill since, due to significant pressure from interested parties, the government conceded on a number of important points such as the definition of domestic violence, the need for legal aid for certain appeals, removal of the idea of means testing police station legal advice etc.  On this, see the article by John Wotton (President of the Law Society).  For anyone who thinks that the return of a Labour government will mark a return to pre-LASPO days (or even better) see the article "Labour would rebalance the justice system."

In civil proceedings, legal aid becomes

A tragedy - LASPO Part 1

The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill received Royal assent and is now, therefore, the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.  Part 1 of the Act - dealing with legal aid provision - is, in my view, a disgrace.

Lord Bach, the Shadow House of Lords Spokesman on legal aid has resigned - The Guardian 2nd May 2012.

Lord Bach described the legislation as a "bad day for the British justice system". The former criminal barrister said he had stayed on to fight the bill but would now go to the backbenches.

"I was determined to see this through," he said. "It's such a rotten bill. This