Age and responsibility: an unresolved question
In its May 2019 report, ‘Torture in the UK: update report’ the Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘EHRC’) has raised again whether the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales...
Weekly Digest: 8 April
This week’s Digest considers five cases, four of which were handed down by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and one by the Divisional Court. The issue in the first...
Death, driving and drugs: anomalies in sentencing
A handful of recent cases have thrown into sharp relief the shortcomings of the Definitive Guideline Causing Death by Driving, that was issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, as it...
The House of Lords’ Report on the Bribery Act 2010: A Glimpse Into the Future of Economic Crime?
On 14 March 2019, the Select Committee on the Bribery Act 2010 published its Report in which it makes a number of conclusions and recommendations.1 The Committee was given the task...
Weekly Digest: 18 March 2019
This week’s Digest considers three judgments from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). First, in R v Coker the court considered whether the leading criminal law textbooks were correct that the...
Court of Appeal considers approach to entrapment defence
In Syed [2018] EWCA Crim 2809 the Court of Appeal restated the approach that ought to be taken when a defendant applies to stay proceedings as an abuse of process on...
Weekly Digest: 11 March 2019
This week’s Digest considers six judgments, one from the Supreme Court and five from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). In Konecny, the Supreme Court considered whether an individual who had...
Beware, lest your cause be criminal
Recent decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal have clarified the definition of a ‘criminal cause or matter’ for the purpose of section 18(1) of the Senior Courts...
Weekly Digest: 25 February 2019
This week’s Digest considers four judgments from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). In R v Cheeseman the court considered whether the householder defence was available to a soldier who...
Are we there yet? Criminal liability in the era of driverless cars
Since the Motor Car Act 1903, the safety of our roads has been regulated largely through the criminal law. Drivers will incur criminal liability if they drive in an unsafe...