Case Comment: the Court of Appeal’s decision in Tommy Robinson’s case
The decision of the Court of Appeal (Lord Burnett CJ, Turner and McGowan JJ) to quash the finding of contempt in the case of R v Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (alias Tommy...
Making applications to the ECtHR: clearing the admissibility hurdle
Around 95% of applications to the European Court of Human Rights are declared inadmissible or struck out without substantive consideration on their merits. This may be because an application is...
Case comment: SFO v Saleh [2018] EWHC 1012
In SFO v Saleh, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the SFO in an appeal against a property freezing order for £4.4 million. This case illustrates the willingness and...
Voluntary Euthanasia, Individual Autonomy and the Chain of Causation
The facts of Wallace [2018] EWCA Crim 690 are as tragic as they are unusual. The victim, Mr van Dongen, and the defendant, had formerly been in a long-term relationship....
The Latest Developments in Legal Professional Privilege in Corporate Investigations
In a judgment that will have significant repercussions for internal corporate investigations, and corporates seeking to enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), the SFO was criticised by the High...
Targeting McMafia, Salisbury and Syria – the Unexplained Wealth Order
Алты́нного во́ра ве́шают, а полти́нного че́ствуют - Laws catch flies but let hornets go free (Russian Proverb) ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’ (‘UWOs’) came into force on 31 January 2018[1]. UWOs are designed as...
Legally binding: when do criminal statutes bind the Crown?
In a previous blog post, Alex du Sautoy and Vincent Scully considered the Supreme Court’s decision in R (Black) v Secretary of State for Justice [2017] UKSC 81 (‘No smoke...
The Brexit Transition Agreement – What it Means for Criminal Justice Cooperation
On 19 March 2018, the EU and the UK agreed the terms of a transition period (referred to by the UK as ‘an implementation period’) that will extend the time...
UK “Magnitsky provisions” – time for a change?
Since the events that unfolded in Salisbury last week, there have been calls to introduce into UK law a version of the so-called "Magnitsky Act" that was enacted in the...
First unexplained wealth orders made by the High Court
Section 1 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 added a new investigative tool to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (sections 362A to 362I)(“the Act”). The new measure, known as...