All posts in the Recent case category
How best to reform UK extradition law – some suggestions for Sir Menzies Campbell’s review
Last Friday’s judgments in the cases of Tappin and O’Dwyer have again focused minds on the vexed issue of the UK-US extradition treaty. Two questions were asked repeatedly on news channels around the UK. Is the treaty fair and balanced? And if not, how should it be reformed?
Read more and comment...
Double jeopardy – its significance in the Stephen Lawrence murder case
18 years after Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racist attack in south east London, Gary Dobson and David Norris have been convicted of his murder. As well as bringing a sense of closure, the convictions represent a significant legal milestone as a high profile example of a conviction following the repeal of the ‘double jeopardy’ rule in England and Wales.
Read more and comment...
Leveson inquiry – Piers Morgan, rubbish bins and the law of theft
In giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry. Piers Morgan admitted to using the services of Benjamin Pell, dubbed “Benji the Binman” by the press, a man who apparently built a career on going through the bins of celebrities and selling their rubbish to newspapers. Mr Morgan accepted in his evidence to the inquiry that the act of removing material from a bin was “on the cusp” of being unethical but did not feel that this was illegal. So much for the perception of ethics and legal knowledge of one former tabloid editor!
Read more and comment...
Urgent new guidance needed on use of Twitter in criminal trials
The problems that Twitter can pose in legal proceedings has been highlighted in the recent corruption trial of the Pakistani cricketers. Given that Twitter enables anything said in court to be instantly broadcast, it is surprising that its use does not currently fall under any of the specific statutory provisions which deal with the publication of photographs, sound recording or non-contemporaneous reports of criminal trials. And in criminal trials, where assertions made (no matter how spurious) can be made public before a defence counsel can get to his feet to object, the problems are particularly serious.
Read more and comment...
Riot appeals bring no surprises – but what next for Facebook?
Following a hearing on 27 September 2011, the Court of Appeal today (Tuesday 18 October) handed its judgment in the appeals against sentence for those involved in the August riots across the UK:
Read more and comment...
Between the devil and the deep blue sea: suicide law revisited
This year marks the centenary of the birth of playwright Terence Rattigan, whose play The Deep Blue Sea has been revived at Chichester. This month saw the Director of Public Prosecutions defending himself against the charge of having a blanket ban on cases of assisting another person to commit suicide. The heroine of Rattigan’s play, the estranged wife of a High Court judge, reminds us that until the late 1950s it was a crime to attempt suicide, and prosecutions did occur.
Read more and comment...
Curing awkward case law by retrospective legislation
The High Court judgment in the case of murder suspect Paul Hookway has caused a great deal of uncertainty about the way in which the detention provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (“PACE”) have been interpreted and operated since it came into force on 1 January 1986. However, the government response to this decision, through its emergency legislation to reverse the High Court ruling, illustrates how retrospective legislation can be used to change the law so that legal certainty is created by “restoring the position retrospectively”. In this way, the government hopes to avoid having to wait for the Supreme Court to come to its rescue.
Read more and comment...
Is an arrest necessary or practical?
If a person is arrested it not only deprives them of their liberty but it means they have an arrest record and all of their biometric data (fingerprints, DNA) remains on the Police National Computer for an indefinite period of time even if they are never prosecuted. This may have consequences in the future in terms of employment and travel to different jurisdictions. It is therefore important to ensure that the police exercise their power of arrest properly and in a proportionate manner.
Read more and comment...
Punishing contempt
Joanna Fraill, the juror who used Facebook to contact Jamie Sewart, the acquitted defendant whose case she tried, was this week sentenced to 8 months’ imprisonment. The Attorney General’s decision to prosecute both women sends a clear warning to jurors that they will be punished severely if they act in contempt of court. But is the threat of prosecution the only way in which the jury system can respond to the challenges of the internet age?
Read more and comment...
Contempt proceedings permitted against the Sun and Daily Mirror
Contempt proceedings against the media are rare but on 12 May the High Court granted the Attorney General permission to proceed against the publishers of the Sun and Daily Mirror newspapers for contempt of court in relation to their reporting of the police investigation of the killing of Joanna Yeates in late December 2010.
Read more and comment...