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Creating an Offence of Public Sexual Harassment

Creating an offence of public sexual harassment. Ministers undertook that by Parliament’s 2022 summer recess the government would launch a consultation on whether a specific offence for public sexual harassment (sexual harassment in public spaces) should be created. In the nationally representative survey of 2,000 people which formed part of the Call for Evidence, 44% of […]

Self-driving vehicles and the Highway Code

Self-driving vehicles and the Highway Code. From today (1 July) new rules on the use of self-driving vehicles in Great Britain have come into force. The changes are included in a new section in The Highway Code. Currently, only vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems are available in the UK. No vehicles in Great Britain have […]

Public Parole Hearings

Public Parole Hearings. Victims, members of the public and the media will be able to ask for a parole hearing to be heard in public for the first time, following law changes. From 21 July 2022, anyone including prisoners, victims, members of the public or the media will be able to ask the Board to hold […]

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act was recently brought into effect very quickly. The haste with which this went through Parliament was due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the massive concern about the origins of funds held by wealthy Russian oligarchs in this country. There have been calls for a crackdown on […]

New Criminal Justice Initiatives

New Criminal Justice Initiatives. It has been a busy week for new policy announcements, with these coming from the Ministry of Justice in the last few days. Prison leavers tagged to cut alcohol-fuelled crime Prison leavers will be ordered to wear a sobriety tag, which monitors alcohol levels in sweat, if their probation officer thinks they […]

Corporate Criminal Liability

Corporate Criminal Liability. The general rule for attributing liability to companies in English and Welsh criminal law is the ‘identification principle’. This states that where a particular mental state is required, only the acts of a senior person representing the company’s “controlling mind and will” can be attributed to the company. In practice, this is […]

New airport-style security in prisons sees record level of drug seizures

New airport-style security in prisons sees record level of drug seizures. Over the last two years, over 70 X-ray body scanners have been installed in all closed male prisons, producing high-quality images of concealed contraband so that prison officers can easily find and stop dangerous items from entering jails. These scanners have prevented over 19000 attempts […]

Causing Death by Dangerous Driving

Causing Death by Dangerous Driving. The offence of causing death by dangerous driving currently carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. In a recent case (Hughes [2022] EWCA Crim 538) the sentencing judge adopted a starting point of 14 years (the maximum) before discounting it for a guilty plea. During the Crown’s opening, when reference […]

Sentencing Guidelines for Sexual Offences

Sentencing Guidelines for Sexual Offences. The Sentencing Council has this week published revised sentencing guidelines for a number of sexual offences. These new guidelines will apply to those sentenced on or after 31 May 2022, and in one case to those sentenced on or after 1 July 2022. Which offences are covered by these changes? The […]

Burglary – New Sentencing Guidelines

Burglary – New Sentencing Guidelines. Revised sentencing guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences in England and Wales, which come into effect on 1 July 2022 (for persons sentenced on or after that date), have been published by the Sentencing Council following consultation. The revised guidelines follow the newer stepped format of more recent […]