Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
10 April 2018
Domestic abuse and controlling & coercive behaviour in an intimate or familial relationship
Each unhappy relationship is unhappy in its own way. Sadly for some, emotional and physical abuse is an every-day reality. A combination of fear, loyalty and coercion often prevents action, much to the disbelief of family and friends. Words like these seem extraordinary in 2018. Surely no one need live like this? The reality is that it is only in the very recent past that both criminal and family law have fully evolved to provide real recognition and protection for adults and children in abusive relationships. Victims of domestic abuse don’t have much to be thankful for but it is good news that the law is finally on their side.
5 April 2018
Tongue splitting, ear removal and branding - the limits of consent as a defence to extreme body modification
Split ‘lizard’ tongues, tattooed eyeballs, genital beading and ear shaping are just a handful of unconventional body modification procedures people undergo in the UK every day. In March 2018, the Court of Appeal found that certain body modification procedures did in fact amount to serious harm and wounding, and that the customer’s consent could not amount to a defence for causing these ‘injuries’. In light of this, practitioners currently carrying out these procedures may need to revaluate their practises.
29 March 2018
Youth Justice Part One: Criminalising kids - a guide to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act for young people
In this first blog in a mini-series on youth justice, we provide a a brief guide to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act for young people. This includes addressing the issues of how long criminal records need to be disclosed for and the impact on applying for employment or further education, filtering rules for criminal records certificates and recent developments.
6 March 2018
Time to apply the brakes: do we need a new offence of dangerous cycling?
Following the highly publicised prosecution, conviction and imprisonment of Charlie Alliston in Sept 2015 for wanton and furious cycling (he was found not guilty of manslaughter) the government announced that it would consider a change to the law and extend the offences of careless driving and dangerous driving to cyclists. This week it was (predictably) reported that such a change is likely to be forthcoming. Is this a sensible, proportionate and timely development? Or is unnecessary, ill-conceived legislation and driven more by media pressure than by public need?
19 February 2018
Criminal evidence disclosure in crisis – what does this mean for private prosecutors?
‘Hundreds of cases dropped over evidence disclosure failings’[1]; ‘All current rape cases to be ‘urgently’ reviewed over disclosure fears’[2]; ‘Police chief admits ‘culture problem’ with evidence disclosure’[3]; these are all headlines which have featured in the media recently following the collapse of several high profile rape trials in quick succession. It goes without saying that the disclosure process is one of the fundamental cornerstones in the criminal justice system. Ensuring the availability of all relevant information is key to safe and fair prosecutions and to proper convictions. The current crisis in disclosure is therefore a worrying one striking at the heart of public confidence in our justice system
