Blog
Private prosecutions – A route to justice for the charity sector
Sophie Tang
10 February 2017
Sexual offences committed by children against other children is on the rise -shocking or inevitable?
The news last week revealed that the number of children that the police are investigating for committing child sexual offences has almost doubled in the last four years. These figures relate to instances where the person alleged to have committed the offence and the alleged victim are both aged under 18. They were obtained by the children’s charity Barnardo’s following a freedom of information request.
9 February 2017
Reform of Official Secrets legislation to recognise contemporary challenges to national security
On 2 February the Law Commission launched a consultation on a proposed update to the four current Official Secrets Acts (of 1911, 1920, 1939 and 1989), deemed anachronistic, and to replace them with the “Espionage Act” and an accompanying statute addressing data disclosure.
2 February 2017
African Union encourages African nations to revoke jurisdiction of International Criminal Court
At the start of February 2017 it was reported that a summit of African Union (AU) member states passed a non-binding resolution supporting a "strategy of collective withdrawal" from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The news follows last year’s announcements by South Africa, Gambia and Burundi to leave the ICC, and indications given previously by Kenya of its intention to do the same.
2 February 2017
FCA and PRA joint policy statement regarding enforcement decision-making
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) have published a joint policy statement on the proposed implementation of HM Treasury's (“HMT”) review of enforcement decision-making at the FCA and the PRA and Andrew Green QC's report into the FSA's enforcement actions following the failure of HBOS plc (see here for the joint policy statement). The policy statement outlines the amendments to the FCA’s Glossary, the Decision Procedure and Penalties manual and the Enforcement Guide.
1 February 2017
Reform to police bail under the Policing and Crime Act 2017 - a Paper Tiger?
The Policing and Crime Act which received Royal Assent on 31 January 2017 passes into law an entirely new regime for police bail. Existing provisions under PACE had been criticised for keeping suspects on bail indefinitely as they await the decision as to whether or not they will be charged. However, far from putting an end to this pre-charge purgatory, the Act provides only a superficial solution.
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