29 April 2015
The Final notice published on 23 April 2015 contained many twists and turns to distinguish why Deutsche Bank has been subject to the highest fine ever issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or its predecessor (the Financial Services Authority (FSA)). The £227million fine in the UK is part of a $2.5 billion penalty to settle the case globally. In addition the settlement included an agreement to dismiss seven employees.
29 April 2015
Private prosecutions are a historic feature of the criminal justice system, and have persisted despite the creation first of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 1879 and later of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 1986.
The first procedural step for any private prosecutor is to lay an information at a magistrates’ court. Section 1 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 governs such courts’ issuing of process; that is, on the laying of an information, the issue of a summons or an arrest warrant concerning the person named in the information (the suspect), in order to bring the person before the court to answer to the allegation...
29 April 2015
A recent Court of Appeal judgment has examined the question of how far good character directions extend. A good character direction is a common direction which may be given by a judge to a jury as part of the summing up at the end of a trial. The court sought to bring clarity to this overly complicated area. The court applied common sense to situations where a defendant is of classic good character. However, the position remains one of broad reaching judicial discretion in respect of some murkier characters.
22 April 2015
As a result of recent, high profile, instances of contempt by jurors, amendments have been made to the statutory regime for juror contempt by the introduction of Sections 68-77 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. The principal effect of this legislation has been to create specific criminal offences to deal with contempt by jurors.
16 April 2015
Sherwood Rise Limited, owner of the Autumn Grange Care Home in Nottingham has been charged under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMCHA).