Blog
Private prosecutions – A route to justice for the charity sector
Sophie Tang
29 April 2015
Private prosecutions for crimes of Universal Jurisdiction
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
Court of Appeal provides guidance on good character directions
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
Contempt of Court: Jurors in the dock
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
Care Home charged with Corporate Manslaughter
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).
16 April 2015
FCA identify cyber-crime as key risk driver in new business plan
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its 2015/16 business plan. It has identified technological challenges as one of the key risk drivers, while recognising that of course innovative uses of technology bring benefits to consumers.
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