Blog
Permission to Visit - Goldilocks and the Three Bank Statements
Robert Houchill
7 December 2018
Eastenders explores rape: Part 4 – what happens when someone is accused of rape?
In this blog series, we have explored the concept of consent, the making of a complaint of rape from the perspective of the victim and what happens to those who may be interviewed as witnesses. In this piece we will look at what happens to someone who is accused of rape.
4 December 2018
Socially engineered juries....what next?
In her submission to Parliament during a debate entitled “Rape Myths and Juries”, Ann Coffey MP advocated several potential solutions to what she characterised as a “crisis” being the “low” conviction rate (32%) for young men aged 18 to 24 charged with rape. Leaving aside (for the moment) any challenge to the assumption that high conviction rates is a legitimate measure of the integrity/success of our criminal justice system, it was a seemingly throw away but incredibly dangerous proposition that caught my attention and should be of concern to every member of our democracy.
3 December 2018
Reform of corporate liability – renewed calls for change
The House of Lords Bribery Act committee inquiry heard evidence recently from Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) Director Lisa Osofsky and Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC. This was preceded earlier in the morning with an evidence session with Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, where the issue of Deferred Prosecution Agreements was the focus.
29 November 2018
Prosecuting rape cases and serious sexual assaults: the debate continues
In a series of interviews during the last few weeks of Alison Saunders’ tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, much of the media focus was on the issue of collapsed rape trials and serious concerns relating to disclosure.
28 November 2018
Financial Crime: Analysis of firms' data – first report
On 13 November 2018, the FCA published the results of their first financial crime survey. Over 2,000 UK firms, including all UK-based banks and building societies, were required to complete a questionnaire in order to create a report which presents ‘a collective view of the activity being undertaken by firms in the UK to combat financial crime across the industry.’ A statement reinforced in a recent speech by FCA’s Head of Financial Crime Rob Gruppetta.
Going forward, the hope is that this data will be collected annually so that the FCA can gain an understanding of how a variety of financial crime threats evolve over time.
- Controlling and coercive behaviour
- Corporate crime
- Corporate manslaughter and health and safety
- Crime and justice
- Cyber crime
- Extradition and international crime
- Financial crime and financial regulatory enforcement
- Fraud
- Internal investigations
- Legal Updates
- Online Safety Regulation
- Police investigations
- Proceeds of Crime
- The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act
- Unexplained Wealth Orders
- Youth crime and justice