Jonathan Black comments on the recent national police operation targeting internet child porn users. The recent wave of arrests of individuals suspected of accessing indecent images of children is nothing new. A decade ago, Operation Ore traced through credit card purchases of those who were attempting to actively purchase such images from online suppliers. These images are now … Continued
The Government has decided to make khat an illegal Class C drug. The ban on khat will come into effect on 24 June 2014. BSB Partner Jonathan Black considers the impact of the new change in the law. What will happen if you use khat from 24 June in England and Wales? From 24 June … Continued
BSB partner Jonathan Black writes for the Lawyer magazine. With 12 months to go before the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary, Jonathan Black makes the case for justice. Read the article here.or below; To the general public, the word solicitor can have a tendency to conjure up an image of a Dickensian Tulkinghorn, sat stiffly behind the … Continued
When BSB Partner Jonathan Black met him, 15-year old J had never seen the inside of a courtroom let alone a prison cell. When BSB Partner met him, 15-year old J had never seen the inside of a courtroom let alone a prison cell. A few days earlier he had just completed his final GCSE when he … Continued
Reports that 16 of Britain’s most high-profile offenders still owe £126m in unpaid confiscation orders will not surprise anyone with an interest in financial crime. But tabloid calls for new measures to “beef up the authorities’ powers to seize ill-gotten gains” are only part of the solution. The Proceeds of Crime Act isn’t working and … Continued
Facing withering criticism from the Chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, a Senior Ministry of Justice official issued an ominous warning last week. Mark Sedwill, answering questions from Chair Margaret Hodge MP, said that Government Ministers were considering changing the law to allow courts to impose even longer prison sentences in the face of criticism … Continued
Margaret Hodge lived up to her fearsome reputation yesterday by savaging officials from the Home Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Head of the National Crime Agency during questioning before the Public Accounts Committee on the subject of Confiscation Orders. The Public Accounts Committee were considering the National Audit Office Report on Confiscation Orders published … Continued
Largely overlooked in the coverage of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on Confiscation Orders (17 December 2013) is the NAO’s findings on the impact of sending offenders who cannot pay their orders to prison. Largely overlooked in the coverage of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on Confiscation Orders (17 December 2013) is the NAO’s findings on the … Continued
Confiscation orders are in the headlines again. The National Audit Office report published on the 17 December 2013 makes depressing yet familiar reading. The main headlines are that- The Confiscation System does not offer value for money The Government has no strategy on tackling the enforcement gap Only 26p in every £100 of … Continued
At last there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for anyone facing confiscation proceedings. The good news is that in an important recent decision the Court of Appeal said that there has been a “seismic shift” in confiscation law recently. This follows the case of Waya, which became law in December … Continued
The Supreme Court’s (SC) judgment in Waya ([2013] 1 A.C. 294) has been rightly lauded as a landmark decision in the field of post-conviction confiscation. Last week I noted how the SC in Waya was careful to emphasise that their decision did not provide Judges with a discretion to tailor confiscation orders to suit the facts … Continued
The Supreme Court’s (SC) judgment in Waya ([2013] 1 A.C. 294) has been rightly lauded as a landmark decision in the field of post-conviction confiscation in the second of a series of articles considering the impact of the case. No Return to Judicial Discretion Many defence practitioners regularly express frustration at the “draconian” confiscation orders that often … Continued
