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
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 first in a series of articles considering the impact of the case. The Supreme Court’s (SC) judgment in Waya ([2013] 1 A.C. 294) has been rightly lauded as a landmark … Continued
‘Laughing gas’ more properly known as Nitrous Oxide, is back in the news following a Court of Appeal ruling that the substance is controlled by the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. The Act makes it an offence to possess psychoactive substances with intent to supply, and in limited cases, simple possession is also an offence. The … Continued
In criminal law, we talk a lot about character, but mainly in the context of ‘bad character’, or previous convictions that the prosecution will try to put before a jury to persuade them of the defendant’s guilt. After all, if he’s done it before, he is more likely to have committed this crime too, is … Continued
These are the more serious offences relating to drugs that can lead to lengthy custodial sentences. What drugs are illegal to supply? It is an offence to supply a controlled drug. This includes the ones that immediately spring to mind such as heroin, cocaine and amphetamine. It also includes what are called Class B and … Continued
The answer is sometimes, but not always. Two years ago, Nottinghamshire Police decided to label misogyny and offences targeting women as hate crime or hate incidents. Two local universities recently undertook a report entitled “The Misogyny Hate Crime Evaluation” report which recommends rolling out the policy nationally. Misogyny hate crime is defined as “incidents … Continued
The case of Tommy Robinson, or to give him his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has brought this issue into the public eye, but what is it all about? What is contempt of court? The interesting thing about contempt of court is the many ways in which it can be committed. It can be civil or … Continued
You may have heard about ‘texts’ or a ‘Brown envelope to the Judge’, some of the names for the old system. If you helped the police a ‘text’ may be handed to the sentencing judge explaining that you had assisted and a reduction in sentence may have followed. It was a murky world, clouded in … Continued
Prosecuting those who publish obscene articles (an offence under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959), is a reminder that free-speech and expression is subject to lawful limitations. The maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment will frequently be warranted for activities which have disturbing and harmful knock-on effects. Legislation According to section 1 of … Continued
