Category Archives: Law

MPs call on Criminal Cases Review Commission chief executive to resign

Posted on by

Committee says Karen Kneller’s position no longer tenable in damning report on miscarriage of justice watchdog

The miscarriage of justice watchdog for England, Wales and Northern Ireland has continually failed to learn from its mistakes and its chief executive should follow the organisation’s chair out the door, MPs have said.

In a damning report on the leadership of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the House of Commons justice committee said Karen Kneller had provided it with unpersuasive evidence and her position was no longer tenable.

Continue reading...

Chemical castration can lead to 60% fewer crimes by sex offenders, says justice secretary – UK politics live

Posted on by

Shabana Mahmood is making a statement to MPs now about the findings of the sentencing review

The Conservatives are taking the credit for the near-50% fall in net migration. They say it is the changes to visa rules that they introduced that brought the numbers down.

This is from Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary.

Net migration has halved - dropped by 430,000 - in 2024 compared to 2023

This is thanks to measures put in place by the last Conservative Government

This drop is because of the visa rule changes that I put in place.

Labour will try to claim credit for these figures but they criticised me at the time, and have failed to fully implement the changes.

Continue reading...

Queensland to restrict good character references in sentencing of accused rapists

Posted on by

Good character references from friends and families of accused rapists had previously been a consideration in a judge’s sentencing decision

The consideration of good character references for accused rapists will be restricted under major Queensland court reforms but some advocates say it does not go far enough.

The changes introduced to Queensland parliament this week are among the recommendations made by a Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council report into rape and sexual assault.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Watchdog calls for action on children’s care case delays in England and Wales

Posted on by

Proportion of cases lasting more than a year up 17-fold in seven years, National Audit Office says

The proportion of children in England and Wales subject to care proceedings who are having to wait more than a year to have their case resolved has increased more than 17-fold in the last seven years, a watchdog has found.

The average duration of proceedings brought by local authorities to protect a child from harm (known as public law cases) was 36 weeks last year, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). In 2014 the government set a time limit of 26 weeks but it has never been met.

Continue reading...

Judges told to favour community alternatives over short prison sentences

Posted on by

Sentencing review to be published on Thursday aims to ‘ease prison capacity crisis’ and reduce reoffending

Judges and magistrates in England and Wales will be told to move away from handing out short custodial sentences in favour of community-based alternatives in a long-awaited sentencing review to be announced on Thursday.

Amid concern that the criminal justice system could collapse because of overcrowding in prisons, the former Tory justice secretary David Gauke will call for suspended sentences to be made available for custodial sentences of up to three years, instead of the current two.

Continue reading...

Tommy Robinson due for release in days after 18-month sentence cut

Posted on by

High court reduces far-right activist’s contempt of court sentence by four months

Tommy Robinson is due to be released from prison within days after his 18-month sentence for contempt of court was cut by four months.

The high court reduced the sentence for the civil offence, for which Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed in October. He was sent to prison after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction, made in 2021, that prevented him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.

Continue reading...

Labour must not rubber-stamp torture policy, say campaigners

Posted on by

Policy review of intelligence-sharing with foreign countries risks leaving ‘very serious flaws’, say NGOs and MPs

Labour has been accused of rubber-stamping torture policy it criticised while in opposition for enabling UK complicity in serious human rights abuses overseas.

The policies regulating British support for foreign security and intelligence services were blamed for facilitating injustices in cases such as those of Jagtar Singh Johal and Ali Kololo, and it was hoped Labour would strengthen them in government.

Continue reading...

Doctor criticises ‘lightweight’ assessment of impact of assisted dying

Posted on by

Palliative care consultant says insufficient consideration given to how disadvantaged communities may be affected

Ministers have not adequately considered how assisted dying would affect disadvantaged communities, a palliative care doctor and clinical academic has said.

Bradford-based Jamilla Hussain said the equality impact assessment for the assisted dying bill was “lightweight”, and her own research had highlighted concerns that had not been reflected in the document.

Continue reading...

Rantzen accused of being ‘disrespectful’ as MPs debate assisted dying bill – UK politics live

Posted on by

About 150 changes have been made to the bill since MPs voted on it last year

One of the amendments to the bill being debated today has been tabled by the Labour MP Naz Shah, who voted against the bill at second reading. Her amendment 14 would tighten the bill so that anyone not terminally ill cannot qualify as terminally ill (meaning they can use assisted dying) “by voluntarily stopping eating or drinking or both”.

In her speech Leadbeater said that she could understand the concerns behind Shah’s amendment, but that she thought the risk of anyone being able to qualify for assisted dying as a result of anorexia was “negligible”. She said:

Not only would someone with severe anorexia be highly unlikely to be assessed to have capacity to make a decision about assisted dying, the other tragic reality is that if a patient was so ill as a result of not eating and drinking for whatever reason, they would die before the process of assisted dying would be able to take place.

I know that some people have expressed concerns that the severe physical consequences of a decision to stop eating or drinking could still enable someone to claim eligibility for assisted dying when otherwise they would not be able to do so, and I believe that is the motivation behind this amendment … As I’ve set out, I think that risk is negligible.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists have stated that they do not feel at the moment in time there are sufficient psychiatrists who would be able to deliver that position on such a panel. What response does the member have to that?

Continue reading...

Prisoners to earn freedom after serving third of sentence under new plans

Posted on by

Offenders in England and Wales to have sentences cut for good behaviour and completion of work, training or education tasks

Prisoners will be able to earn their freedom after serving a third of their sentences under new minimum and maximum sentence plans released by the government to tackle the overcrowding in jails.

Offenders in England and Wales will be able to earn early release if they complete work, training or education assignments and demonstrate good behaviour.

Continue reading...

Give terminally ill people choice in how they die, MSP urges Scottish parliament

Posted on by

Liam McArthur opens debate on assisted dying, saying too many face ‘horrendous choices and bad deaths’

Scottish politicians have been urged to show terminally ill people compassion and choice in how they die as they began to debate a new law to permit assisted dying.

Liam McArthur, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MP, said too many dying people faced “horrendous choices and bad deaths”, including unregulated suicides or prolonged trauma because they were denied the right to an assisted death.

Continue reading...

Plan to fast-track appeals of some UK asylum seekers could face legal backlash

Posted on by

Move to speed up appeals of people in government-funded hotels could be challenged on discrimination grounds, officials warn

A plan to fast-track the appeals of asylum seekers living in government-funded hotels could face multiple legal challenges on the grounds of discrimination, the government has said.

A 24-week legal deadline on appeal decisions for those staying in hotel rooms is being introduced in an attempt to fulfil a Labour manifesto promise to end a practice that costs the taxpayer billions of pounds a year.

Continue reading...

Mexico sues Google over changing Gulf of Mexico’s name for US users

Posted on by

President Claudia Sheinbaum says lawsuit has been filed after US lawmakers voted on name change

Mexico has sued Google for changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Google Maps users in the United States, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Friday.

“The lawsuit has already been filed,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference, without saying where and when it was submitted.

Continue reading...

Malta’s ‘golden passport’ scheme ruled to be illegal by EU’s top court

Posted on by

Long-awaited ruling means cash-for-citizenship programme that allowed people to live and work in bloc must be scrapped

The European court of justice has ruled that Malta’s “golden passport” scheme is illegal, meaning its cash-for-citizenship programme must be scrapped.

In a long-awaited ruling on Tuesday, the EU’s top court concluded that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme was contrary to EU law. Judges said the scheme represented a “commercialisation of the grant of the nationality of a member state” and by extension EU citizenship, which was at odds with European law. Malta had jeopardised the mutual trust between EU member states necessary to create an area without internal borders, the court argued.

Continue reading...

Nine journalist Nick McKenzie allegedly told of Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife’s planned legal action

Posted on by

Roberts-Smith argues his unsuccessful defamation case against McKenzie and Nine newspapers should be retried because of a ‘miscarriage of justice’

The Nine journalist Nick McKenzie was told about a legal action Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife planned to take against the war veteran ahead of his defamation trial, a court has heard, with the informant allegedly telling him “it’s always good to be on the front foot”.

On Tuesday the federal court of Australia heard that a friend of Emma Roberts had told McKenzie that Roberts-Smith was planning to notify and write to the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions (CDPP) about an alleged “breach” and to “restrain any further publications being made”.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

This article was amended on 2 May 2025. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Nick McKenzie was told Emma Roberts planned to contact the CDPP. McKenzie was told that Ben Roberts-Smith planned to do this.

Continue reading...

Trump’s first 100 days supercharged a global ‘freefall of rights’, says Amnesty

Posted on by

World now in era of repressive regimes’ impunity, climate inaction and unchecked corporate power, says report

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency have “supercharged” a global rollback of human rights, pushing the world towards an authoritarian era defined by impunity and unchecked corporate power, Amnesty International warns today.

In its annual report on the state of human rights in 150 countries, the organisation said the immediate ramifications of Trump’s second term had been the undermining of decades of progress and the emboldening of authoritarian leaders.

Continue reading...

Israel seems set on destroying system of international law compliance, ICJ hears

Posted on by

Country accused of obstructing UN as court considers its decision to end cooperation with Unrwa

Israel appears set on destroying the framework created to ensure compliance with international law in a way that will have profound consequences that reverberate far beyond Palestine, the international court of justice has heard.

The warning was made at the start of five days of proceedings in The Hague that may prove critical to Israel’s future within the world body. The UN’s top court will hear from dozens of nations and organisations in order to draw up an advisory opinion on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians more than 50 days into its total blockade on aid entering Gaza.

Continue reading...

Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

Posted on by

Exclusive: Stopping pre-sentencing reports could put more pregnant people behind bars, groups tell justice minister

Shabana Mahmood risks putting more pregnant women behind bars through her bill to prevent new guidelines which highlighted the need for pre-sentencing reports based on “different personal characteristics” including age, sex and ethnicity, charities have warned.

The justice secretary introduced the bill as emergency legislation after the Sentencing Council’s guidelines provoked claims of a “two-tier” justice system, with Mahmood saying she “would not stand for differential treatment before the law like this”. The council suspended the guidance hours before it was due to take effect in response to the backlash.

Continue reading...

Israel faces legal pressure at UN’s top court over Unrwa ban

Posted on by

Hearings over bar on cooperation with Palestinian aid agency are test of Israel’s defiance of international law

Israel will come under sustained legal pressure this week at the UN’s top court when lawyers from more than 40 states will claim the country’s ban on all cooperation with the UN’s Palestinian rights agency Unrwa is a breach of the UN charter.

The five days of hearings at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague have been given a fresh urgency by Israel’s decision on 2 March to block all aid into Gaza, but the hearing will focus on whether Israel – as a signatory to the UN charter – acted unlawfully in overriding the immunities afforded to a UN body. Israel ended all contact and cooperation with Unrwa operations in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem in November, claiming the agency had been infiltrated by Hamas, an allegation that has been contested.

Continue reading...

Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case

Posted on by

Alda Curtis, who earned US$1 for the t-shirt she sold on RedBubble, had US$600 removed from her PayPal account without explanation

Alda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.

After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken from her PayPal account.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Continue reading...