Judge dismisses challenge over removal of woman’s name and warns against risks of informal conception arrangements
A woman has lost a court of appeal challenge over her name being removed from a child’s birth certificate after her ex-wife admitted she secretly had sex with their sperm donor.
The “unprecedented” and “unusual” case centred on the question of who were the legal parents of a girl, now aged six.
Continue reading...Duke of Sussex allowed to challenge high court decision that upheld Ravec’s finding on protection
The Duke of Sussex has been granted permission to appeal against the dismissal of his high court challenge over a change to his level of personal security when he visits the UK.
Prince Harry took legal action against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
Continue reading...Court of appeal hears Oliver Campbell was convicted on basis of inconsistent confession made under police pressure
There is a “crescendo of concern” from psychological experts that a vulnerable man was convicted of murder on the basis of a false confession, the court of appeal heard on Wednesday.
Oliver Campbell was convicted of murdering east London shopkeeper Baldev Hoondle 33 years ago after telling police he had shot him. But Campbell, 53, suffered profound brain injuries as a baby, leaving him with significantly impaired cognitive ability.
Continue reading...The government has scrapped controversial guidance over deductions to compensation in miscarriage of justice cases
People who have been wrongly convicted will no longer have to pay living expenses for the time they spent in prison, the government will announce on Sunday after widespread outrage over the case of Andrew Malkinson.
One of Britain’s longest-serving victims of a miscarriage of justice, Malkinson, 57, had his conviction overturned last month by the court of appeal after spending 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Continue reading...Home Office sent 24,083 letters of intent warning refugees they were being considered for forcible removal
More than 24,000 asylum seekers from about one-third of the world’s countries could face removal to Rwanda by the UK Home Office in the future, even though the scheme was found to be unlawful in the court of appeal on Thursday.
Home Office data obtained under a freedom of information request shows that, between January 2021 and March 2023, 24,083 asylum seekers were issued with letters warning them that they were being considered for forcible removal to Rwanda.
Continue reading...Criticism over latest development in long-running libel dispute between the leading Brexit backer and the journalist
The award-winning Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr has been ordered to pay significant legal costs to the prominent Brexit backer Arron Banks.
Banks, who donated a record £8m to the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign group, originally lost his case against Cadwalladr in his libel action over her remarks in a speech and a tweet.
Continue reading...Ten people from conflict zones threatened with removal to Africa claim there has been a failure to consider risks of deportation
A court of appeal judge has ruled that a group of asylum seekers can bring a legal challenge against the Home Office for what they claim has been a failure to consider the dangers and risks of deporting them to Rwanda.
Lord Justice Underhill, the vice-president of the court of appeal’s civil division, has granted permission for the group to appeal against the government’s controversial policy on some grounds.
Continue reading...Jail term reduced by a year owing to legal oversight in original sentencing at Chester crown court
The court of appeal has reduced the jail sentence of a serial cyberstalker who harassed women by creating fake social media accounts to spread fake claims about them.
Matthew Hardy, 31, was jailed for nine years last January at Chester crown court after pleading guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaching a restraining order.
Continue reading...Court of appeal judgment allows £5bn lawsuit against mining giant BHP by more than 200,000 victims of 2015 Mariana dam disaster
More than 200,000 victims of Brazil’s worst environmental disaster will have their case heard in a UK court, making it the largest group claim in English legal history.
The lawsuit is against the Anglo-Australian mining company BHP – one of the biggest companies in the world – for their involvement in the collapse of the Mariana dam in 2015, which released toxic mining waste down 400 miles (640km) of waterways along the Doce River. Claimants are seeking at least £5bn ($6bn) in compensation.
Continue reading...Family of 12-year-old challenged ruling Archie is brain-stem dead and treatment can be stopped
The parents of Archie Battersbee have won an appeal against ending the 12-year-old’s life support treatment.
A high court judge had ruled that Archie, who sustained brain damage about three months ago, was ”brain-stem dead” after a hospital trust asked it to decide what was in his best interests.
Continue reading...Unusual move to seek legal clarification, which cannot reverse verdict, amounts to the ‘politicisation of jury trials’, says defence lawyer
The attorney general has referred the case of four protesters cleared of the toppling of the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston to the court of appeal for legal direction.
In a rare move, which cannot reverse the not guilty verdicts, Suella Braverman is to ask appeal judges for clarification on whether defendants can cite their human rights as a defence in a case of criminal damage.
Continue reading...Lawyers and campaigners fear decision not to grant appeal against conviction risks silencing other victims of domestic abuse
A mother jailed for harming her baby has accused the courts of “injustice” after judges accepted she was a victim of abuse but ruled against an application for an appeal against her conviction made on the grounds that her violent ex-partner coerced her to lie at her trial.
The woman, known as “Jenny”, was convicted in 2017 of causing or allowing serious harm after her child sustained skull fractures and bleeding on the brain. The baby’s father was her co-defendant but was acquitted on a lesser charge.
Continue reading...The court of appeal in London hears the appeal of the Freshwater Five. In the final part of our miniseries, we find out how the judges reach their decision and what it means
The case of the Freshwater Five, convicted a decade ago of attempting to smuggle £53m (A$96m) worth of cocaine into the UK, makes it to the England and Wales court of appeal, where new evidence is heard that the men hope will clear their names. Anushka Asthana follows the week-long hearing, sitting alongside the men’s families as the barristers argue the case.
The court of appeal can consider new evidence not heard by the original jury, and so the bar to overturning the convictions is set high. Nevertheless, the appeal has several grounds: one aspect focuses on new radar data that the men hope would show they were not close enough to the cargo ship that was alleged to be the other vessel involved in the transfer of drugs. There is also evidence purporting to show a new suspect vessel in Freshwater Bay as well as a surveillance plane that should have been able to spot the drugs floating in the water if indeed they were there at the time the prosecution suggested.
Continue reading...Changes in policy since 2016 have led to an overly risk-averse approach, court of appeal hears
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been accused of “systemic illegality” in its approach to charging rape cases in a landmark judicial review into how the crime is prosecuted.
On the opening day of the hearing at the court of appeal, lawyers for the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) and End Violence Against Women (EVAW) accused the CPS of “raising the bar” for rape prosecutions, which they argued had led to a steep drop in the number of cases being charged.
Continue reading...Appeal court adds six years to prison term of Andy Anokye, 33, who performed under the name Solo 45
A man who held four women against their will and repeatedly raped them has had his sentence increased by the court of appeal.
Victims of Andy Anokye, 33, who performed as a grime artist under the stage name Solo 45, told how he beat and threatened them with weapons, held a cloth with bleach over their faces and waterboarded them, recording much of the abuse on his mobile phone.
Continue reading...Cases of two men accused of trying to rob a police officer in 1972 are being referred to court of appeal
Two men who were jailed nearly 50 years ago on the word of a corrupt detective could finally have their names cleared.
The cases of two members of the so-called “Stockwell Six”, who were accused of attempting to rob that officer on the underground, are now being referred to the court of appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
Continue reading...Appeal judges hear sentencing for Henry Long, 19, and two accomplices unduly lenient
The leader of the group of teenagers who killed PC Andrew Harper should have been given a life sentence rather than the 16 years he received, while his accomplices should also have their jail terms increased from 13 years each, a court has heard.
The attorney general argued that the sentences handed to Henry Long, 19, and the 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were all unduly lenient, during a court of appeal hearing on Monday.
Continue reading...One month window to challenge convictions in England and Wales means women who have experienced trauma are unfairly criminalised, campaigners say
Women who have been unfairly convicted or sentenced to jail are being denied the chance to redress miscarriages of justice because the appeals system in England and Wales is not fit for purpose, the law group Appeal has alleged.
In particular, those who have been victims of trauma or domestic abuse are unable to make a legal challenge due to the “unrealistic” 28-day window allowed to make an application to the criminal Court of Appeal, the report highlights.
Continue reading...Appeal court rejects challenge by Sheikh Mohammed, who may now go to supreme court
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has failed in his latest attempt to prevent publication of two family court judgments involving his children with his ex-wife Princess Haya of Jordan.
The court of appeal in London also refused his lawyers permission to take the case to the supreme court but said they had until 4pm on Tuesday to lodge an application directly with the UK’s highest court if they wished to object. The two family court judgments cannot be published until any such potential further appeals have been determined.
Continue reading...Appeal court says decision to give go-ahead not consistent with Paris agreement
Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal by the court of appeal because ministers did not adequately take into account the government’s commitments to tackle the climate crisis.
The ruling is a major blow to the project at a time when public concern about the climate emergency is rising fast and the government has set a target in law of net zero emissions by 2050. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, could use the ruling to abandon the project, or the government could draw up a new policy document to approve the runway.
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