Magistrates have been told to stop considering applications from energy firms for warrants to install prepayment meters. Order comes this morning from the judiciary amid the widespread concerns over alleged abuses:
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Dominic Casciani
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BBC News Home and Legal Correspondent. // Stories // Features // Analysis // Documentaries // The Mafia Man in the Lancashire Caravan: bbc.in/2UV2ILv
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This is important for the court backlogs…
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DPP announces that prosecution barristers fees will increase to achieve parity with the defence. This has been hard fought for by @TheCriminalBar alongside the CPS and the Bar Council and with support by key politicians. The CBA already is working on the detail alongside the CPS.
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Powerful and important testimony from board member Josie Stewart on the lack of meaningful protections for #whistleblowing and the worrying politicisation of :
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EXCL: A former senior FCDO official who revealed Britain’s chaotic response to the fall of Kabul is taking the government to court to test legal protections for whistleblowers. theguardian.com/politics/2023/
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Russell Causley’s well-known crime was awful: murdered his wife Carole Packman & won’t say what he did with her body. As he gets out of jail, their daughter’s thoughts on justice & how she feels the system works against her right to be heard are powerful:
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HS2 will reach central London, says Hunt. What about Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle etc etc etc ? bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-6
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Lost half of today to incompatible hard drives, editing software fails and other blah blah blah so thinking of going back to the glory days of tape circa 1998.
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This is quite a statistic: Two or three Met officers facing court a week, says Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley:
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LIGHTS OUT !
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The Economist writes the greatest obits in English journalism - and this is an absolute treasure. RIP wartime forger and life-saver Adolfo Kaminsky, “the sole obstruction to the relentless train of fate”:
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The hardest job his group was given was to produce 900 documents, for 300 children, in three days. For two of those, he forced himself to stay awake. He worked until he passed out, then woke and worked again econ.st/3whXJpv
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Rishi Sunak gets fixed penalty for not wearing his seatbelt.
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Andrew Tate: Romanian teens explain how he approached them on social media
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Lancs Police looking into why PM Rishi Sunak wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. In Oct, a transport minister told Parly the govt might introduce penalty points for the offence as part of a motoring crimes overhaul:
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And this is good to know too - 221 trials didn't crack on because... there was no judge, as spotted by my colleague :
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And 221 Crown Court trials that were ineffective because of the absence of a judge.
That's a new high, with only nine months of the year included in the data.
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Here's another biggie. The number of outstanding cases that have waited more than a year to get through Crown Court has grown. (Arrow and trend line annotated by me):
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The Justice Committee chair Bob Neill MP says prosecutors (ie the Crown Prosecution Service) needs an extra £30m to stop the loss of counsel - and the waste of public time and money as courts sit empty:
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In some cases the pay disparity is quite significant - check this example from a barrister prosecuting in a drugs case (Offence = Possession With Intent To Supply):
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Replying to @SimonspenceKC @RugbyBarrister and @TheCriminalBar
I just checked the fees for a hearing I prosecuted yesterday. PWITS class A in excess of 1kg, guilty plea at PTPH. My fee: £490. Opponents fee: £1,524.
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Why too few prosecutors? Well everyone knows there is a shortage of criminal barristers overall. But there is a trend emerging of barristers reluctant to take CPS work ... because the CPS can't match the pay settlement that ended the defence strike.
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Crim Bar Assoc says the data shows in year to Sept, 315 trials were aborted on the day as no prosecuting barrister was available. Some 44 cases didn't go ahead for lack of a prosecutor between July and Sept. CBA says 26 trials were aborted for same reason in previous 3 years.
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Here's another chart showing rocketing ineffective trials as hearing after hearing was put off for lack of barristers ... but it wasn't all about angry defence counsel...
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Firstly we can now see from the stats, which go to Sept '22, the impact of the strike. Look at the uptick in outstanding Crown Court caseload as defence counsel refused to work:
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Lots of stats this morning on where we're at with the court backlogs and prosecution performance. Some observations on where things are. Thread:
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Seat belts are on the great big official list of EU-originating laws that *could be* for the chop or direct ministerial rewrite. Link:
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Funnily enough... correct me if I am wrong, but isn't mandatory seatbelt-wearing one of the laws that could be automatically repealed at year's end under the post-Brexit Retained EU Law bill? What's the plan to replace that law?
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Interesting call from for reform of deception & consent in sexual offences. Urges new offence after 2020 Court of Appeal ruling that a woman had not been tricked into sex by a man who lied that he had had a vascetomy
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Assuming she concludes that's the case, the file goes back to the Mayor of London's office for a final decision. Mayor's team need to take into account more detail, including judge's sentencing and any mitigation.
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A file on the case must first go to the Home Secretary. She must decide on whether offending was a) in connection with service as an officer and b) liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in policing / gravely injuirous to the interests of the state
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Talk this morning over whether serial rapist former Pc David Carrick can lose his police pension. Rules are a bit drawn out but, simply put, he can have up to 65% of the pot taken away by the Mayor of London (the remainder of the pot in legal terms is his deferred salary)
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Junior justice minister Mike Freer tells Justice Committee MPs "I don't have any wriggle room" to pay criminal solicitors what the government's legal aid review said they should get. Despite looming possibility of unionisation & action:
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If the Court of Appeal prioritises the case, it could get on before Easter. But its judgment could go to the Supreme Court. So maybe it gets there by ... September..? Then individual claimants maybe... go to Europe again ... in 2024..? Speculation I know. Let's see what happens
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The decision (which is rather complicated) means, most importantly, the injunction against a removal flight remains in force. That ruling from the European Ct says there can be no flights until three weeks after end of challenges in UK courts.
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Judges at the High Court have ruled that the migrants who challenged their prospective transfer to Rwanda can appeal against the entire scheme on some of the core grounds - including whether Rwanda's word can be trusted.
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RWANDA LATEST: Judges have just granted permission for the controversial asylum removals scheme to go be challenged at the Court of Appeal. This decision means NO FLIGHTS will be leaving the UK soon.
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This pic isn’t WW2 Germany, but the USA as American Nazi sympathisers rallied against giving refuge to European Jews fleeing for their lives. A shocking and largely forgotten story of fear and prejudice - highly recommended viewing: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod
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Criminal Solicitors have started the clock ticking on High Court action against the Justice Sec / Lord Chancellor over the legal aid pay settlement they've been offered. Looks like this row is heading for M'Luds' and Ladies' attention.
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We urge the lord chancellor to either rethink his decision not to increase #CriminalDefence solicitors’ #LegalAid rates by the recommended bare minimum 15% or face a judicial review. (1/5)
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Happy New Year from The Hague where health and safety laws have apparently been suspended for the evening:
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I mean it puts us in the same league as Barcelona.
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We are delighted to partner with @UNRefugeesUK, and show our support for the organisation’s ongoing humanitarian efforts to protect the rights of over 100 million displaced people worldwide.
We will proudly wear the UK for UNHCR logo on the front of our shirts from 2023. 
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Christmas is the time for giving and the judiciary are feeling generous
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End of term means judgment day - today there were 40 listed and another has just popped up. Won't be able to see straight by 4pm!
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Attention Armchair Grammar Generals: It’s “News” smashed out in a hurry due to deadlines. It’s not Shakespeare. (We write that at weekends.) #NeverWrongForLong
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Flawed EU settlement scheme could create illegal migrants says High Court - 200,000 people could be affected by next summer if the scheme stands after appeal…
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