Law and the Justice System

On June 25, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 received Royal Assent, and the majority of its provisions are now in force.

The Ministry of Justice is to begin a search for a new top civil servant following today’s announcement that Sir Richard Heaton will conclude his service later this summer when his five-year tenure as permanent secretary comes to an end. His departure, after nearly 30 years in the civil service, had been widely predicted following the effective dismissal of the Cabinet secretary in the Johnson administration’s ‘war on Whitehall’.

(Reuters) - Private security group G4S (GFS.L) said on Friday it had agreed to pay 44.4 million pounds to the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to avert criminal charges after a long-running inquiry into electronic tagging contracts.

A House of Commons scrutiny committee is to ask whether there are enough safeguards in place to prevent miscarriages of justice in private prosecutions. It will focus on cases brought by large organisations against individuals when the organisation is also the alleged victims of the offence. The inquiry is being launched today and has appealed for written evidence.

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the new test for dishonesty that is now applied in civil cases in England and Wales applies equally in criminal cases. Whilst this was generally understood to be the case following the Supreme Court’s decision in a civil case, the decision in Barton & Booth v R1 (“Barton”) has helpfully confirmed the position in a criminal context.

Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC indicated today that legislation to allow trial without jury could be passed within weeks – but the changes would only be temporary.

A House of Commons scrutiny committee is to ask whether there are enough safeguards in place to prevent miscarriages of justice in private prosecutions. It will focus on cases brought by large organisations against individuals when the organisation is also the alleged victims of the offence. The inquiry is being launched today and has appealed for written evidence.

Rugby star Gareth Cooper's ex-wife has been ordered to pay back just £1 after swindling him out of £1m.

The lockdown across the globe has resulted in a number of industries having to learn quickly how to do business virtually rather than in person. For the legal profession, this was challenging as lawyers are notoriously technophobic.

The new video platform enabling more remote cases to be heard in the criminal courts will rolled out to the civil courts over the coming months, the Ministry of Justice confirmed yesterday.