Law and the Justice System

Blockchain and smart contracts were given a major boost towards becoming a standard method for securely storing and transferring cryptoassets yesterday, when the expert panel charged with giving the technology legal certainty declared they should be treated in principal as property.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/digital-assets-property-under-english-law

Professor Richard Susskind has called for the development of a “standard, adaptable, global platform for online courts” that can be rolled out to fortify access to justice around the world.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/susskind-calls-for-global-online-court-revolution

Corporate offenders sentenced in Scotland face will face higher financial penalties when a new 'victim surcharge' is applied from later this month.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/scottish-corporate-offenders-face-new-victim-surcharge-on-penalties

Electronic signatures automatically generated at the bottom of emails can bind businesses to contracts.

Consumer rights laws will apply to providers of 'free' digital services who gather personal data from consumers for the first time under wide-ranging new rules set to be written into EU law.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/eu-consumer-laws-extended-to-digital-services-traded-for-data

A CONVICTED fraudster who fled the UK before being jailed for trying to fleece a £148 million lottery winner has been given extra prison time.

A woman who was made the subject of a confiscation order under “proceeds of crime” legislation after being convicted of a £50,000 tax fraud has failed in an appeal against her sentence.

https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/tax-fraudster-fails-in-appeal-against-proceeds-of-crime-confiscation-order

Property worth up to £8.1 million have been recovered by the NCA following a civil recovery and tax investigation.

Two senior judges have spoken about the challenges they have faced in the justice system.

Conditions inside youth prisons have worsened and reoffending rates are higher