Law and the Justice System

Labour has called it a "national scandal" that only 5.7% of crimes were solved last year after 2.3 million cases were dropped without a suspect being found.

The Home Office figure for England and Wales covers the 12 months from April 2022 and is a small improvement on the year before.

The Sentencing Council has published two new guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences in England and Wales.

The guidelines will ensure a consistent approach is taken to sentencing these two offences and make the process more transparent and easier to understand for victims, witnesses, offenders and the public.

Rushed reforms add to the crisis in our courts rather than improving the justice system, we have warned in response to a new report.

The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has today published a report on HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) court reform programme.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/press-office/press-releases/rushed-reforms-only-add-to-court-crisis

Under current UK law, in order to find a company liable for offences requiring proof of a mental element (e.g., intention, knowledge or suspicion) it is necessary to prove that a "directing mind and will" of the organisation was involved in the misconduct. While this “identification principle” has been interpreted in different ways, it is generally held to require that a senior officer or director (the “directing mind and will" of the company) knew about or was involved in the offence. The principle has been repeatedly criticised as being unrepresentative of how corporate entities are structured and operate nowadays. Prosecutors and law enforcers argue that it hinders the effective enforcement of criminal law against large companies in particular, as it is often difficult to show that those at the top of the business had any knowledge or involvement in the wrongdoing at all.

https://www.linklaters.com/en/insights/blogs/businesscrimelinks/2023/july/the-proposed-reform-of-the-identification-principle-from-the-bill-that-keeps-on-giving

The late tabling of Government-draft amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (The Bill) focusing on holding businesses to account for economic crime offences last week took many in the corporate world by surprise.

https://www.addleshawgoddard.com/en/insights/insights-briefings/2023/global-investigations/business-taken-by-surprise/

On June 15, 2023, the UK Government announced proposals to introduce the biggest reform of corporate crime legislation in more than 50 years, with the result that, if enacted into law, companies who commit fraud, money laundering and bribery will be subject to greater scrutiny and be at greater risk of being successfully prosecuted.

https://www.steptoeinvestigationsblog.com/2023/06/the-uk-government-proposes-reform-to-the-identification-doctrineto-combat-economic-crime/

His Majesty The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Dame Sue Carr as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1 October 2023. This appointment follows the retirement of The Rt Hon. the Lord Burnett of Maldon on 30 September 2023.

https://www.judiciary.uk/dame-sue-carr-has-been-appointed-the-lord-chief-justice-of-england-and-wales-from-1-october-2023/

The @SentencingCCL has revised the Totality guideline setting out principles for courts to follow wef 1 July when sentencing an offender for more than one offence, or where the offender is already serving a sentence.

Judges will be given greater powers to dismiss lawsuits designed purely to evade scrutiny and stifle freedom of speech through government amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crackdown-on-criminals-silencing-critics-to-be-added-to-economic-crime-bill

Figures show marked falls in conviction rates for fraud cases referred by HMRC and DWP.

More than 2,000 people have been prosecuted on suspicion of defrauding different parts of government over the past four years, but numbers are dropping at government's two biggest departments, according to the Cabinet Office.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/dwp-hmrc-government-fraud-prosecutions-covid-strikes-blame-chisholm