Justice Matters

Charlotte Rachael Proudman on the law surrounding forced marriage and the developments surrounding its criminalisation  

On Friday 8 June 2012 the Government announced that forced marriage will become a specific criminal offence. This follows the announcement in October 2011 that breaches of forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) will likewise be criminalised. The legislation will not be introduced until the 2013/2014 Parliamentary session. 

The decision to criminalise forced marriage emanates from concerns that the current legal initiatives are not doing enough. Between January and May 2012, the forced marriage unit (FMU) provided advice and support in 594 cases and the numbers of reported instances increase each year. In addition to forced marriages occurring in Britain, the UK’s embassies and high commissions continue to rescue British victims who are forced into marriages overseas, and repatriate them back to the UK. Research carried out by the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ estimated that the ‘national prevalence of reported cases’ of forced marriages in England was between 5000 and 8000. 

David Wurtzel examines the giving of evidence by children, their cross examination and section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999  

On July 24 we marked the tenth anniversary of special measures, the legislative package which was brought into effect in 2002 in order to improve the quality of evidence of vulnerable witnesses in the criminal courts ‘in terms of completeness, coherence and accuracy’. 

It was therefore an apt time to publish “Children and cross examination: time to change the rules ?,” a book based on papers delivered at an internationally-attended seminar at Cambridge University in April 2011. It is edited by Professor John Spencer and Professor Michael Lamb; Professor Spencer wrote the introduction and conclusion. The underlying issue in the book is the need in England to bring into effect section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. This is the one special measure still languishing unused on the statute book. It would allow a vulnerable witness’s entire evidence including cross examination to be pre-recorded. The witness would not then have to attend the trial and the whole process would be completed for them much closer in time to the events in question. 

Neelam Sarkaria asks whether it is time for the first prosecution under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003  

The making of an allegation of Female Genital Mutilation is affected by a number of factors, including cultural taboo and the reluctance to report the crime to the police, especially as other family members may be involved. This makes it even harder for the victim to come forward to report the crime and to make a statement. Criminal justice agencies are working closely together to raise awareness and to ensure that whenever cases are reported, they are thoroughly investigated. Support and protection is also offered to victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice process. Educating communities to abandon the practice is considered the best way forward to break the cycle of mutilation. 

BRINGING JUSTICE HOME

Kate Aubrey-Johnson provides an overview of civil mediation today 

In the past year, mediation was attempted in nearly 12,000 small claims and an estimated 8,000 fast and multi track cases with settlement rates of 68-90% (Small Claims Mediation Service Annual Report, HMCTS, 2011/12; CDER Fifth Mediation Audit May 2012). This is in addition to the many potential civil disputes being resolved using community mediation and mediation schemes. Members of the public and businesses, organisations and public bodies who may otherwise turn to the courts to protect and enforce their rights are discovering that mediation can offer an alternative process which is both empowering for clients and reaches creative solutions not achievable through a contested court hearing. 

What’s In a Name?

Hassan Khan and Claire Fox argue the case for same sex marriage 

The government’s proposals

In March 2012 the government published its consultation paper on equal civil marriage. The proposal is simple: same sex couples will, like opposite sex couples, be allowed to marry one another in a civil ceremony. Marriages solemnised through religious ceremony and on religious premises will only be legal between a man and a woman. The government is committed to these reforms and seeks views on how equal civil marriage should be implemented. The government’s response to the consultation is expected towards the end of 2012. 

Jo Delahunty QC and Kate Purkiss, leading and junior counsel for the first respondent and mother Chana Al Alas in the “Vitamin D and Rickets” case, examine the vital role played by expert witnesses and question moves to restrict their use in care proceedings 

On 25 July 2009, Jayden Al Alas Wray died whilst a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).  He was four months old. His parents were not with him because two days earlier they had been arrested at his bedside on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm on him and they were prohibited from seeing him. The evidence of the parents’ alleged wrongdoing came from doctors at University College London Hospital (UCLH) and GOSH where he had been treated, and both hospitals attributed all his injuries to non-accidental causes. 

Caroline Wigin provides a practical approach to the evidence of children 

On the 26th February 2010, Child Q was put to bed around 8.00 p.m. At that time he was happy and healthy. In the household were the child and two adults, his mother and his mother’s cohabitee, R. At 9.00 a.m. on the 27th February 2010, an ambulance was called and at 10.00 a.m. he was received into A&E. He had extensive bruising to the groin, back, face and leg. 

Michael Beloff QC outlines the duties and challenges awaiting Court of Arbitration for Sport panel members during London 2012 

As London 2012, so long in the gestation is finally brought to birth, a cohort of 12 accomplished lawyers, representing every major continent, will enjoy – if precedent is anything to go by – freedom of the Olympic lanes with personally allotted drivers while Mr and Mrs Public make do with a metropolitan transport system under maximum strain. 

Is rape sentencing unduly lenient? Felicity Gerry and Catarina Sjölin report 

A quick click of the Attorney General’s website gives instant access to statistics for unduly lenient sentences up to and including 2010. During 2010, there were nine rape and attempted rape referrals among the total of 78 cases which went to the Court of Appeal. Of those nine, seven sentences were increased and two remained the same. To give an idea of the other offences referred there were 12 sentences involving robbery (of which 10 were increased, two remained the same) and 18 sentences involved non-fatal offences against the person (of which 12 were increased, two remained the same and one had the conviction quashed). 

Legal professional privilege

The continued use of state powers to erode legal professional privilege must be stopped, as Nicholas Griffin QC and Gordon Nardell QC explain 

The state has the power secretly to listen in to the meetings you hold with your clients in chambers, at a solicitors’ firm or elsewhere. This surprising situation – and the troubling cases that have brought it to light – have led the Bar Council’s Law Reform Committee to consider state powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and have prompted the Bar Council to campaign for a change to the law.