Law in Practice

Almost three years after the Bribery Act 2010 came into force, a new weapon for UK prosecutors, enshrined in the Crime and Courts Act 2013, came into effect on 24 February 2014, whereby the Serious Fraud Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions picked up the carrot of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) to add to the stick of the Bribery Act.   

DPAs in the US federal system have been used by the Department of Justice in criminal prosecutions and the Securities and Exchange Commission in securities enforcement actions for over 20 years, and this inherently US approach has proved, to a large extent, successful. 

Not without some controversy surrounding it, the Global Law Summit took place in February. Counsel reports back.  

In the autumn of 2013, the General Management Committee of the Bar Council, which includes all the leaders of the publicly funded Bar, endorsed the Bar’s involvement with the February 2015 Global Law Summit (GLS). 

As the consultation on Draft CPS Guidance on Speaking to Witnesses at Court takes place, the DPP, Alison Saunders, explains the reasoning behind the guidance and Tony Cross QC gives the Criminal Bar Association’s view.  

Last month I announced new proposals to better assist victims and witnesses called to court to give evidence in criminal trials. 

Joseph Giret QC and Anya Newman on boys, toys and unprecedented High Court injunctions.  

On the 1 December 2014, HHJ Owen QC sitting as a High Court judge in Birmingham granted an injunction prohibiting an activity known as Car Cruising across the entire Black Country region. 

Charlotte Proudman on prostitution, sex buyer laws and the “End Demand” campaign.  

End Demand, a new campaign to change laws relating to prostitution, was launched on 22 October 2014. 

Andrew Ford examines the use of s 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act.  

 In June 2013 a pilot scheme was announced by the Justice Secretary “to allow young and vulnerable victims to give evidence and be cross-examined before the trial starts”. 

The conditions were all there for a turbulent trial. Athina Caraba offers a layman’s view of the trial of Michael Piggin and highlights the need for research to ensure trials fully allow for the mental condition of the defendant.  

My interest in the case of Michael Piggin, who stood trial in 2013-14 at the Old Bailey on charges of terrorism based on the allegation that he was going to be a “mass shooter”, is a predominantly criminological one. 

Colin Yeo examines the legal issues thrown up by the arrival on these shores of the fictitious immigrant from darkest Peru.  

Law is pretty abstract. Unlike the role of a doctor or a builder, that of a lawyer is difficult to explain to a young mind. 

HH Gordon Risius explains how hearing loss – never a good career move for a judge – didn’t have to mean the sudden end of his time on the Bench.  

Last June’s issue of Counsel contained a helpful article by Sukhveer Kandola and Narita Bahra about court users with hearing difficulties, in which they drew attention to facilities which can help access justice (June 2014, p30). 

Too many cases, too few resources and no room for complacency – John Curtis reports on the Criminal Cases Review Commission state of play.  

21 November 2014 marked the 40th anniversary of the Birmingham Pub Bombings: a chain of events that led to the deaths of 21 people, 182 serious woundings, the incarceration of the Birmingham Six, their release from prison some 19 years later and the recognition that miscarriages of justice were a reality of Britain’s justice system.