S14E01 - Power to the Victim

You can listen here!

This week we scrabble around in the mud to bring you a frankly minimal offering of law.  It may have been the silly season but the law has (at least in this country) remained aloof and above such matters.

Sadly this show was recorded before the Lord Chancellor was defeated in the High Court by criminal solicitors using judicial review - a system Grayling would like to seee abolished - and now we can see why.  He acted illegally.  That didn't stop his press office tweeting (like a petulant child) that it wasn't a complete victory for them but they did get to keep the 8.75% cut.  Not that that was the point of this particular action.  He's like this government's Comical Ali.

Nevertheless, the bulk of this week's show does deal with another announcement by Chris Grayling.  He has been electioneering announcing what he's doing for complainants victims.  

So what's new?  In our usual vein, this week Ben brings us a thoughtful report on the MoJ's recent publication.  Regular listeners may think they know where this is going...

If you would like to read the two papers, then they are below.
The 2013 Code of Practice
The 2014 pamphlet


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S11E04 - Of Interest to the Public

Ben and Jonathan get to grips with some matters of public importance this week's show. 


First up is a look at the guidance (in force from February 2014) on the publication of decisions of the family courts and the Court of Protection.  There are some interesting questions raised about how this is going to work and who is paying for it.  

Either way, you'll have to know about this if you work in either of these areas of law and the public may well find the reality of these cases far more challenging than the abstract way in which they are reported at present.

We move on to the case of the "Iceland Three".  This story was all over social media this week.  This was the case of three men who faced prosecution for taking food from a skip at a London branch of London.  There was outrage and a change in CPS approach but, once you factor-in other information that appeared in later reports, did the CPS make the right call or were they duped by the publicity?


Then onto our favourite [redacted for legal purposes], Theresa May.  She has been calling for some powers that, if they were to be used against convicted terrorists, you might think were pretty obvious, but that's not quite what she wants.  We look at the terrible misreporting of this case by almost all UK media.  There is some very scary devil in the detail and Ben issues a personal thanks to his MP, Hazel Blears, for being one of the 297 MPs who played politics with something the UN think is fundamental to a person's very being.


As always, there is stuff that we didn't get to this week.  Please see the show notes below for the links to those stories and for all of the articles for the above.


We'll be back next week when hopefully Kirstin will be back with us and Mr Kipling will have sent us some cake.  Or Iceland might have sent us a prawn ring.  Let's hope it's the former.

You can listen to show by clicking right here but, of course, we'd prefer that you subscribed on iTunes or via Google Play Store or via any good podcatcher app on your phone/tablet.  Ben from Northpod Law particularly recommends this one for Android and iOS.
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Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17150054

- The public will get to peer at the decisions of the Family courts and the Court of Protection under the new transparency guidance.

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Guidance/transparency-in-the-family-courts-jan2014.pdf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2540976/At-victory-secrecy-courts.html

- Skipping case - in the public interest until the public gets interested.

First story: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/28/three-charged-vagrancy-act-food-skip-iceland

Iceland 1st response: http://about.iceland.co.uk/_assets/files/Prosecution-for-waste-food-theft-29-1-14.pdf

CPS decision (as reported in Indie) PLUS the shades of grey appear:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/iceland-food-bin-theft-case-dropped-by-cps-9094415.html

Iceland 2nd statement:

http://about.iceland.co.uk/_assets/files/Update-on-Kentish-Town-waste-food-theft-29-1-14.pdf

- Theresa May and the race to the bottom on Immigration toughness leads to 11th-hour amendment to bill to include right to strip naturalised Brits of their nationality.

What does ILPA say? They say not within scope.

http://www.ilpa.org.uk/data/resources/25742/14-01-29-Deprivation-ILPA-briefing.pdf

Blog:

http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2014/01/30/amendment-to-immigration-bill-allows-home-secretary-to-make-people-stateless/#more-12265

Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/29/theresa-may-terror-suspects-citizenship-clegg-approval

Not just “terrorism suspects” or “terrorists” at all.  Read the section (at page 1651):

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0128/amend/pbc1283001m.1649-1655.html

Actual reasons for Home Sec simply to be satisfied of are:

Home Sec satisfied that it is conducive to the public good because that person has conducted himself in such a manner that is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK.  

AND if it’s a decision taken

then there will be no public information as to why the decision has been made and there will be no right of appeal.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/section/40A

Not just May, of course.  100 MPs support this, including Hazel Blears.

Further reading/”No time for” stories

- 17 y.o. death at YOI Wetherby

http://www.inquest.org.uk/media/pr/serious-failures-identified-by-jury-inquest-17-year-old-ryan-clark-wetherby

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/failings-wetherby-prison-blamed-17-year-old-ryan-clarks-death-1434271

- Even those terps who scabbed and went to work for Capita are now calling for a boycott.  This is because Capita has finally scrapped Tier 2/3 terps and so the power is now in the hands of the Tier 1s.

http://www.linguistlounge.org/all-articles/analysis-and-comment/999-time-to-take-action-boycott#comments

Premier League IP case:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-25968200

But, in Feb 2012

S10E05 - Getting Away With It

Have a listen here.

We've got everything from worship by cannabis to esoteric legal points here.

First - yes we're serious we have cannabis sacrifice -  a couple found not guilty on the basis that their cultivation crop was not for supply but for burning to honour Shiva.
2 takes on the same story:  Russian Times and Daily Mail

Then Ben explains for any Home Office flunkies listening, how the law works and relates to everybody, foreign or not.


Kirstin finds two cases for legal complexities junkies - read them yourselves they might be easier to follow!

An interesting defence that worked:
http://rt.com/news/cannabis-shiva-sacrifice-burn-540/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2499598/Cannabis-growers-cleared-dealing-saying-Hindu-god-Shiva.html

Foreign sex-offender gets damages for being held too long:
The story causing people to go nuts: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24917755
The actual decision of the court:
http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/1378.html&query=saleh&method=boolean


The importance of time on “qualifying tag”:
Two things to remember:
1. The provisions under CJA 2003 in relation to time spent on remand are mandatory - even if you have a clever argument.
2.  Time spent on tag is not automatically taken into consideration and the timetable to sort it out will be adhered to from now on.  Counsel beware.
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2013/1994.html

R v Stocker
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2013/1993.html


Report by NAO into MoJ reliance upon G4S and similar (or “Bears defecate in wooded areas”):
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/ministry-of-justice-relationship-with-outsourcers-under-scrutiny/5038715.article
Original report and executive summary here: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/memorandum-role-major-contractors-delivery-public-services/

So it begins. .. fraud vhcc likely to be derailed
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/nov/14/fraud-trial-threatened-barristers-reduced-rate 


The Judicial Office is seeking views on the following areas:
- How the CJC/FJC functions should be delivered  Civil justice council and family JC
- Whether the bodies should be abolished
- If the functions could be moved to the Ministry of Justice
- Whether they should be delivered by the voluntary or private sector or by a new executive agency
- Should they remain arm’s length bodies
The deadline for responses is 5pm on 25 November. The email addresses are: cjcreview@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk and: fjcreview@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk.

Grayling purposes an end to multiple cautions but the clue is in the word "simple" perhaps:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10447936/Ban-on-police-cautions-for-repeat-offenders.html

S10E01 - It's Not Fair!

Episode one of series 10, eh?

Well life's not fair but at least you can listen here and know that your glass half empty view of the world is actually fully justifiable.

First up on the it's not fair index is having to spend forever behind bars because you can't afford to pay the ever increasing interest payments of the loan shark government.  Ben looks at unforeseen consequences of POCA legislation as discussed in the case of R v Gibson.

Then Kirstin looks at the guidelines for prosecutors of child sex abuse cases, holding her head in her hands for the most part that the prosecution need guidelines to tell them to do what they should already be doing. (Although there are some creditable bits too).

Jonathan joins us to hold his head in his hands about IPNAs and CBOs - You'll just have to listen if you don't know what these are but be afraid.

We recognise there are new offences of subletting a council house - more next week perhaps.

And finally, we salute His Honour Justice Holman and Bar Council Chairman Maura McGowan for telling it like it is.  You can read along with us here and here.