Criminal

Barristers and advocates in Scotland, England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have urged the government to drop its proposals for judge-only ‘swift courts’ in cases where the sentence is three years or less

The Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, is introducing a raft of reforms to banish rape myths, reduce the use of sexual history as evidence, and protect complainants from re-traumatisation during the trial

Three decades ago, Professor Michael Zander conducted a large-scale study on the way the criminal justice system works. In the concluding part of this series, he examines the findings on wasted time, weak cases & other matters

Niall Hearty on why private prosecutions have become increasingly popular

Dr Jon Robins reports on a murder conviction that was quashed—twice

Sir Brian Leveson’s claim that there is ‘no right to jury trial’ erects a constitutional straw man, argues Professor Graham Zellick KC in NLJ this week. He argues that Leveson dismantles a position almost no-one truly holds, and thereby obscures the deeper issue: the jury’s place within the UK’s constitutional tradition

Cracked trials and weak cases: Professor Michael Zander revisits his landmark 1993 Crown Court Study in this week's NLJ, arguing that its insights remain strikingly current

Professor Graham Zellick KC considers what it means to say there is no right to trial by jury

Criminal defence lawyers have expressed dismay at the Lord Chancellor David Lammy’s plans to reduce the backlog by scaling back jury trials to murder, rape, homicide and other indictable crimes where the sentence is three years or more

Legal aid lawyers have welcomed increased fees for criminal, housing and immigration work