Criminal

The Sentencing Council has revised its guidance for magistrates and judges on the principles to follow when imposing community orders and custodial sentences.

It’s often a case of double trouble where regulated professionals face criminal charges because they also face professional disciplinary proceedings. In this week’s NLJ, Vanessa Reid, senior associate at Corker Binning, looks at a recent High Court decision, Patel, in which a dentist who caused death by careless driving received criminal sanctions and was also brought before the General Dental Council’s disciplinary committee.

Ever met a psychopath? Do you really know what a psychopath is? In this week’s NLJ, Dr Tanya Garrett, clinical and forensic psychologist, sets out how to recognise the personality disorder known as psychopathy and explains why ‘understanding whether someone has psychopathic traits is important for considering parenting capacity, risk and identifying what interventions are needed’.

Two sets of consequences for the same actions? Vanessa Reid examines guidance from the courts on criminal convictions & professional disciplinary cases

What is psychopathy & why does it matter? Dr Tanya Garrett explains the diagnosis & its implications for criminal & family proceedings

The Law Commission has proposed sweeping reforms to the criminal appeals process, including changing the ‘real possibility’ test used by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

The ‘long-awaited’ Home Office guidance on failure to prevent fraud (FPF) is now available and the new law will come into effect in September. In this week’s NLJ, Michael Goodwin KC and Theo Burges, third-six pupil barrister, Red Lion Chambers, write that ‘the spectre of the likely interaction between FPF and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) also looms for corporates’.

Michael Goodwin KC & Theo Burges explain how deferred prosecution agreements can be used in tandem with the new failure to prevent fraud offence

Governments need to focus on non-custodial ways to cut reoffending rather than simply trying to look tough by locking up criminals for longer, a report by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke has warned.

The security service MI5 has apologised in court, having admitted to misleading judges in a series of cases in the High Court and in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) about the conduct of one of its agents.