header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Crime brief: 7 July 2023

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
07 July 2023 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8032 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal , Human rights , Discrimination
printer mail-detail
129469
Recent judgments have highlighted the interaction between abortion time limits, criminal law & human rights, as David Walbank KC explains
  • Abortion and the criminal law.
  • No time limit on termination where child may be ‘seriously handicapped’.
  • Declaration of incompatibility refused.

The recent case of Carla Foster has brought the issue of abortion and the criminal law back onto the front pages. Foster, aged 44 years, was handed a 28-month prison sentence in June after she admitted to illegally procuring her own abortion at a late stage of the pregnancy. The case hit the headlines after she pleaded guilty to taking tablets, delivered through the post, in order to abort baby Lily, who was between 32 and 34 weeks’ gestation at the time.

Her prison sentence was immediately followed by a large-scale demonstration in central London. Protestors marched from the Royal Courts of Justice to Whitehall, carrying placards saying ‘Abortion is Healthcare’ and ‘Policing Our Bodies is the Real Crime’. The ultimate aim of some campaigners

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Read All
Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll