header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Sentencing suggestions to help solve the prisons emergency

29 November 2024
Issue: 8096 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal
printer mail-detail
199165
Prisons are in crisis, so what’s the plan to fix them? In this week’s NLJ, Helen Scambler, associate at Mishcon de Reya, comments on the government’s actions to date to repair the issue, and makes some suggestions on what they could do next.

Scambler suggests a broader role for deferred sentences and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). While the latter are used only for organisations, the author considers the potential benefits of applying them to individuals. She writes: ‘By widening the scope of DPAs to include offences committed by individuals, particularly in non-violent cases such as fraud or financial crimes, the justice system could divert cases away from prison while still holding individuals accountable for their actions.’

The article also covers sentencing inflation, short sentences and imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

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
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
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
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
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
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
back-to-top-scroll