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NLJ this week: Time for a ‘radical overhaul’ of criminal appeals

11 April 2025
Issue: 8112 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal
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The wrongful convictions of innocent sub-postmasters and of Andrew Malkinson, who was also entirely innocent, are shocking. The appeals system has been in need of ‘radical overhaul’ for decades, Martin Rackstraw, criminal partner at Russell-Cooke, writes in this week’s NLJ.

Rackstraw looks at the recently published Law Commission’s consultation paper on appeals, and considers some of the issues raised and proposals made. He sets out the key reasons for reform, including ‘a test for quashing Crown Court convictions that is too inflexible and is usually applied with maximum inflexibility’.

In particular, he looks at the ‘safe’ test, used by the Court of Appeal and expresses hope for a ‘much needed and much overdue revision’. 
Issue: 8112 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal
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NEWS
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
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