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28 July 2023
Issue: 8035 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Child law
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NLJ this week: The IICSA recommendations—what now?

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In this week’s NLJ, Maryam Syed, criminal and family barrister at 7BR, discusses the path forward for those who feel let down by the government’s response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The IICSA, set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, was an enormous seven-year operation which took nearly three million pages of evidence and attempted to give voice to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and which, as Syed writes, ‘made plain that the extent of such abuse was unquantifiable due to the complete lack of unified and coherent data’.

Syed, who has specialised in child sexual abuse for more than 20 years and has sat as a part-time Crown Court judge since 2012, covers the IICSA’s recommendations, the government’s response and the criticism of this response. She looks ahead at what can be done now, and what action a future government might be asked to take—read more here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Jordan Wallace

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Jordan Wallace

Thomson Hayton Winkley strengthens family law team

Ward Hadaway—Barnaby Rosenthall

Ward Hadaway—Barnaby Rosenthall

Construction lawyer returns to Ward Hadaway in Teesside role

Bird & Bird—Shahin Baghaei

Bird & Bird—Shahin Baghaei

Bird Bird hires leading legal transformation expert

NEWS
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

How forcefully can a litigant criticise a public authority before robust advocacy crosses the line into unreasonable conduct? 
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