header-logo header-logo

Some relief for IPP offenders

29 May 2024
Issue: 8073 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal
printer mail-detail

The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 has passed into law, amid a flurry of activity on the final day before prorogation

The Act falls short of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) campaigners’ demands for resentencing for all IPP prisoners, who are serving indeterminate sentences dependent on the Parole Board for release. However, it provides for referrals to the Parole Board three years rather than ten years after a prisoner’s first release.

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said the reforms were ‘small but important’.

Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘While we did not support changes to parole decision making, we were pleased that the Bill was amended so that instead of giving the Secretary of State the power to intervene in parole cases involving serious offenders, the Secretary of State will have the power to refer a case to the Upper Tribunal or High Court.’

Issue: 8073 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

mfg Solicitors—Brian Hession

mfg Solicitors—Brian Hession

Birmingham commercial property team bolstered by partner hire

STEP—Sara Morgan

STEP—Sara Morgan

Fieldfisher director re-elected as deputy chair of England Wales committee

Osborne Clarke—Andrew Eaton

Osborne Clarke—Andrew Eaton

Restructuring and insolvency expert joins as partner

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll