House of Commons - Justice Committee: Post-legislative Scrutiny Of Part 2 (Encouraging Or Assisting Crime) Of The Serious Crime Act 2007 - HC 639
House of Commons - Justice Committee: Post-legislative Scrutiny Of Part 2 (Encouraging Or Assisting Crime) Of The Serious Crime Act 2007 - HC 639

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9780215062239

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The Government presented its Post-legislative Scrutiny of the Serious Crime Act 2007 Memorandum to the Home Affairs Committee and Justice Committee in November 2012. The parts of the Memorandum falling within the Justice Committee's remit were a) Serious Crime Prevention Orders and b) Part 2, in particular, offences of encouraging or assisting crime in terms of prosecution and interpretation of the sections by courts and the CPS. There is concern about the trenchant criticism that Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 received. In addition, Part 2 was the subject of appeals to the Court of Appeal. The report concurs with the academics who wrote that the sections are complex and difficult to understand for lawyers, let alone for defendants, jurors and other lay-people working in the criminal justice system. It raises some key concerns and questions about the purpose of post-legislative scrutiny. It is considered that where the substance of an Act or part of an Act is to create or revise criminal offences it is appropriate for questions of a purely legal or technical nature to be considered. The latest judgment in the case of Sadique may allow the legislation to settle into accepted use and interpretation. However, the Ministry should conduct a further and full post-legislative assessment of Part 2 in 2016. If, in the meantime, the number of appeals on Part 2 increases, the Ministry should consider bringing forward legislative proposals for revising, or even replacing, Part 2 to meet the purpose of the legislation in a less tortuous fashion

House of Commons - Justice Committee: Fraud, Bribery and Money Laundering Offences Guideline: Consultation - HC 804
House of Commons - Justice Committee: Fraud, Bribery and Money Laundering Offences Guideline: Consultation - HC 804

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-11-08

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 9780215064431

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In line with the Council's overarching approach to sentencing, the draft Guideline puts greater emphasis on the impact the crime has had on the victim than previous guidelines issued by its predecessor body and on culpability, rather than focusing more exclusively on financial loss. We welcome this approach in relation to the six individual guidelines, as we are conscious that victims, particularly vulnerable individuals, may suffer significant financial and psychological harm over the loss of relatively small sums. This report discusses concerns with the new guidelines and makes recommendations for changes to the proposals

House of Commons - Justice Committee: Appointment of HM Chief Inspector of Probation - HC 640
House of Commons - Justice Committee: Appointment of HM Chief Inspector of Probation - HC 640

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9780215062642

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The Justice Committee held a pre-appoointment hearing with the preferred candidate, Mr Paul McDowell. This report contains the oral evidence from that meeting and the Committee approves his appointment. The report also contains correspondence between the Chair of the Committee and the Secretary of State, the job advertisement, the person specification used in the recruitment process, and Mr McDowell's curriculum vitae.

House of Commons - Justice Committee: Appointment of the Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints - HC 916
House of Commons - Justice Committee: Appointment of the Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints - HC 916

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-12-13

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780215065773

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The chairmanship of the Office for Legal Complaints is one of the posts which are subject to (non-binding) pre-appointment scrutiny by select committees. Elizabeth France was recruited to the position on 10 October 2008, and the Justice Committee took oral evidence from her on 21 October.

House of Commons - Justice Committee: Ministry of Justice Measures in the JHA Block Opt-Out - HC 605
House of Commons - Justice Committee: Ministry of Justice Measures in the JHA Block Opt-Out - HC 605

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-10-31

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780215063403

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The Government has struck a reasonable balance in the way it is planning to exercise its right to opt-out of pre-Lisbon Treaty EU policing and criminal justice measures, but the way it has engaged Parliament in the decision-making process has been badly handled and 'cavalier'. The Government left the Commons select committees far too little time to assess the reasons for their decisions on EU justice opt-ins, and did not provide the full impact assessment which was needed. The Committee agrees with the Government's plans to seek to opt back into seven of the sixteen measures, and not to opt into a number of others. The Committee also raises questions about the Government's intention not to opt back into two specific instruments, the Probation Measures Framework Decision and the Framework Decision on the settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction. The Committee also calls on the Government to provide an assessment of the effect of the extension of the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union over the measures covered by the opt-out. The Committee also agrees with the Government's proposal to seek to rejoin decisions on data protection in policing and criminal justice, and on a data protection secretariat, but says that the arguments are more finely balanced in relation to the Framework Decision on settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction

Reinterpreting Criminal Complicity and Inchoate Participation Offences
Reinterpreting Criminal Complicity and Inchoate Participation Offences

Author: Dennis J. Baker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-26

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1317198883

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In Reinterpreting Criminal Complicity and Inchoate Participation Offences, Dennis J. Baker argues that the mental element in complicity is one of intention, that recklessness alone is not sufficient. This is demonstrated by showing that the ancient and modern authorities on complicity required intention. The book argues the ‘causal participation’ element in complicity means that the conduct element can only be established when there is intentional encouragement on the part of the accessory. As the Accessories and Abettors Act 1861, like most of the statutory provisions found in the United States, deems that both perpetrator and accessory are perpetrators for the purpose of punishment and crime labelling, limiting the mental element in complicity to intentional participation is, the author argues, the only way to reconcile these provisions with the requirements of proportionate punishment and fair labelling. As some forms of reckless encouragement and assistance will not be criminalised if the mental element in complicity is intention only, the author suggests that the solution is to amend section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 to criminalise reckless participation. In addition, the author argues that standard complicity and joint enterprise complicity have the same mental and conduct elements and thus joint enterprise complicity is not a distinct form of complicity.

HC 307 - Crime Reduction Policies: A Co-Ordinated Approach?
HC 307 - Crime Reduction Policies: A Co-Ordinated Approach?

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0215073193

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The Justice Committee believes The Treasury should seriously question whether taxpayers' money is used in ways most likely to reduce future crime and victimisation and must develop a longer term strategy for the use of resources tied up currently in the criminal justice system. All parts of the criminal justice system have had to cope with significant spending cuts, yet it appears that the Government has shied away from using the need to make those cuts to re-evaluate how and where money is spent. The Committee welcomes the development of various cross-Government initiatives to deal with the sources of crime, such as the Troubled Families Programme. But resources committed are tiny compared to the costs of crime to society. Each year: violent crime, 44% of which is alcohol related, costs almost £30 billion; crime perpetrated by people who had conduct problems in childhood costs around £60 billion; drug related crime costs £13.3 billion; anti-social behaviour related to alcohol abuse costs £11 billion. The costs of preventative investment further upstream are often relatively small yet the Committee's evidence highlights the clear benefits of collective ownership, pooled funding and joint priorities that have been facilitated by the shift of power in this field from Whitehall to local communities. The greatest problem identified by the Committee is the lack of rigorous assessment of where taxpayers' money can be most effectively spent in cutting crime. A more evidence-based approach is needed.

HC 850 - Criminal Cases Review Commission
HC 850 - Criminal Cases Review Commission

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 0215084659

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The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was set up in 1997, by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995, on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. The CCRC investigates alleged miscarriages of justice, post-conviction and post-appeal, and has the power to refer cases back to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration. The Committee held a one-off evidence session on the work of the CCRC in January 2014, and then sought some views on the issues raised. The Committee subsequently decided to hold an inquiry on the CCRC, and launched it with a general call for evidence. The "real possibility" test, which requires that for a referral to be made there must be a real possibility that the conviction or sentence would not be upheld on appeal, was one of the most controversial aspects of the CCRC. The Committee found that criticisms broadly fell into one of three areas: that the test itself is wrong; that the test is being applied incorrectly by the CCRC; or that the Court of Appeal's approach to criminal appeals is overly restrictive. The Committee's considers each of these areas in turn. Critics of the test felt that it inherently prevents the CCRC from being truly independent of the Court of Appeal. The Committee concludes that any change would have to be in light of a change to the Court of Appeal's grounds for allowing appeals.

HC 954 - Legacy Report
HC 954 - Legacy Report

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Liaison Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 0215084624

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HC 310 - Joint Enterprise: Follow-Up
HC 310 - Joint Enterprise: Follow-Up

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Justice Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 021508084X

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In this Report the Committee returns to follow up the Report which was published in January 2012 (ISBN 9780215040589) on the operation of the common-law doctrine of joint enterprise, which forms part of the criminal law relating to secondary liability. The types of cases considered are those in which P and D participate together in one crime and in the course of it P commits a second crime which D had foreseen he might commit: in such cases, under joint enterprise, D may also be charged and convicted of the second offence. The Committee considers in this report the impact of the guidance for prosecutors in joint enterprise cases which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) produced in response to one of the 2012 recommendations, taking into account statistics on murder and manslaughter cases with two or more defendants in 2012 and 2013 which the CPS also produced. The Committee concludes that the level of concern about the operation of joint enterprise, especially in murder cases, is such that it is no longer acceptable for the main authorities in the criminal justice system to give such limited attention and priority to the recording and collation of information and reommends that the Ministry of Justice establish a system to enable production of regular statistics on joint enterprise prosecutions, convictions and appeals. This report sets out a range of other concerns and questions which continue to be raised about the application of the doctrine, including the scale of use of joint enterprise, the question as to whether joint enterprise is being used as a social policy tool, the high number of Black and mixed race young men who have been convicted of joint enterprise offences. The evidence heard in this second inquiry into the subject has increased disquiet at the functioning of the law on joint enterprise and the Committee is no longer of the view that it is satisfactory for a consultation to be held on the Law Commission's previous proposals on joint enterprise.