The recently decided case of DPP v M establishes that a conclusive grounds decision (CGD) by the Senior Competent Authority (SCA) and the full minute of the decision (the ‘reasons’) are admissible in criminal proceedings.
Following a legal challenge by Just for Kids Law, the Government has announced that children remanded to custody in the Crown Court will be exempt from the Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
The Children’s Commissioner’s recently published report on children in the justice system identifies a number of systemic problems faced by young people in the criminal justice system and makes some radical recommendations for reform by drawing from robust research and comparisons with Scandinavian approaches to youth justice.
The Court of Appeal refused to refer sentences as unduly lenient of 3 child defendants convicted of manslaughter of a police officer.
A Court of Appeal case on turning 18 and disparity of sentence with younger co-defendants
Unicef (UK) has published its report and recommendations following an extensive study into the youth criminal justice system across the United Kingdom (and Jersey).
The Attorney General sought leave to appeal as unduly lenient a sentence of a two year Community Order with a 200 hour unpaid work requirement which was passed by a Crown Court following a young person’s (KM) conviction for an offence of aggravated burglary committed when he was 16. The Court of Appeal granted leave and upheld the appeal, increasing the sentence to one of three and a half years’ detention in a young offender institution.
The Sentencing Council has published eight new guidelines to be used by the Courts in England and Wales when sentencing firearms offences under the Firearms Act 1968.
The Court of Appeal held that a sentence of three years and ten months for a robbery in which a knife and an imitation firearm were produced was not manifestly excessive. While the appeal was dismissed, it provided the Court of Appeal with the opportunity to clarify the sequence in which the sentencing judge should apply a reduction in sentence to reflect the offender’s youth and immaturity and any guilty plea.
