An offence of violent disorder contrary to s 2(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 (UK) — similar to unlawful assembly, contrary to common law — requires only that three or more people are in the same place at the same time. It's not necessary to prove they deliberately acted in combination with each other.In …
Continue reading Unlawful assembly requires cooperation, not just togetherness
In January this year the United Kingdom Court of Appeal decided it had jurisdiction to try three people accused of posting racially inflammatory material on the internet even though the web-server hosting the material was in the USA.In R v Sheppard [2010] EWCA Crim 65, the accused wrote and edited the material in England; uploaded …
Last year I wrote about the UK's Crown Prosecuting Service and a review into the competency of CPS advocates.This year, the Legal Services Commission — the Poms' equivalent to our legal aid — is running a pilot scheme trialling a quality assurance scheme for advocates.The discussion paper discusses what the LSC wants to do and …
Continue reading UK’s Legal Services Commission advocates checked for quality
Last year I wrote about the UK's Crown Prosecuting Service and a review into the competency of CPS advocates.This year, the Legal Services Commission — the Poms' equivalent to our legal aid — is running a pilot scheme trialling a quality assurance scheme for advocates.The discussion paper discusses what the LSC wants to do and …
Continue reading UK's Legal Services Commission advocates checked for quality
In the UK they recognise the inherently difficult task of sentencing appropriately in the summary jurisdiction. The volume of work, coupled with the number of discretionary considerations and ancillary orders available, make it difficult for judicial officers to avoid falling into procedural error.In recognition of the complexity of the task, the UK's Sentencing Guidelines Council …