Gavin Williamson, Sir Kim Darroch, and the Official Secrets Act 1989 Introduction One side-effect of our current political turmoil seems to be an increase in leaks of sensitive government information. In May 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May sacked her Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, after cabinet disagreements about the role of Huawei in the UK 5G […]
Fifteen years on from R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19 the Court of Appeal again had to grapple with society’s modern values in the context of consent as a defence to assault in R v BM [2018] EWCA Crim 560. The appellant was a tattooist and body piercer who also practised ‘body modification’. The appeal […]
Narita Bahra QC and Nick James of Furnival Chambers contribute to the LexisNexis Corporate Crime analysis: commenting on the credibility of expert witnesses in criminal trials following the recent collapse of the carbon credit and diamond sales hearing. What was the background to the carbon credit and diamond sales hearing and why was it abandoned? […]
In R v MK and Persida Gega [2018] EWCA Crim 667, the Court of Appeal has unanimously found that the legal burden of proof rests wholly on the prosecution where a defendant raises a defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (‘the MSA’). In summary, section 45 gives a defence to adults […]
On 1 March 2018 the Sentencing Council published a new definitive guideline for sentencing in cases involving offensive weapons and/or bladed articles. The guidelines apply to all offenders who are sentenced on or after 1 June 2018 regardless of the date of the offence. The new guideline follows a consultation exercise begun in October 2016. […]
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