The Sentencing Council is consulting on a new guideline for some of the most commonly prosecuted firearms offences. At the moment, guidance is to be found only in case law, and this can lead to a challenging sentencing exercise.
The topic of Diplomatic Immunity has been in the news this week. The UK Foreign Secretary is requesting the wife of a US diplomat be returned to the UK to face a criminal investigation into the death of a 19 year old here in the UK. She has claimed Diplomatic Immunity, and so far, the US Government has refused for the immunity to be waived. So what is Diplomatic Immunity – and how does it work?
The EU has published a report, ‘Rights in practice: access to a lawyer and procedural rights in criminal and European arrest warrant proceedings’, that details the extent to which fundamental human rights, in the context of criminal justice, are upheld across the EU. So what are your rights – and are they fully exercised?
There is to be an increase in the number of offences subject to prosecution appeal, where it may be deemed that sentences applied are unduly lenient.
A cut-throat defence is where one defendant gives evidence that is damaging to a co-defendant’s case, sometimes going as far as directly accusing the other person of the crime, while typically seeking to exonerate themselves.
