LAW2021 Online: Criminal Law (Autumn)

Presented by Colin Beaumont, Barrister

1-hour session. For a long time there was little or nothing by way of new legislation. There seems to have been a flurry of it in the last 8 months. New pieces of legislation receiving Royal Assent albeit not all of it necessarily coming into force upon receiving Royal Assent. This session will alert you to those pieces of legislation which require your attention now (and will, for the remainder of 2021).

It’s not easy keeping abreast of all of this stuff – you are busy practitioners and you simply don’t have the time to keep up-to-date with the various Statutory Instruments bringing legislation into force on a piecemeal basis.

You need to know precisely what is in force and to be able to advise accordingly (or prosecute) at both the investigation and prosecution stage.

The following Acts will be considered:

• The Sentencing Act 2020 (or Code if you Prefer) – Very much a ‘need to know’ about this as 99% of it is in force
• The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 – Statutory Instruments are being produced in relation to this Act
• The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 – You don’t need me to tell you that this is going to be a major piece of legislation for criminal practitioners – it will be of huge relevance at the police station stage and when dealing with matters at Court
• Important amendments to the law concerning those offenders given a sentence of 7 years or more at the Crown Court for Specified Offences
• Important amendments to the release provisions of terrorist offenders
• The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 – Would you believe that certain Schedules of the Sentencing Code 2020 have already been replaced by Schedules of this Act.

The purpose of the presentation is to increase your knowledge, thereby increasing your confidence, when dealing with legislation which has only come on stream in 2021.

Presented by Colin Beaumont, Barrister

This 1-hour session will be of interest to anyone involved in the area of criminal law. The government acknowledges that knife crime is serious and on the 5th July 2021 new measures were introduced under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 to tackle knife crime. Criminal practitioners need an understanding of how the legislation works in relation to knife crime generally. The new legislation deals with both Adults (18+) and Youths (17 - 12). You may be called upon to give advice at the police station stage or to defend or prosecute (or advise the Magistrates’) in the Youth Court or Adult Magistrates’ Court. Crown Court issues will also be covered. The following will be explored during the session:

• Knife Crime Prevention Orders – the pilot and enforcement
• Orders upon complaint and Orders upon conviction for a ‘relevant offence’
• Duration and breach proceedings
• Notification Requirements and breach proceedings
• Appeals generally
• The consideration of a mandatory minimum sentence for second time possession of a knife/bladed article/offensive weapon – Adults and Youths
• The consideration of a mandatory minimum sentence for threatening someone with a knife/bladed article/offensive weapon – Adults and Youths
• Possible committal to the Crown Court for sentence under the Sentencing Code 2020.

Presented by Clive Smith, Barrister

This update will appeal to criminal practitioners dealing with cases at all stages – the police station, magistrates’ court and Crown Court.

This course will look at advising at the police station stage in relation to sexual offences – particularly rape and sexual assault. It will look at sexual offences in the magistrates’ court, particularly new offences such as “up-skirting” made a specific offence under the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019. And important case-law from the Court of Appeal in relation to consent in rape cases and what constitutes “sexual” under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

This course will also look briefly at sentencing under the Sentencing Code, for example “Offenders of Particular Concern”.

The aim of this course is to equip you with the very latest knowledge in relation to sexual offences, allowing you to give the most authoritative advice to your clients.

This course will look at sexual offences from a broad range or perspectives, allowing you to feel confident that clients are receiving the best advice, tailored to their individual case.

Presented by Clive Smith, Barrister

This session will be of interest to anyone involved in the area of criminal law – be it at the police station or at court.

This course will take you through the latest case-law in relation to hearsay. In particular it will look at recent guidance with regards to:

• Admissibility of phone calls
• Admissibility of anonymous hearsay
• How to approach the “interests of justice” test under s. 114
• Failure to adhere to the Criminal Procedure Rules!

Following on from this, we will turn to consider bad character. Specifically, this course will consider:

• Does self-defence constitute an attack on another person’s character?
• Can previous convictions from 20/30 years ago ever be relevant?
• Bad character during the trial process – how to deal with it
• Recent case-law on putting your character in issue

The aim of the presentation is to bring you as up to date as possible on the latest case-law in relation to arguably the two most important parts of evidence for the criminal practitioner.

This course will provide practical guidance to practitioners to complement and increase your knowledge and understanding of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.