Journal of Criminal Law, The

vLex
Publisher:
Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:
2021-08-12
ISBN:
0022-0183

Issue Number

Latest documents

  • ‘Deception as to Gender’: A Review of Proposed Revisions to CPS Legal Guidance on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences

    This article considers recent proposed revisions to Crown Prosecution Service legal guidance on ‘Deception as to Gender’, that were put out for public consultation in September 2022. It does so against a backdrop of a series of sexual offence prosecutions brought against young LGBTQ people since 2012. These prosecutions, especially those brought against trans people, have been widely criticised. The article offers an assessment of the merits of the proposed revisions and their likely impact on prosecution decision-making, if implemented. The article will proceed as follows. Part 2 will provide some background context regarding prosecutions of this type. Part 3 will set out the current law pertaining to sexual fraud. Part 4 will provide a detailed analysis of the proposed revisions and will consider their likely impact on the practice of prosecution, if implemented. The article will argue that, while the proposed revisions strike a better balance between the interests of cis complainants and trans suspects charged with sexual offences, they continue, in important ways, to approach questions of evidence through hetero and cisnormative lenses to the detriment of trans and LGBQ suspects, and they provide a questionable pro-prosecution interpretation of legal doctrine concerning the proper scope of ‘deception as to gender’.

  • ‘Discriminatory’ Sentencing: A Return to Coherence
  • Seven Police Officers and a WhatsApp Group: What Could Go Wrong?
  • An Opportunity Missed. Clarifying the Availability of the Common Law Defence of Duress to Conspiracy to Commit Murder
  • Public Nuisance and the Meaning of a ‘Section of the Public’
  • Is Affirmative Consent the Answer? Yes, Sort of, Maybe

    Recently, there have been some powerful calls in the media for the law to adopt an affirmative consent model in relation to the law on rape. This article explores this proposal. It argues that while there is much that is attractive about the concept of affirmative consent, it needs considerable unpacking and explanation before it can be accepted. Indeed, if adopted at a simplistic level, it carries considerable dangers. The article presents six ambiguities around what is meant by affirmative consent but concludes with a proposal as to what an appropriate nuanced model of could look like.

  • Suspicionless Stop and Search: You’re Joking, not Another one!

    Police stop and search powers have been on the statute book for many years and are widely regarded as being an important tool in the prevention or detection of criminal offences. Whilst most of these powers require that an officer has ‘reasonable grounds to suspect’ that a person is in possession of a prohibited item or article before they may be exercised, the last 30 or so years has seen the emergence of ‘suspicionless’ stop and search powers on the statute book. These have proved to be controversial for a number of reasons, not least because they permit random stop and searches to occur which rarely result in officers finding what they were looking for, and have the potential to strain relations between the police and the communities they serve. Official data also makes clear that they have consistently been used in a racially disproportionate way. Under the Public Order Act 2023, a new suspicionless stop and search power has been created which is exercisable by the police in the context of peaceful protests. The case against it was strongly made in the House of Lords and beyond Parliament. Regrettably, it was not accepted by a government which was also unwilling to amend the legislation so as to enhance the safeguards designed to prevent the misuse of the power.

  • Sentencing Guidance for Cases of Intentional Strangulation
  • Court Finds that the ‘Virtually Insurmountable’ Test for Compensation as a Victim of a Miscarriage of Justice Does not Breach Article 6(2)
  • Finding a Compromise: A Criminal Law Defence for Regulating Medical Assistance in Dying

    The legal discourse surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide continues to evolve, with a growing demand for comprehensive regulation. However, in England and Wales, assistance in dying remains prohibited. This article draws on criminal law theory to propose a compromising approach to cases of medical assistance in dying by creating a new criminal law defence. This defence will be available to a physician assisting a patient to die on the conditions of autonomy and beneficence. If this defence is successful, it will completely remove the physician's criminal liability.

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