Catching up ..... !
Law and Rights

Catching up ..... !


Supreme Court UK LIbrary
A little bit of catching up ........

a) From 27th to 29th October, the Supreme Court heard the joint enterprise case of R v Jogee.  The proceedings may be viewed via the Supreme Court website.  Previous post.   The joint enterprise doctrine* (an aspect of accessorial criminal liability) is particularly problematic and it was claimed in court that the law took a wrong turning with the decision in Chan Wing-Siu v The Queen [1984] UKPC 27.  The present state of the law was described by Felicity Gerry QC (counsel for Jogee) as "a dog's breakfast."  Miss Gerry invited the court to re-express the law in terms of requiring knowledge of the essential elements of the offence committed by the principal (or the type of offence) together with acts that demonstrate an intent to assist or encourage that offence (or type of offence). 

b) On 4th November, the Supreme Court will hand down judgment in the £85 parking overstay charge case of Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis.  Previous post.

c) Former Attorney-General Dominic Grieve QC has said that the Prime Minister should not have changed the Ministerial Code - The Guardian 28th October.  Previous post.

d) The prime minister?s policy of ordering
targeted drone killings overseas outside designated war zones is to be scrutinised in the first inquiry launched by the new chair of parliament?s human rights committee.  See the Committee's announcement and The Guardian 29th October.   Previous post.

e) The family of Mark Duggan (killed in 2011) have been granted permission to appeal against a high court decision that the jury at the inquest into his death were right to rule that he was lawfully killed.   The Guardian 27th October.  Previous post.

f) The Da Silva case remains before the European Court of Human Rights.  The Grand Chamber heard argument in June but judgment is awaited.  This case arises from the shooting in 2005 of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Station, London.  Previous post.   

g) The Ministry of Justice commercial arm - Just Solutions International - is to be examined by the National Audit Office. The Guardian 26th October.  Previous post.

h) The Lord Chief Justice (Lord Thomas) has spoken about The Law of Wales: Looking forward.  Read the speech via the Judiciary website.

i) Sir John Chilcot (Chairman of the long-running Iraq Inquiry) has written to the Prime Minister indicating that the Inquiry will be able to send its report to government by around April / May 2016.   See the Iraq Inquiry website for more details.  Previous post.  The report is said to exceed 2 million words and yet it is claimed in the exchange of letters between Sir John and the Prime Minister that "national security checking" can be achieved within about 2 weeks.  [Such checking of the Saville Report (issued June 2010) was achieved in about 2 weeks].



* Joint enterprise or Parasitic Accessorial Liability.  The Supreme Court adopted the latter term in Gnango [2011] UKSC 59 describing it as "not the most elegant phraseology" but "a convenient shorthand."  (See para 15 of the Gnango judgment).







- Jogee And Ruddock ~ Cases At The Uksc And Jcpc
Over 3 days in late October 2015 the Supreme Court of the UK (UKSC) heard the very important criminal law case of Jogee.  At the same time, the same judges heard the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) case from Jamaica - Ruddock. ...

- Joint Enterprise (3) - Concerns Are Widespread
The problematic aspect of criminal law commonly referred to as "Joint Enterprise" has been in the news recently as a result of a televised drama by Jimmy McGovern - COMMON. Please look at the previous posts on this topic - 4th April 2014 - Joint Enterprise...

- Phone-hacking Trial - Charges, Verdicts, Links To Media Articles, Leveson And Beyond
Charges: What were the actual charges in the "Phone-Hacking" trial?  Here they are as published by the Crown Prosecution Service.  The charges arose from two Police investigations referred to as Operations Elveden and Weeting. CPS - Charging...

- Joint Enterprise
On 19 October 2011, the House of Commons Justice Committee. announced an inquiry into the aspect of secondary liability in a criminal venture commonly known as joint enterprise. The inquiry was prompted by dissatisfaction with the operation of the doctrine...

- Supreme Court - R V Armel Gnango - Murder
In 2008, Armel Gnango was convicted at the Old Bailey of the murder of Magda Priewska.  There was a "shoot out" between Gnango and another man ("Bandana Man").  Magda came innocently upon this event and was killed by a shot to her head.  ...



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