Welcome to the January edition of our monthly Criminal Appeals Bulletin.
The Bulletin aims to highlight recent changes in case law and procedure in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Caribbean and Hong Kong and to provide practical guidance to those advising on appellate matters. Our monthly case summaries illustrate when an appellate court is likely to interfere with conviction or sentence, as well as looking at the courts’ approach to procedural matters.
The featured article focuses on a current appeal topic - in this editionFarrhat Arshad looks at the CACD’s first consideration of an appeal against conviction for ill-treatment or neglect under section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
In this issue we also look at:
- The latest CACD decisions on errors in indictments, fresh psychological and medical evidence, terrorism and entrapment, and sentencing for “fracking” protesters;
- An appellate decision from Hong Kong on sentencing for drug trafficking;
- The NICA’s consideration of the impact of equivocal guilty pleas;
- The Bahamas’ Court of Appeal approach to leaving alternative verdicts, failing to give a good character direction and guiding principles for applications to extend time for appealing
Doughty Street has some of the most experienced appellate practitioners at the Bar, including the contributors to the leading works on appellate procedure - The Criminal Appeals Handbook, Taylor on Criminal Appeals, Blackstones Criminal Practice (appeals section), Halsbury’s Laws (Appeals).
Please feel free to e-mail us or to call our crime team on 020 7400 9088. We also offer our instructing solicitors a free Advice Line, where they can discuss initial ideas about possible appeals, at no cost to them or their client. More information on our services can be found on our website.
If you would like to know more, or discuss how our barristers may be able to help you and your clients, please contact Maurice MacSweeney, our Business Development Director, on 020 7404 1313 or Peter Finkill-Coombs, our Regional Business Development Manager, on 0161 618 1660.
Farrhat Arshadlooks at the CACD’s first consideration of an appeal against conviction for ill-treatment or neglect under section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Paul Taylor QC comments on The Bahamas’ Court of Appeal approach to leaving alternative verdicts, failing to give a good character direction and guiding principles for applications to extend time for appealing.
Doughty Street Chambers is thrilled and proud to announce that Steven Powles and Charlotte Kilroy will be appointed Queen’s Counsel in a ceremony at Westminster Hall on Monday 11th March 2019, when the Lord Chancellor will present them with their Letters Patent on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen.
