Public Law & Crime 2 ( Nov07)
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Transcript of Public Law & Crime 2 ( Nov07)
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PUBLIC LAW & CRIME
Rose Moore, Teck Chon, Robert Simpson, Christopher Dalziel
LEGAL NEWS
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Discrimination against ethnic lawyers?
Article title: ‘Black and Muslim Lawyers Plan Breakaway Regulator’
Date of article: 16th October 2007
Article source: The Times Online
[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2666856.ece]
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Who is accusing who?
• The Association of Muslim Lawyers (AML) and the Society of Black Lawyers accusing the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of racial discrimination
• SRA is regulatory arm of the Law Society, and is Britain’s legal watchdog
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How row was ignited• White employee investigated on grounds of
fraud and making racist comments – but case dropped by SRA because she was pregnant
• Asian lawyer investigated for overcharging client by £18 – accusation proved to be false, firm spent £14,000 on his defence
• Keith Vaz asked SRA for figures
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The accusation• Racial discrimination – ethnic solicitors are more
than twice as likely to be investigated on grounds of misconduct than white counterparts
• SRA figures show that, in 2006, 62% of investigations related to non-white lawyers
• Non-white lawyers represent just 22% of total population of solicitors
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Furthermore…• Rebellion
AML and the Society of Black Lawyers want to break away from SRA and form own watchdog body
• From next year, the Law Society will no longer be able to compel particular interest groups to sign up to it as their representative body
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SRA’s defence• Figures in question were published last year
• Large due to part of wider category which included mixed race or “other”
• Black and ethnic solicitors tend to be disproportionately concentrated in small/sole-practitioner firms, which are more likely to receive misconduct allegations
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Furthermore…• SRA reiterated that it is the statutory regulatory
body for all solicitors, and it is not possible to be regulated by anyone else
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Guilty or not guilty….. of hiding?!
JL (a Youth) v Director of Public Prosecutions (2007) High Court Queens Bench Division.
Case source:October 8 2007, The Times: www.times-online.co.uk)
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The Charge…
• Our ‘Dwane’ (the youth) was charged and convicted with being a:
• “person being found in ….. any enclosed yard, for any unlawful purpose.” Under the 1824 Vagrancy Act.
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The Facts…• Once upon a time (16 June 2006)flat 4, of
number 13 Claremont Terrace was broken into and someone chored some keys.
• Two days later a Community Support Officer, behind the block of flats heard glass smashing. She saw ‘Kevin’, climb from the rear yard of number 13 into number 14.
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And then…• When police arrived they found ‘Dwane’, ‘Kevin’
and their mate ‘Tezza’ hiding in the back yard of number 14, with the stolen keys.
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‘ello, ‘ello, ello ….
…….. “What are you doing?”
…. “Err, nowt, I’ve dun nowt”
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A Rogue and a Vagabond• Dwane appealed against his conviction on the
grounds that;• 1 - hiding from the police as such is not an
unlawful purpose within the section. • 2 – even if he were involved in the burglary he
still did not have unlawful purpose at the time of being discovered – it would have been just before discovery.
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The Verdict:
• The High Court allowed the appeal and quashed the conviction, stating:
• “Section 4 was preventive in nature and was intended to prevent conduct escalating into mainstream criminal conduct. It should be resorted to with caution.”
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Protecting the elderly
Article title: ‘Elderly witnesses to testify from home’
Date of article: 8th November 2007
Article source: The Times Online[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/
law/article2834015.ece]
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The worrying facts• Up to 500,000 elderly people could be victims of
street crime, bogus traders or abuse in their own or care homes – but many crimes go unreported
• King’s College London found that 342,000 people aged 66 and over experienced mistreatment in 2006 (figure doesn’t include street crime)
• Old people often reluctant or fearful of testifying
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The proposal• To enable frail and vulnerable elderly people to
testify from their own homes via video link
• DPP has launched draft policy, and says that CPS is determined to bring perpetrators to justice
• CPS will work together with police, health and social care agencies, and voluntary and community organisations
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Key crimes targeted by CPS
• Abuse or neglect by family members/care workers
• Those based on vulnerability, eg. muggings, doorstep theft, rogue traders
• Those motivated by hostility/hatred towards people because of their age and infirmity