A Roadmap to Criminal Law and Procedure 2023

Date: Wednesday 1st March 2023
 

 

Tyrone Smith KC chaired and moderated this seminar which looked back over the past 12 months and also discussed the major legal and practical developments in criminal law and procedure in 2023. 

 

Paul Keleher KC looked back over the past 12 months and considered whether the Courts are fully on board with the Government’s agenda to reduce the freedom to protest and dissent and whether recent sentencing practice suggests that offenders who plead noble motives or ignorance as mitigation will receive little sympathy.

Sheryl Nwosu, amongst other areas of recent interest for lawyers, focused on and discussed the recently published Better Case Management Revival Handbook which has replaced  the original Better Case Management (BCM) Handbook and BCM Defence Toolkit and which is intended to identify good practice to be followed in the Crown Court by criminal practitioners.

 

Matthew Radstone provided an update on key legislative changes over the last year that have seen the introduction of some new criminal offences and an increase in sentencing powers in the Magistrates' Court and the Crown Court. There was also discussion with regards to case law developments, over the last twelve months.

Laura Collier provided a critically important insight into the changes to the sentencing regimes heralded by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022: Release of serious offenders. The changes to the sentencing terms for serious sexual or violent offences were outlined as were the changes to the release points from halfway to two-thirds of the sentence period.