Month: March 2021

26.03.21

Prison populations, sentence inflation and the future of punishment

In this blog Dylan O’Connor considers why the prison population is so high and whether this is likely to change    In recent decades, England and Wales has seen a colossal leap in the number of those incarcerated, with the prison population almost doubling in size from 44,246 in 1993 to a peak of 85,134…

Sexual orientation and cross-examination in sexual offence cases

The scope of cross-examination of the alleged victims of rape and sexual assault is an important and contentious issue.  The evidence for such allegations is often based only on the testimony of the complainant and hence their credibility is often the primary issue in the case. Defence advocates wishing to explore this issue have to…

23.03.21

Insider-dealing and intrigue: Court of Appeal rules on scope of disclosure

The appeal of R v Abdel-Malik and Choucair [2020] EWCA 1730 was a case that had everything: glamour and intrigue, insider dealing, exotic nightlife at Tramp, burner phones, city traders, undercover surveillance, public interest immunity, post-conviction disclosure by the prosecution, secret identities revealed by the Wall Street Journal and ‘fresh evidence’ applications by both the…