Some believe naming convicted children acts as deterrent, while others say it could glorify horrific acts

The guilty verdicts in the trial of two 12-year-olds for killing Shawn Seesahai in Wolverhampton, puts them among the UK’s youngest convicted murderers, and leaves the judge with key decisions to make.

Before deciding the minimum sentence to impose on the boys, Mrs Justice Tipples will have to decide whether they should be named.

Continue reading...

A cancer diagnosis has reinforced the presenter’s belief that the time for change has come

Twenty years ago there were three deaths in my family. We lost my mother, my husband and our rescue dog in a few short months. Looking back, now that I have had a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer and am having to face the reality of my own mortality, the most peaceful, pain-free and easiest death was our dog’s, who was gently put down surrounded by his loving family. I envy him. The current state of our criminal law means that merciful end is denied me. I know we love our dogs in this country, but why, at the very end of our lives, do we treat pets so much better than we treat people?

I am told assisted dying inspires more letters to newspapers than any other issue. A recent Westminster Hall debate was attended by so many MPs that they had to find extra chairs. The speeches were passionate and moving. Many described witnessing the painful death of someone close to them. But it was only a debate, no possibility of a vote at the end, or any change in the law. It resulted from a petition I helped to spearhead, along with the campaigning charity Dignity in Dying . For their own sake, and for the sake of those they love, 200,000 signatories called for a change in the law to legalise assisted dying in carefully regulated circumstances, for terminally ill people with six months or less to live. I believe the time for that change has come.

Continue reading...

The lack of suitable placements for at-risk young people has led to a huge rise in deprivation of liberty orders. Family judges are right to be furious

Seven years ago, Sir James Munby , then the president of the family division of the high court, issued a highly unusual public judgment. Denouncing a “disgraceful and utterly shaming lack”, he called for an overhaul of council provision for children who need intensive support in a residential setting. Since then, the children’s commissioner for England and other senior judges have made similar criticisms.

Councils in England do not have enough places in which to look after some of the most vulnerable children for whom they are responsible. The result is that rising numbers are subjected to deprivation of liberty orders, leading to forcible detention in unregulated placements including rented flats. Last weekend, Sir James spoke up again, calling the situation a “shocking moral failure” and for it to be discussed in the run-up to next month’s election.

Continue reading...

If it’s true that more than 100 women and children died in the IDF’s rescue of four hostages, Israel violated international law

The enormous loss of Palestinian life attendant to the Israeli military’s 8 June rescue of four hostages held by Hamas cries out for investigation. Hamas’s abduction and detention of these four civilians was a clear war crime, but that does not exempt the Israeli military from the duty to comply with international humanitarian law in the rescue operation. The available evidence suggests that Israel fell short in several deadly respects.

The Gaza health ministry, whose numbers have generally proved reliable , says that at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the operation and more than 600 wounded. The ministry does not distinguish combatants from civilians, but it reports that the dead included 64 children and 57 women , or 44% of the total. Given that many of the men who were killed in the course of the operation were in a nearby market, we must assume that a good proportion of them were civilians as well. That is a horrible civilian toll.

Continue reading...

Guy Mukendi, 39, from Brixton sentenced to four years and three months for rape in rare conviction

A man has been jailed for four years and three months in a rare conviction for “stealthing” – taking a condom off during sex without consent.

Guy Mukendi, 39, from Brixton was sentenced on Thursday at inner London crown court for the rape of a woman last year. The woman had consented to sex with Mukendi on the condition a condom was used, but he then removed it without her consent.

Continue reading...

Budapest ordered to pay €200m by European court of justice, and €1m a day until it complies with EU refugee laws

Hungary has been ordered to pay a €200m (£169m) fine for its refusal to uphold the rights of asylum seekers in what was described as an “unprecedented” breach of EU law by the bloc’s highest court.

The European court of justice in Luxembourg also ordered Budapest to pay €1m a day until it complies with EU laws guaranteeing refugees the right to claim asylum inside Hungarian borders.

Continue reading...

Relatives of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates instruct legal team to investigate police and health trust

The families of the victims of the Nottingham attacks have vowed to take their fight for accountability “to the next level” on the one-year anniversary of the killings.

In a joint statement, the families of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates, who were killed by Valdo Calocane in the early hours of 13 June last year, said they had instructed a legal team to help them “leave no stone unturned on our quest for answers”.

Continue reading...

Codes of conduct are on the rise, and have a focus on reputational risk as well as on harassment

When more than 1,300 lending bosses, regulators and MPs descended on Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane in London for a black-tie dinner in late February, they arrived informed.

Invitees to the Financing & Leasing Association event had been handed an “annual dinner code of conduct” telling guests about a new policy on discrimination and sexual harassment. The trade body would “not tolerate any such behaviour and will, along with our event agency, take immediate action to stop it”.

Continue reading...

Concerns grow over how new legislation will be policed and how it might affect freedom of speech

Enforcing Scotland’s new Hate Crime Act will “certainly” reduce public trust in the police, according to the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation.

David Kennedy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the law, which came into force on Monday and requires officers to assess “emotive” subjects such as online misgendering, “will cause havoc with trust in police in Scotland, it certainly will reduce that”,

Continue reading...