A collection of news articles, reports, and publications available in the public domain, which are relevant to UK policing.
The EU Justice Sub-Committee have summarised what its members believe to be legacy issues before the Committee formally ceases to exist as part of a restructure. The topics included are:
The summary can be read in full here.
Source: Parliament.uk
The Coronavirus Bill received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020 and is now known as the Coronavirus Act 2020. It is an Act to make provision in connection with coronavirus and fr connected purposes.
A large proportion of the Act relates to the NHS and social care, however, there are parts of the Act affecting police powers. For instance, the length of time that DNA profiles and fingerprints can be retained has been extended by six months and it is now an offence to fail to comply with new measures brought in by the Act such as travel restrictions. Additionally, the Act delays the Police and Crime Commissioner elections by one year.
The Act can be read in full here. The Explanatory Notes can be found here.
Source: legislation.gov.uk
The government is considering releasing some low risk offenders from prisons to ease the pressures caused by COVID-19. The offenders would be risk assessed and released on temporary licence.
The Justice Secretary Robert Buckland stated that the prison service needed to “balance the protection of life with the need to protect the public”. The considerations come at the same time as a need for more personal protective equipment for staff and the ban on bringing hand sanitiser into prisons being lifted.
Source: BBC News
A Statutory Instrument called The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Surcharge) (Amendment) Order 2020 has been made. The Order increases the amount the a court can order an individual to pay as a surcharge.
The Order will come into force 14 April 2020. The Instrument can be read in full here.
Source: leglislation.gov.uk
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HM Prob) have published a report detailing the findings of a Criminal Justice Joint Inspection of Integrated Offender Management (IOM) conducted in 2019.
The inspection aimed to examine how well IOM was operating in 2019. The report concludes that measuring the impact of IOM is difficult due to the breadth of cohorts and offence types for which it is used. Thus, there is no evidence to suggest IOM is effective. As a result, the inspectors state that the findings of a 2014 inspection are still applicable now.
The report contains eleven recommendations four of which are directed at Chief Constables. The report can be read in full here.
Source: HMICFRS
Magistrates’ Courts (Knife Crime Prevention Orders) Rules 2020, that come into force from 30 March 2020, are to set out the application process, rules about review, variation, discharge and appeal.
Also the Home Office has announced that from April 2020 the new powers to tackle knife crime will be piloted by the Metropolitan Police. The pilot will run for 14 months from 6 April, with the intention to introduce the orders across all police forces.
Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act received Royal Assent on 26 February 2020 and came into force on the same day. The Act sets out the provisions about the release on licence of offenders convicted of terrorist offences or offences with a terrorist connection. It is to ensure that terrorist offenders are not automatically released, without prior approval from the parole board.
The Act can be read in full here.
Source: Gov.uk
The Statutory Instrument the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (Commencement No. 17) Order 2020 has been made. The Instrument allows for a court to direct that a witness who’s interview was video recorded can also request that any cross-examination and re-examination be video recorded. The video recording can then be admitted as evidence.
Additionally, Article 2 adds nine locations of Crown Courts for proceedings under Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. They are the following:
Source: Gov.uk
A Statutory Instrument called the Release of Prisoners (Alteration of Relevant Proportion of Sentence) Order 2020 has been made. The Order moves the automatic release point for relevant offenders from the half-way point of their sentence to the two-thirds point of their sentence.
The Order applies to England and Wales and will come into force on 1 April 2020.
The Order can be read in full here. The explanatory memorandum can be read here.
Source: Gov.uk
The House of Commons Library has published a research briefing on police detention powers. The briefing outlines the changes to police powers under the reforms to pre-charge bail in 2017, the police custody estate and current concerns about pre-charge bail.
The paper notes that the 2017 reforms were intended to reduce the number of length of pre-charge bail investigations. However, there have since been concerns that the reforms have increased the number of suspects being released under investigation (RUI) without conditions putting vulnerable victims and witnesses at risk.
The briefing paper can be read in full here.
Source: parliament.uk
Police Horizon Scanning 