England

English courthouses built in the 1990s are being urgently checked for the presence of dangerous aerated concrete after its discovery at a London court building. The UK government is scrambling to respond to a developing crisis over the historic use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in

England's Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been ordered to pay £75,000 in costs after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) found it made an "essential mistake of law" in its unsuccessful prosecution of solicitor Amie Tsang. Ms Tsang was accused of failing to advise hundreds of c

Proposals to compel criminals in England and Wales to appear in the dock for sentencing could do more harm than good, the father of one victim has said. Criminals will be forced to attend their sentencing and face a longer period behind bars if they refuse to appear under legislation proposed by the

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled that a secondary school could not be held liable for tortious acts committed by a former pupil undertaking a work experience placement (WEP) in the PE department, after an appeal was brought against a High Court decision to that effect. Claimant and

England's Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk and Attorney General Victoria Prentis have ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances and handling of Andrew Malkinson’s case after his conviction for rape was quashed by the Court of Appeal last month. The inquiry will investigate the handling a

Almost half of the letters sent by England and Wales' Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to complainants are riddled with errors, according to an official report. The CPS watchdog has told the service to “act urgently to get a grip of this situation” as it revealed that letters are full of

The UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), responsible for investigating possible miscarriages of justice, is set to review the case of Andrew Malkinson. Mr Malkinson wrongly served 17 years behind bars for a rape conviction.

Two former solicitor generals for England and Wales have supported the demands for a public investigation into the case of a man wrongly convicted of rape after a media report that the police had held crucial DNA evidence for 16 years before his exoneration. Edward Garnier KC labelled the misca

England and Wales' Bar Standards Board (BSB) has removed advice to barristers against misgendering trans men and women on social media. The BSB withdrew a case study from its guidance to the 17,000 practising barristers in England and Wales. The study detailed a hypothetical online exchange where a

Judges in England and Wales are being urged to reflect on the risk of perceived bias before agreeing to speak at barristers' chambers or law firms. The suggestion comes as part of the revised guidelines on judicial conduct issued this week.

Exorbitant costs are preventing individuals and community groups from bringing legal challenges to safeguard the environment in England and Wales, according to NGOs. A shared report by the RSPB, the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland sugg

A research project suggests that socio-cognitive biases might be a factor in the disproportionate number of misconduct complaints brought against English and Welsh solicitors from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. The first report of the study, commissioned by the Solicitors Regu

The Law Society of England and Wales has been granted permission by the High Court to bring a judicial review challenge against the UK government over legal aid. The application for permission was made after the government failed to increase criminal defence solicitors’ legal aid rates by the

Rape complainants in England and Wales will be given the opportunity to meet the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) staff involved in their case ahead of a trial in the latest move to guide them through the criminal justice system. The move aims to give them the chance to discuss what they can expect i

Dame Sue Carr is to take up the role of Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales in October, becoming the first woman to hold the top judicial post. Lord Burnett of Maldon, the Lord Chief Justice since 2017, is retiring at the end of September.