The Registration Of Overseas Entities Bill 4 min read
February 17, 2020
Rahman Ravelli explains the thinking behind the Bill, the measures it contains and the proposed civil and criminal penalties it may carry. Read more
Failing To Prevent Bribery (The Bribery Act 2010) 4 min read
By Azizur Rahman
March 29, 2018
In 2018, a modestly-sized company became the first to be convicted in the UK for failure to prevent bribery. But the case itself raises more questions than it answers – and provides plenty of cause for concern for those who want to tackle bribery in their business. Read more
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) - Section 2 Interviews 3 min read
August 31, 2016
The Serious Fraud Office’s guidance regarding interviews conducted under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 means that lawyers’ attendance at SFO-compelled interviews will not be guaranteed. Lawyers will have to argue why they should be able to attend and – if allowed to attend – agree to restrictions on their role in the interview. Read more
The Exclusion Of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence 6 min read
By Azizur Rahman
April 2, 2015
When a breach of the rules leads to evidence being excluded.Those charged with serious offences will have a considerable amount of time to ponder the evidence against them and conclude that some aspect of the evidence has been obtained illegally; e.g. by improper telephone intercept or by use of a participating informant. At this point it is time to ask the question that the trial Judge will ask, ‘so what?’ Read more
Defence Case Statements 7 min read
By Azizur Rahman
December 23, 2013
Any discussion about Defence Case Statements (DCSs) involves dealing generally with disclosure in criminal litigation. All of the official guidance documents, and all of the important case-law on the topic refer to one leading case – it is the seminal case on disclosure and Public Interest Immunity (PII); R v H & C [2004] 2 Cr. App. R 179. The authors represented ‘H’ in that case. Read more
Disclosure and PII Procedure Explained 7 min read
February 20, 2013
An article by Jonathan Lennon and Aziz Rahman Read more
Challenging Surveillance Evidence 5 min read
May 3, 2012
A local authority admitted in 2012 to spying on a family regarding a fraudulent school application. Many readers will be too well aware of cases brought about by Covert Police Operations usually involving SOCA or the Serious Crime Division of a Police Force using intense surveillance methods. It was also reported at the time that the tax inspectors of H.M. Revenue and Customs were to be given new powers allowing them to listen into tax-payers phone calls and plant bugs in their homes and offices. At the time there were calls that the powers used have been 'ridiculously disproportionate' and 'deeply invasive'. This prompted the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to order a review into the rapid increase in the use of these powers. Read more
Conspiracy to Murder 6 min read
By Azizur Rahman
May 1, 2012
The essence of this offence is in the 'agreement'; - the agreement to kill - there need not in fact be a dead body. On the other hand prosecutors sometimes like to use this charge when there is more than one person in the dock and all are alleged to have played a different role in an unlawful killing. In those circumstances it is sometimes easier to charge conspiracy to murder even though there is a body. The authors, for example, were involved in a gang-land case where the defendant had been charged with conspiracy to murder (he was later acquitted) - the murder victim had been shot by an unknown male who was with a group of other masked males. The police made several arrests and tried them all for conspiracy to murder. Read more