R v Derwood Datson (Luke Steven) [2023] 1 Cr App R 6

If someone believed he was lawfully importing cannabis with a THC level of less than 0.2%, did he have a defence to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition? Was he caught by the principle 'ignorance of the law is no defence'?

ADDED Thursday 16th March 2023

R (Leigh) v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [2022] 1 WLR 3141

The cancellation of a planned vigil in memory of Sarah Everard highlighted how the restrictions on outdoor gatherings at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic had to be subject to the ECHR rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

ADDED Friday 10th March 2023

Cain v Director of Public Prosecutions [2022] 2 Cr App R 15

On a count charging the racially aggravated use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, could the public order offence be ‘racially aggravated’ where both the alleged perpetrator and supposed victim were members of the same racial group?

ADDED Wednesday 8th March 2023

R v Collins; R v Lewis & Jaffer [2022] 4 WLR 99

Where two sisters had been brutally murdered in a London Park, and police officers guarding the crime scene took and distributed photographs of the corpses, the CACD addressed important issues in relation to sentencing for misconduct in public office.

ADDED Monday 6th March 2023

Attorney General’s Reference (No 1 of 2022) [2023] 1 Cr App R 1

Following a Black Lives Matter rally in Bristol, during which the statue of a slave trader was thrown into the harbour, the court had to synthesise the slew of recent cases on ‘proportionality’ as it applies to prosecutions arising from public protest.

ADDED Wednesday 18th January 2023

R (United Trade Action Group Ltd) v Transport For London [2022] RTR 32

Black cab drivers judicially reviewed TfL's renewal of a private hire vehicle operator's licence to a taxi App service, alleging unfair competitive practices. But were Free Now drivers ‘plying for hire’ under the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869?

ADDED Monday 16th January 2023

R v Chang (Michael) [2022] 4 WLR 49

The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) considered whether a police officer, being a servant of the Crown, was exempted from the statutory provisions criminalising the possession of offensive weapons, even when he was not acting in an official capacity.

ADDED Friday 13th January 2023

Prusianu v Braila Court of Law [2022] HRLR 19

A court in Romania had issued an Extradition Arrest Warrant for the return of a transgender woman convicted of shoplifting. What was the impact of the requesting state’s failure to respect and pay proper regard to the requested person's gender identity?

ADDED Tuesday 10th January 2023

Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd & Ors [2022] 3 WLR 677

Was the defence of illegality ('ex turpi causa') available against an individual who killed three men but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and acquitted of murder and manslaughter and who then sued for alleged failings in his psychiatric care?

ADDED Friday 6th January 2023