*/
Fraud cases should be heard by a single combined court with a judge who deals with the civil and criminal aspects, a former senior prosecutor suggested.
In a speech, Economic crime: a new one-stop shop, Alison Levitt QC, now a partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya, told the Cambridge Economic Crime Symposium in September that there needed to be a ‘totally new legal approach’ to economic crime with a new branch of the court system – the Combined Fraud Court – to deal with it.
The one-stop shop, she said, would combine the civil and criminal systems in a single trial, so it would be quicker and cheaper, and mean victims only giving evidence once.
A specially qualified fraud judge would hear a single trial, using aspects of civil and criminal law, Levitt explained.
At the end of the trial, the judge would ask whether the jury is satisfied to the criminal standard that the defendant is guilty.
If so, the judge would go on to deal with sentencing, assessing and awarding damages, confiscating assets which represent the proceeds of the defendant’s crimes, and awarding costs.
If the jury is not sure of guilt, they are dismissed and the judge reverts to the civil procedure to determine the issue on the balance of probabilities.
Fraud cases should be heard by a single combined court with a judge who deals with the civil and criminal aspects, a former senior prosecutor suggested.
In a speech, Economic crime: a new one-stop shop, Alison Levitt QC, now a partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya, told the Cambridge Economic Crime Symposium in September that there needed to be a ‘totally new legal approach’ to economic crime with a new branch of the court system – the Combined Fraud Court – to deal with it.
The one-stop shop, she said, would combine the civil and criminal systems in a single trial, so it would be quicker and cheaper, and mean victims only giving evidence once.
A specially qualified fraud judge would hear a single trial, using aspects of civil and criminal law, Levitt explained.
At the end of the trial, the judge would ask whether the jury is satisfied to the criminal standard that the defendant is guilty.
If so, the judge would go on to deal with sentencing, assessing and awarding damages, confiscating assets which represent the proceeds of the defendant’s crimes, and awarding costs.
If the jury is not sure of guilt, they are dismissed and the judge reverts to the civil procedure to determine the issue on the balance of probabilities.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, discusses what family law professionals need to know about hallucinogens, from the main hallucinogenic drugs encountered in family proceedings, to their effects and the testing options available
Harmony Christian Ministries is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
By David Green
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Leah Arthur, a pupil, and her second seat supervisor, John Goss, share their perspectives on building a productive pupil-supervisor relationship
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
The Ministry of Justice will match-fund up to 100 criminal pupillages, with grants available to criminal chambers across England and Wales. Similar to the COIC scheme, the grants will match-fund pupillages additional to those otherwise offered without government funding
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control
