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Solemn procedure – Time bar. High Court of Justiciary: In an appeal by the Crown in a case in which the respondent was charged on indictment with a sexual offence, the court held that having determined that it was in the interests of justice that the trial diet required to be adjourned it was not open to the sheriff to determine that it was not in the interests of justice to extend the 12-month time bar to enable a new trial to take place. The court also made observations with a view to encouraging a different approach to first diets and one more in keeping with their essential purpose of determining any preliminary pleas or issues.
Solemn procedure – Time bar. High Court of Justiciary: In an appeal by the Crown in a case in which the respondent was charged on indictment with a sexual offence, the court held that having determined that it was in the interests of justice that the trial diet required to be adjourned it was not open to the sheriff to determine that it was not in the interests of justice to extend the 12-month time bar to enable a new trial to take place. The court also made observations with a view to encouraging a different approach to first diets and one more in keeping with their essential purpose of determining any preliminary pleas or issues.
The age of criminal responsibility, extreme weather and conflict resolution – plus, new protocol for reporting bullying at the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves KC MP discusses her decade as a trade union and employment law barrister, the demands of life as a Law Officer and the number one priority shaping her work. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
At least not that way, says Richard Paige