No longer a civil matter? The design and use of protection orders for domestic violence in England and Wales

ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the design and use of protection orders for domestic violence in England and Wales. It draws on data from 400 police classified domestic violence incidents and 65 interviews with victims/survivors, as well as new analysis of government justice data from England and Wales, to address a gap in literature on protection orders.

The paper identifies an increasing civil-criminal ‘hybridisation’ of protection orders in England and Wales, and argues that a dual regime has developed, with orders issued by police and/or in criminal proceedings increasingly privileged (and enforced) over victim-led civil orders. Whilst protection orders are being used – as intended – flexibly to protect domestic violence victims, the way they are applied in practice risks downgrading domestic violence in criminal justice terms.

The conclusions are especially timely in light of current Government proposals to rationalise protection orders by introducing a single overarching Domestic Abuse Protection Order in England and Wales.     

The Presumption of Innocence and the Human Rights Act

There has recently been a proliferation of case law dealing with potential inroads into the presumption of innocence in the criminal law of England and Wales, in the light of article 6(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This article is concerned with the nature of the presumption of innocence. It considers two central issues. The first is how the courts should address the question of when the presumption of innocence is interfered with. The second is the extent to which interference with the presumption of innocence may be justified on the grounds of proportionality. It is argued that the courts have not developed the appropriate concepts and principles properly to address these questions.     

许霆案应为“民事侵权损害赔偿案”的理析及启示

许霆案判决之误的原因,该案的民/刑违法属性差异,采取证伪与证成并举的方法,论证该案作为"刑事犯罪案"的不成立和作为"民事侵权案"的成立。许霆案引致的"刑事犯罪与民事侵权的关系"、"刑事理论与刑事实践的关系"、"刑事实践与刑事政策的关系"等问题,为我们提供了如何会通法治的若干启示。     

Digital evidence and ‘cloud’ computing

The term ‘cloud computing’ has begun to enter the lexicon of the legal world. The term is not new, but the implications for obtaining and retaining evidence in electronic format for the resolution of civil disputes and the prosecution of alleged criminal activities might be significantly affected in the future by ‘cloud’ computing. This article is an exploratory essay in assessing the effect that ‘cloud’ computing might have on evidence in digital format in criminal proceedings in the jurisdiction of England & Wales.     

附属刑法:实现刑法参与国家治理的有效形式

目前我国立法机关存在将有关行政法等部门法律直接引向犯罪的趋势。这不仅导致了附属刑法的弱化,甚至使附属刑法的作用被忽视,还对我国司法实务的操作造成了不便,将本不该由刑法规制的行为错误地划分为犯罪。为了解决这个问题,有学者开始关注我国并不存在的附属刑法。附属刑法本身具有实现维系刑法典稳定、衔接刑法与各部门法、为刑法提供持续性保证的功能。其具有实在内容、又以刑法典为基础和本源,故附属刑法是可以修正刑法典并达到刑法对社会治理作用的有效形式。     

The “quiet revolution” in criminal defence: how the zealous advocate slipped into the shadow

The criminal defence lawyer has been an integral component of adversarial criminal justice in England and Wales for nearly three centuries. However, over the last two decades this essential role has changed substantially, affected by a changing culture in the law and procedure governing criminal justice in this jurisdiction. This article argues that the criminal defence role has been pulled away from its traditional adversarial roots through a process of subtle and gradual change, pursued by the Government and the Judiciary. The article outlines a normative framework, entitled the ‘zealous advocate’ model, describing the ‘traditional’ role of the criminal defence lawyer; discusses ethical conflict and its growing significance; and examines how legislation, case law and funding have gradually moved the defence lawyer away from a ‘client-first’ style of representation. It concludes by considering the potentially significant implications of such a change in the role for both fair trial rights and adversarialism in England and Wales.     

A Criminal Injustice System? Sex Offender Suspects and Defendants

The purpose of this paper is to open up a discussion regarding the potential shift from the presumption of innocence to a presumption of guilt regarding those suspected of or charged with sexual offending. It is acknowledged that further investigation is needed and it is hoped that this discussion is one of many. The crux of this paper therefore is that sex offender suspects and defendants potentially find themselves in a criminal injustice system. Whilst the focus is predominantly on ‘victims’ (usually female) and people suspected or charged with sexual offending (usually male) within the criminal justice system in England and Wales the concerns articulated here are not confined to this context. For example such concerns are echoed in relation to the potential injustices occurring on American campuses. This demonstrates that this is a domestic and international situation and a situation that extends beyond the criminal justice system. We argue that what is occurring at home and abroad has to be contextualised with regard to public, media and official attitudes and approaches to ‘victims’, suspects, defendants, sex, sexual consent, sexual offending and a subsequent shift from the presumption of innocence to a presumption of guilt. It is argued that not only is the presumption of innocence undermined by the presumption of guilt regarding suspects and defendants in cases of sexual offending, it is also undermined in England and Wales by the victim personal statement (VPS). The VPS contains and promotes the idea that there is a ‘victim’ and ‘offender’ before this has been legally established in a court of law. These assumptions embodied within the VPS weaken the principle and practice of the presumption of innocence. The safeguard of the presumption of innocence is potentially under threat and the result is an even greater potential for miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions.     

Exploring the relationship between sentencing and the legitimacy of trial justice

This paper argues that recent sustained criticism of judicial sentencing in England and Wales reflects a much deeper malaise afflicting the legitimacy of punishment in the late post-modern era. It suggests that this phenomenon not only threatens the liberal-consensus view of the judiciary as pivotal to the rule of law, but also undermines the rationality which underpins conventional paradigms of criminal justice more generally. The paper goes on to argue that there are important lessons to be learned from engaging with the debates about punishment and sentencing which are taking place on the international stage, suggesting that the crisis in domestic sentencing is really symptomatic of a more fundamental crisis in penal legitimacy affecting the whole of civil society; one that touches upon the role of punishment in the governance of so-called democratic states. The paper concludes that the time may have come to modify the predominant neo-liberal paradigm prevalent in western democracies by developing notions of punishment and sentencing as relational contexts which provide meaningful links between trial outcomes and aspirations for justice.     

商事法律行为初论

通过对商事法律行为的专门研究,得出如下结论:商事法律行为确实存在,它既不同于民法中的民事法律行为,也不同于商法中的商行为.虽然存在着密切的牵连性,但民事法律行为和商行为本身并不当然等同于商事法律行为.可分别从民事法律行为与商行为中提炼出某些重要的商事法律行为自身具有的特质,即商事法律行为的实施者是以商人为主的商事主体;...     

Beyond proportionate punishment: Difficult cases and the 1991 Criminal Justice Act

Within six months of implementation, the Criminal Justice Act 1991, which had been hailed as the most important piece of criminal justice legislation in England and Wales for many years, was already being undermined in practice, and a new Act, which amends or even reverses some of its more progressive principles, was brought before Parliament. This paper looks at some problems of proportionality in practice — through discussion of penological principles, and through consideration of the kinds of cases which are most difficult for a desert approach. Alternative ideas are examined to see whether they could offer any better framework for penal policy and practice. A mixed theory is advocated, with parsimony as its most important principle.I am grateful to Nicola Lacey, Mike Levi, Mike Maguire and Andrew Von Hirsch for comments on the first draft of this paper.     

刑事附带民事诉讼制度的立法缺陷与完善

我国现行刑事附带民事诉讼制度在立法上规定太笼统 ,相关法律规定不统一 ,关于刑事损害赔偿的救济途径的法律规定不全面 ;在司法实践中当事人的民事诉讼权利易被忽视、民事证据规则不能完全适用、审判人员审判观念存有误区等问题 ,导致刑事附带民事诉讼制度的存废成为讨论焦点。在立法上明确程序选择权、解决民事刑事法律在刑事损害赔偿方面的实体法规定、提高刑事审判人员的综合专业素质 ,是刑事附带民事诉讼制度得到完善的途径     

Contract Negotiations and the Common Law: A Move to Good Faith in Commercial Contracting?

Classically a duty to negotiate commercial contracts in good faith has been seen as part of the civil, not the common, law world. Common law commercial lawyers have long resisted the lure of “good faith” as a contractual concept, despite engagement with civil law principles in harmonisation projects, by virtue of membership of the European Union and their use in international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). This paper will examine whether this situation is changing, focusing on two common law jurisdictions—England and Wales and Canada. In England and Wales and the common law of Canada, case-law in the last 10 years has indicated a movement towards acceptance of express and implied duties of good faith in relation to contractual performance, see e.g. Yam Seng Pte Limited v International Trade Corporation Limited [2013] EWHC 111 (QB) and, most recently, Essex CC v UBB Waste (Essex) Ltd (No. 2) [2020] EWHC 1581 (TCC) in England and Wales; Bhasin v Hrynew 2014 SCC 71 and Callow v Zollinger 2020 SCC 45 in Canada. This paper will examine the extent to which these cases may open the way more generally for a duty to negotiate commercial contracts in good faith. It will examine the reception of these cases and whether they indicate (i) greater acceptance of “good faith” as part of contract law thinking and (ii) a possible extension of good faith into the pre-contractual period.

     

中国刑法现代化践行的法文化障碍及克服——以市民社会为视角的考察

目前我国社会正处于现代化的发展阶段,长期存在的国家与社会高度统一的僵化模式正在趋于解体,政治国家与市民社会的二元社会结构正在逐步确立。在此社会变革之中,立足于市民社会基础之上的刑法现代化运动受到普遍的关注。中国传统文化与现代文化在文化类型上的相异性使得中国现今刑法 (罚)文化自身蕴涵着“非现代性”因素,给刑法现代化践行带来了精神品性与制度建构上的双重障碍,在目前表现为一系列与市民社会理论与实践相背离的文化特质。这些文化特质从整体社会结构上阻碍了我国社会的顺利转型与市民社会的整体成熟。我国刑法理论要摆脱传统文化的窠臼就必须在价值取向上进行转换,而该转换是立足于我国市民社会基础之上的运动。     

Arresting Statistics: The Drift to Informal Justice in England and Wales

This paper re-examines some of the current theoretical models and paradigms of criminal justice in England and Wales based on an analysis of national arrest statistics between 1981 and 1997. The data show that there has been a large increase in the number of arrests in the period but the number of people prosecuted has declined. An increasing number of people are being arrested and released without any further action. The principal argument is that there has been a radical shift in power away from the formal open and public system of justice towards a more informal closed system. The paper concludes that while these trends lend support to a number of theoretical perspectives on the criminal justice process, particularly Choongh's social disciplinary model, the radical transformation which has taken place in the form of criminal justice can only be understood within the broader politics and economic structures of modern Britain.     

Professionalism under the Legal Services Act 2007

The Legal Services Act 2007 represents an ambitious attempt to reconcile consumerism and professionalism. The Act created a Legal Services Board to oversee the regulation of the legal services market in England and Wales. The Board was also placed under a duty to promote consumer interests and to encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession and to promote professional principles. The article examines the actual and prospective impacts of the Act on the legal professions, professional work, the regulatory system, regulatory method, professional ethics and legal education. It identifies threats posed to traditional conceptions of legal professionalism by the new regime and suggests ways that they might be mitigated.     

Should the Law Convict Those Who Act from Conviction? Reflections on a Demands-of-Conscience Criminal Defense

How should the judge or jury in a just criminal court treat a civil disobedient, someone who performs a conscientiously motivated communicative breach of the criminal law? Kimberley Brownlee contends that all else equal a court of law should neither convict nor punish such offenders. Though I agree with this conclusion, I contend that Brownlee mischaracterizes the nature of the criminal defense to which civil disobedients are entitled. Whereas Brownlee maintains that such actors ought to be excused for their criminal breach, I argue that they ought to enjoy a justification defense. Acts of civil disobedience are not (morally) wrongful violations of the law for which an actor ought not to be blamed; rather, they are violations of the law that are not (morally) wrong in virtue of their illegality. It is the absence of wrongdoing, and not merely the absence of fault, that renders the conviction and punishment of those who perform acts of civil disobedience inappropriate.     

Reconstructing the hymen: mutilation or restoration?

Female genital mutilation (FGM)--previously known as female circumcision--was criminalised in many countries in the 1990s. This occurred mainly in Western nations and responded to the perception that FGM was intended to subjugate women and was an abuse of human rights. However, other female genital surgical procedures have a totally different intent and are designed to restore the integrity of the hymen, correct deformity or simply enhance the appearance of the female genitalia. Such procedures, unlike FGM, are performed on women who have reached the age of consent and who request the surgery themselves. Restoring the integrity of the hymen (so-called "hymenoplasty") can erase evidence of the sexual history of a woman. "Revirgination" may have particular importance to women contemplating marriage in cultures where a high value is placed on virginity Some commentators have equated hymenoplasty with corrective surgery intended to restore the condition of female circumcision--techniques which are prohibited by most Australian criminal statutes. However, the medical, ethical and human rights arguments against FGM are not easily extended to revirgination and other cosmetic genital surgery. This article examines whether revirgination surgery has effectively been criminalised in Australia and whether this is appropriate from a medical and ethical perspective.     

试论国际私法涉外标准之认定

所谓国际私法的涉外性,是指民事关系具有涉及外国法适用的因素,而非民事法律关系的涉外。我国目前的国际私法的涉外性标准采取的是以民事法律关系的主体、客体以及产生、变更、消灭民事法律关系的法律事实涉外为标准。该标准过于宽泛,内容有待完善。只有依据冲突规范连接点的内容才能找出某一具体的民事关系中的有效涉外因素,进而结合案件事实才能最终确定外国法的适用。     

Academic perspectives on teaching international family law in higher education institutions in England and Wales

ABSTRACT

The increasing prevalence of family law disputes in England and Wales with an international element is well documented in the development of domestic legislation, case law and family practice. However, despite changes to the legal landscape and the academic recognition of international family law as a legal subject, it is still often disregarded within the undergraduate family law curriculum or as a standalone module. This article explores the development of international family law in England and Wales and presents the findings of a national questionnaire into whether international family law is taught as part of the undergraduate curriculum. The article also explores what barriers exist to including international family law topics. To conclude, the author offers some general advice about incorporating these topics into the curriculum to ensure that students are equipped to deal with the realities of family practice in England and Wales.