Articles

The thin blue line

The thin blue line refers to the concept of the police being the line that prevents society from descending into chaos, the blue referring to the colour of the uniform. The origin of the term came from 1854 when a red uniformed regiment in the Battle of Balaclava formed a long line to halt a ca...

Trade mark offences – new sentencing guidelines

The Sentencing Council produces guidelines on sentencing for the judiciary and criminal justice professionals. The aim is to promote greater consistency in sentencing whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary. ...

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was introduced in the House of Lords in early July and awaits a second reading. The Bill is formed of thirteen parts, including provisions to:

• introduce measures for the protec...
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Ban on knives, firearms and offensive weapon

Possession of an offensive weapon is an offence if it is in public and without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. A weapon can be offensive as a matter of course (it is made for use of causing injury), adapted for such a purpose, or not adapted but carried with the inten...

New proposed sentencing guidelines – burglary

The Sentencing Council has announced a consultation on the revision of sentencing guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences.

The existing b...

Prison Categorisation – A Guide

Every prisoner is given a security category. For female prisoners, there are only two options, closed or open condition. For male prisoners, there are four categories, A to D.

What do the categories mean...

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