Criminals Court Out

Criminals could soon be avoiding court for offences such as minor assault, theft and fraud and escape prosecution. It has been named ‘the biggest shake-up of charging guidelines for 20 years.’ No further action will be taken by the prosecution if they do not believe it is “proportionate” to take them to court. Deciding whether to charge a defendant will depend on cost and the length of a likely trial also. Prosecutors will weigh such issues with the likely sentence the criminal would get. HS&Co / M23Law often make successful submissions to the Crown in order to keep cases away from the court proceedings stage. It is the second time in 3 years Keir Starmer QC has suggested to bring “common sense” to prosecutions. HS&Co stress how important it is to have our representation at the investigation stage, in order to hopefully avoid court proceedings. All our lawyers at HS&Co / M23Law have attended a lecture at Sussex University by Keir Starmer QC.