Roy Light reviews the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, appeals in the magistrates' courts, and the latest books licensing practitioners should have on their shelves
Lawyers behind the Commission of Inquiry into Legal Aid were well aware of the accusations of bias likely to be levied against them. As leftfield organisations opposing the legal aid budget cuts the Young Legal Aid Lawyers and the Haldane Society expected to be criticised for trying to pass off their inquiry as a piece of independent research.
The new sentencing guidelines are designed to ensure consistency and transparency, and give equal weight to both harm and culpability, argues Rosalind Campion as she rebuffs Jeannie Mackie's criticism