More than 5,000 prisoners, including violent offenders, will be freed early over the next six weeks under plans designed to ease the overcrowding crisis in jails, with the first 1,750 inmates who have served 40% of their sentences to be freed from jails across England and Wales today. Critics, including Baroness Newlove, argue that this scheme is distressing for victims who expect offenders to serve their full sentences. Claire…

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has proposed a significant change to the duties of barristers, suggesting they should be required to “act in a way that advances equality, diversity and inclusion.” This new duty would replace the existing obligation to “not discriminate unlawfully against any person.” The BSB’s consultation, which runs until November, aims to foster a culture change within the profession. Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, expressed support for the initiative but cautioned that “radical…

The Ministry of Justice is considering sending prisoners to Estonia after the Baltic country offered to rent out space in its jails, which are half empty due to the state’s low crime rate. Former justice secretary Alex Chalk proposed the idea at last year’s Tory conference, but Labour gave it short shrift. Now, it appears they are considering it, although officials have warned it could be…

The finance sector has welcomed a move by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to lower the maximum for fraud payouts by banks from £415,000 to £85,000 after finding the lower threshold would still cover more than 99% of authorised push payment fraud cases by volume. Now industry group UK Finance has called for authorities to go further and require other sectors, such as social media companies, to take responsibility for the fraud that originates on…

Analysis of Youth Justice Board data by the Telegraph shows a drastic rise in the number of children caught committing crimes since the pandemic in 2020. There has been a 16% increase in under-18s arrested for all offences since lockdowns and a 9% rise in the past year – child arrests in total hit 58,507 in the year to last March. The biggest rise in arrests was for robbery, which is up by 31% to 5,981 in just a year. There has also been a 22% increase in children arrested for violence against the person, which ranges from assault to murder, to 18,220 in the year to March 2023….

Senior Labour MPs are engaging with City leaders to address concerns over proposed employment reforms aimed at enhancing work-life balance. Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds met with executives from major companies, including Sainsbury’s and BT, to discuss the “right to switch off” and flexible working arrangements. Legal experts express apprehension about the proposed “fair work agency,” which could act as both judge and…