Beltrami & Company Criminal Law & Glasgow Solicitors Blog

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has told the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales, that a 14-year-old boy who was trafficked to the UK and forced into slave labour should not have been prosecuted.

Earlier this week, ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary debate on the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) bill, human rights organisations called on MSPs to consider allowing certain prisoners to vote.

Draft rules to make it easier for national authorities to freeze and confiscate criminals' assets across the EU were beefed up by the European Parliamentary Civil Liberties Committee this week. The MEPs also sought to safeguard the right to a fair trial, and called upon member states to use confiscated assets to fight crime and for social projects.

A European Commission proposal to allow the use of EU air passenger name record (PNR) data in investigating serious crime and terrorist offences was rejected by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs last week, by 30 votes to 25.

A recent study by the Institute for Economics and Peace reveals that, while the UK is 11% less violent than a decade ago, Glasgow is the least peaceful of all the major urban areas, with London ranked as the second most violent.

A recent report published by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has criticised what it considers to be the Government’s failure to allow enough time to fully examine the human rights implications of some of its legislation.

The European Commission has published its annual report on the implementation of the EU's Internal Security Strategy (ISS), which highlights areas under each of the objectives of the strategy (2011-2014) where Member States and EU agencies should pay particular attention.

In an interesting development, Greater Manchester Police has announced that its officers are to begin recording whether someone has been a victim of an alternative sub-culture hate crime. The move will typically affect groups such as Punks, Emos and Goths.

A former stockbroker who was convicted of defrauding investors of millions of pounds has been ordered to pay £1 after being declared bankrupt, reports the Independent.

Nicholas Levene was jailed for 13 years last year after pleading guilty to 12 counts of fraud, one count of false accounting and one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Eighteen months on from the coming into force of the Bribery Act, and there was only one completed bribery and corruption case last year in Scotland, and only four completed by the Serious Fraud Office, according to accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

Three men have been sentenced to a total of 9 years and 6 months imprisonment at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Petr Kupka, Michal Rondos and Vladimir Fojtik were convicted on 1st March 2013 in relation to their involvement in a large-scale, long-running international economic migration fraud.

Scotland is taking vital steps towards tackling the problem of human trafficking, a new report by EHRC Scotland shows, with ‘a renewed impetus for action.’

In a case brought by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Paul Milsom, a senior equities trader, was this week sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to two years imprisonment for disclosing inside information. A confiscation order was also made in the sum of £245,000.

The European Commission has announced plans to crack down on counterfeiters throughout the EU, in the wake of figures showing that, while the vagaries of currency markets may have affected the popularity of the euro in financial sectors, the same cannot be said for the criminal fraternity.

Children’s charity, Just For Kids Law, this week challenged the way 17-year-olds are treated when detained by the police in England and Wales

A bankrupt who acted as a shadow director was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment at Hull Crown Court earlier this week.

Following a nine-day trial, an English QC has been found guilty of a charge of cheating the public revenue between 1st June 1999 and 24th September 2011.

The level of fraud in the UK may have dropped by a third over the past year, but according to a new report by accountants BDO LLP, the amount of tax fraud hardly fell at all. It now accounts for almost half (44%) of all fraud reported in the UK.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has tabled amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill  that will change the law in relation to extradition in two ways, reports the Telegraph.

The Court of Appeal in England this week ruled that the automatic disclosure of all convictions and cautions on CRB checks, regardless of their relevance to the job in question, is disproportionate – and therefore incompatible with the right to private life under article 8 of the Human Rights Act.