The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 is an Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
which made a number of changes to the criminal justice system. It was introduced to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
on 5 February 2014 by
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
Chris Grayling
Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (United King ...
and received Royal Assent on 12 February 2015.
Provisions
The act's provisions include the following:
* Imposing the payment of a charge of up to £600 on those convicted of a criminal offence at the point of conviction.
* Making
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
misconduct a specific criminal offence with a penalty of up to two years in prison. Four new misconduct laws were included to prevent jurors conducting any research into details of a case, sharing details of the research with other jurors, disclosing details of juror deliberation, and "engaging in other prohibited conduct" such as using evidence not put before the court to decide a case. These are already offences under the
Contempt of Court Act 1981
The Contempt of Court Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It codifies some aspects of the common law offence of contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobed ...
.
[
* Raising the maximum age of jurors to 75 (from 70).]
* Amending the extreme pornography
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law came into force on 26 January 2009. The legislation was brought in ...
law to ban the possession of pornographic images depicting acts of rape.
* Introducing a new offence of being "unlawfully at large" with a punishment of up to two years in prison for criminals who go on the run while serving the non-custodial element of their sentence.
* Making the offence of causing death by driving while disqualified indictable only and increasing the maximum sentence from 12 months to 10 years.
* Abolishing automatic early release for those convicted of serious terrorism charges or child rape.
* Ending police caution
A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police in England and Wales. It is commonly used to resolve cases where full prosecution is not seen as the most appropriate solution. Accepting a caution ...
s for child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
offences or supplying class A drugs
These drugs are known in the UK as ''controlled drugs'', because this is the term by which the act itself refers to them. In more general terms, however, many of these drugs are also controlled by the Medicines Act 1968, there are many other drug ...
as well as in those cases where an offender has been cautioned or convicted for a similar offence in the previous two years.
* Allowing single magistrates
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
(rather than a bench of two or three) to preside over "low-level regulatory cases". This provision also allows certain offences to be dealt with by a single magistrate outside the courtroom.[
* Creating "secure colleges", a new form of secure educational establishment for young offenders. The first "pathfinder secure college" is expected to open in the ]East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
in 2017.[
* Restricting the ]judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
process to specialist courts working to fixed timetables where only individuals or groups with a financial interest in a case can bring a challenge rather than general issue-based campaigning groups.
* Making a whole life order
In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for early release after a minimum term set by the judge. In exceptional cases, however, a jud ...
the starting point for murder in the case of the murder of a police or prison officer in the course of their duties.
Amendments
* The March 2014 amendment modified the Malicious Communications Act 1988
The Malicious Communications Act 1988 (MCA) is a British Act of Parliament that makes it illegal in England and Wales to "send or deliver letters or other articles for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety". It also applies to electronic com ...
and Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003
The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...
. The maximum length of custodial sentencing for online harassment was increased from six months to two years, and magistrates gained the power to pass cases on to the Crown Court.
* The October 2014 amendment created a specific offence of distributing a private sexual image of someone without their consent and with the intention of causing them distress (commonly called " revenge porn"). The maximum custodial sentence is two years.
In committee
In April 2014 the assistant director of the British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
told a Parliamentary Bill Committee that the Clause 16 proposal to criminalise rape pornography would not result in the blocking of scenes of sexual imagery that bear no relation to reality.
In June 2014 the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights claimed that the bill's proposals to allow staff in "secure colleges" to use "reasonable force where necessary to ensure good order and discipline" would contravene the European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
.
See also
* Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes significant changes in many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Nor ...
* Backlash (pressure group)
Backlash is an umbrella group formed in 2005 to coordinate opposition to the “Consultation on the possession of extreme pornographic material” issued in the United Kingdom jointly by the Home Office and the Scottish Executive. Its stated b ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015
Criminal law of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom pornography law
2015 in British law
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2015