Further to the letter from Keith Townend Head Of Legal Operations for the North West, circulated by the LAA, which outlined the Magistrates Courts recovery planning across the North- West region I can confirm that the North West Courts Hearing Working Group [MCHWG] continues to look for different ways to support the Judicial 5-point recovery plan issued in April 2021.
I am writing to you to update you in relation to the proposals for the trial recovery in Greater Manchester in pursuance of the 5-point plan which includes a focus on trial activity to reduce trial waiting times through trial blitzes.
Pending a future decision on whether to hold a trial blitz in Greater Manchester multiagency work is ongoing to embed an enhanced engagement under the Criminal Procedure Rules. This engagement is to take place between parties and the court post the first hearing and prior to the scheduled trial date.
The aim of the enhanced engagement process is to:
effectively manage the review of cases listed for trial, a duty placed on all parties in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Rules, and
to triage trial work, resolving cases early where this is possible and identifying cases that would benefit from a case management hearing.
To encourage defence to utilise the early pre-sentence report initiative on cases where a satisfactory resolution is reached.
The process includes:
CPS review of trial cases, obtain any outstanding material from the police and provide defence with full disclosure
Defence review their current cases with a view to advising CPS of any issues that remain outstanding
Defence and CPS undertake engagement sessions with each other to make progress on the cases listed for trial. This will allow open discussion to take place regarding the cases. CPS and defence will consider any possible conclusion to the case before it reaches the trial date.
Defence actively obtain instructions from the defendant at an early stage
Any basis of pleas will be put in writing for CPS consideration.
HMCTS will actively remain involved the case management of the cases to ensure that both defence and CPS comply with directions set in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Rules.
In cases where there is going to be a change of plea/ acceptable pleas will be communicated to HMCTS and the trial vacated. In cases where the parties are not able to partake in satisfactory engagement before the trial date the case will be listed before a District Judge for a case management hearing [CMH] so that progress can be made The District Judges will oversee the engagement and conduct the dedicated CMH courts scheduled over the next six months.
Your participation in this approach is key and we are grateful to Clare Parrott from Tuckers for engaging with the parties in the planning stages of this process. The benefits for Defendants will include the ability to have the case dealt with either at the CMH or at the trial date when evidential/procedural issues have been clarified at the CMH.
The benefits to victims and witnesses will also be similar in that there will be a timely resolution of the matter or the trial will be effective at the scheduled trial date. This will help improve victim and witness confidence as well as reducing the strain on the witness services.
It is also hoped that effective trial rates and trial listing delays will improve as we ensure that trial slots are not wasted and cases capable of resolution are taken from the trial list and replaced with viable trials.
Your feedback is very welcome and if you have any views on how the process may be improved please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you in anticipation,
Yours sincerely
Jackie Lowe Senior Legal Manager (Crime) Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester Diwali is an exciting and diverse cultural programme of live music and dance performances by over 50 artists from across the UK.
The programme features “Cast the Light” an ambitious piece of storytelling celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, Created and produced by Walk the Plank, in association with Bolton Hindu Forum, Indian Association Oldham, Shree Bharatiya Mandal, Ashton, and The Met (Bury).
Filmed across the four boroughs of Greater Manchester, Cast the Light will headline the digital programme, alongside a new commission of “The hidden women of Ramayana” by Manasamitra’s Supriya Nagarajan, Jonathan Mayer and Kousic Sen in concert, in association with Milapfest, plus many more performances by local, national, and international artists.
Read the full programme here which includes music, dance, workshops and films.
Date: Tuesday, November 09, 2021 Time: 13:00 - 14:00
The last eighteen months have been a tumultuous time for law firms in the United Kingdom. In a profession that is typically office-based, firms had to adjust their standard operational practices and remote working became unavoidable. The regular business of running a law firm changed overnight.
Despite the considerable disruptions to standard law firm operations, many small UK law firms have made progress to overcome some obstacles. However, on the horizon, key issues remain that will need longer-term solutions for these firms to compete.
This free webinar will cover
Market insights for the small law firms in the UK and data from the recent Thomson Reuters 2021 Small & Medium Law Firm Market Report 2021;
Specific and ongoing challenges for small UK firms, including; client demand, risk, workflow, training, and staying current;
Real-world solutions to ongoing and future challenges faced by small firms;
Live product demonstrations to address small law challenges; and,
Discussion and Q&A.
Click here to register todayand hear more about how small UK law firms can work faster, smarter and advise with confidence.
If the past 18 months taught us anything, it’s that it’s never been more important to allocate budgets and resources to mitigate known risks. Cybercrime is one of the most serious risks.
Here are a few headline tips:
1. Invest time to understand your risk from cyberattacks. Cyber attacks are indiscriminate, they hit any vulnerability they can find. We suggest you get the right group of experts together to assess your risks, and then consider the controls you have in place to reduce that risk e.g., policy, training, software, support, etc.
2. Stop assuming that your IT support have this covered. The law firms that have been hit this year still assumed this. In our experience IT do not look after this because they are not risk or cyber experts and you are frankly not paying them to shoulder this responsibility.
3. Change employee habits through training, testing and simulation. All the incidents we’ve investigated this year had an element of human error. But bad habits can be changed. This includes link-clicking, alert-ignoring, update-delaying, data-syncing etc. Best practice is to follow up training with simulated attacks on staff.
4. Write and communicate a mobile phone policy. Do not forget mobile phones. Personal and work mobile use can be necessary for business. But have you got a policy on it, with the necessary controls in place? Cyber criminals increasingly rely on mobile phones as an entry point into company systems.
5. Prove to yourself that your back-up actually works. Most back-ups that we check will not survive a ransomware attack because they are poorly configured. Have you ever had this checked? And is it still operating correctly in this remote working world? Staff may have started storing files locally for convenience or even started using third-party storage.
Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but it should get you thinking about this subject because it isn’t going away. Cyber criminals are more organised than ever, and their attacks are increasingly sophisticated. It is a lucrative business for them, so they invest money and resources into constantly improving their game. We suggest you do the same.
For more advice on increasing your security and business resilience, or for an independent, no strings consultation contact Mitigo on 0161 883 3083 or email mls@mitigogroup.com or visit www.mitigogroup.com
Did you miss the live stream? Want to see the reactions of the winners? Hear why the winners were chosen and the exciting work taking place in the Manchester Legal community?
You can watch the recording of the Manchester Legal Awards right here!
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