Seventy-five years ago Nazi propagandist William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) was convicted for high treason. This article summarises the events leading up to his conviction and execution. It then considers the current law on treason and recent calls for reform.
Documents to download
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Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (176 KB, PDF)
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (1974 Act) aims to support the rehabilitation of reformed offenders by providing specific periods—subject to the sentence passed or disposal administrated—after which cautions and convictions become ‘spent’, and an individual is regarded as rehabilitated. The Bill aims to reduce the rehabilitation periods of various sentences, and introduce a rehabilitation period for sentences exceeding four years (48 months), which are currently never ‘spent’. There have been criticisms of the 1974 Act and previous governments have attempted to make changes. The most recent changes were made by section 139 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which reduced the rehabilitation periods for both custodial and non-custodial sentences and increased the upper limit to include sentences of up to four years (and applying retrospectively).
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Documents to download
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Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (176 KB, PDF)
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The sentencing of offenders whose crimes lead to the death of an emergency service worker can vary depending upon the conviction received. The Harper’s Law campaign has called for life sentences to be imposed in instances where an emergency service worker is killed as a direct result of a crime. This article discusses life sentences, minimum terms, and recent calls for change to sentencing in England and Wales. This is due to be the subject of an oral question in the House of Lords on 1 October 2020.
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The bill would provide for changes in the sentencing, release and monitoring of terrorism offenders. This briefing explains what the bill would do and what happened to it in the House of Commons.
