Month: January 2023

Reforming Banking Culture: So near or so far?

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

on the by Dr Eleanore Hickman, University of Bristol Law School

The Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SMCR) is considered to be a response to the excessive risk taking and poor corporate culture from which the financial crisis and the LIBOR scandal emerged. At that time, accountability was in short supply and the SMCR sought to address this. In my recent paper I consider whether the SMCR is fit for this purpose and conclude that, although it is in principle, in practice it is falling short. The Government have pledged to begin to review its reform in the first quarter of 2023. (more…)

What if the CCRC had unlimited funding? A submission to the Law Commission’s review of the appeals system

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

by Michael Naughton, Reader in Sociology and Law, University of Bristol Law School and School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS)

Introduction

A UK Government and Parliament Petition emerged recently calling for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to be given more funding. The case made by the petitioners was as follows:

‘We want the Government to increase funding for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), so they have more resources, funding and manpower to review all possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts. We believe that the CCRC is under resourced, and that the Government should increase its funding to ensure it is able to identify any miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts. By increasing its funding, the Government can help ensure that people who have been a victim of a miscarriage of justice receive the support, and justice, they deserve.’

The Petition, which echoes regular and longstanding calls for the CCRC to have more funding (see here, here, and here), comes at an important moment in the struggle for justice for alleged innocent victims of wrongful convictions. (more…)

The Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010: Is it a good legislative model for protecting positive rights to mental health?

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

By Afiya France, PhD Student, The Law School, University of Bristol

The UK government is forging through on its declared commitment to modernise the 1983  Mental Health Act (MHA) for the 21st century. This key piece of legislation sets out a legal framework for the detention and compulsory treatment of people with a mental health disorder.  The Draft Mental Health Bill 2022  was published in June 2022, and pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Select Committee is ongoing. This Draft Bill follows the government’s white paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act which incorporated the majority of the recommendations of an Independent Review . (more…)