Criminal Law and Procedure

Office of the Judge Advocate General

Web page of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG) which forms part of the Ministry of Justice website. The OJAG deals with criminal trials of service men and women in the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force for serious offences and where defendants choose not to be dealt with by the Commanding Officer. Cases are heard in a Court Martial by a Judge Advocate. The site includes guidance on the Court Martial including proceedings and sentencing.

Age of innocence: actual, legal and presumed

Online article providing background information and links to legal articles and symposia looking at the concept of innocence in United States law and how it is applied. The article was written by Ken Strutin, who is Director of Legal Information Services at the New York State Defenders Association, and was published in May 2011 on LLRX.com. Substantial abstracts are provided for the featured articles and most have links to the full text.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation is the government body which inspects the efficiency of the UK probation service in order to ensure that the operation of community sentences is effective. Its website describes the purpose of the body and provides a list of the geographical probation areas which it has inspected recently and forthcoming surveys. It is possible to access the full-text of its inspection reports of specific probation services and reports on themes such as young people and women offenders from 1996 onwards.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

This site provides access to the full-text of all HMIP reports issued from 1998 onwards. They are arranged alphabetically by name of establishment and include women's prisons and detention centres for juvenile offenders. Each report provides statistics on the number of prison inmates, details on the management of the prison and assessment by the inspectors of such factors as atmosphere, staffing levels and provision for health care and education. Reports often contain criticisms of the prisons and recommendations for future action.

Independent Monitoring Board

Website of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB). The IMB are unpaid members of the public appointed by the British Home Office to monitor conditions inside prisons, remand centres and immigration detention centres. The site provides information on the aims, role and activities of the boards one of which is attached to each prison and immigration centre There are annual reports and other reports on issues such as conditions for asylum seekers at immigration detention removal centres and slopping out.

Justice

The Justice web portal is a government site providing information on the administration and regulation of justice in England and Wales. It provides information about and links to government bodies concerned with the justice system including the Ministry of Justice, the Youth Justice Board and HM Courts and Tribunals Service. The site has a court finder, court hearing lists,
downloadable forms, inspection reports, guidance for the legal profession, policy documents, research, statistics and data.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

This is the official website of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. who investigates complaints of misconduct, inefficiency and corruption made by the public and police concerning the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The website provides access to information on the role of the Ombudsman and his/her current activities. It includes the text of relevant police legislation and statutory instruments, recent press releases, annual reports and research reports on specific investigations conducted by the body.

Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is the principal prosecuting authority in Northern Ireland established in 2005 by the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. The PPS makes the decisions on whether to prosecute cases which have been investigated by the police in Northern Ireland and by other statutory authorities such as HM Revenue and Customs. As well as information about the PPS the site has a code for prosecutors, corporate information and business plans, equality and diversity policies and information for victims of crime.

Ministry of Justice: Procedure Rules

Collection of procedure rules for different types of litigation in England and Wales, provided by the UK Ministry of Justice. Consists of the Civil Procedure Rules, Criminal Procedure Rules, Family Procedure Rules and other rules that apply to the magistrates courts and Crown Court. Practice directions, court forms and court guides are also available.  

Piracy trials

This website provides access to a digitised collection of pre-1923 piracy trials held by the Law Library of Congress in the United States. For each publication there is a catalogue record, brief title, the date of the trial and a link to the digital version of the full text book. The dates of the trials range from 1696 to 1904 and include trials that took place in a range of jurisdictions including Scotland, England, the United States and Canada.

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