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03 November 2009 / William Redgrave
Issue: 7290 / Categories: Features
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Cut-price justice?

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William Redgrave investigates the concept of shopping centre justice

Press reporting of the Home Office’s review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) has centred on one distinctive proposal, dubbed “Tesco jails” by The Times (15 March 2007). The name is misleading, as has been much of the reporting.

It is not clear exactly what the government has in mind for short-term holding facilities (STHFs). The proposals at present are vague, and the responses from police forces and other interested parties have been mixed.
The Home Office published its consultation paper, Modernising Police Powers—Review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, in March 2007 (see www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk). The paper covers a wide variety of topics relating to police powers and procedures, including reforms to stop and search and the taking of biometric samples. It invites views on whether PACE 1984, encrusted by over two decades of amendments and codes, needs to be replaced or rewritten.

EYE-CATCHING INITIATIVES

While claiming to be mindful of the need to safeguard basic rights, the paper contemplates

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

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Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

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Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

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NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
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The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
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A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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