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18 January 2023
Issue: 8009 / Categories: Legal News , Fraud , Criminal
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Government's fraud response disappoints

The government has stalled on proposals to introduce a ‘failure to prevent’ offence on fraud—made as part of the Law Commission’s recommendations for tackling economic crime last June and reiterated by the Justice Select Committee in October.

Its response, published last week, to the Committee report, ‘Fraud and the justice system’, stated the government was ‘working… to consider… and determine a case’ for a failure to prevent offence.

Lloyd Firth, counsel in WilmerHale’s UK white collar defence and investigations practice, said: ‘Anyone hoping the government might finally take concrete action… will be disappointed.

‘No timeframe is given for the government to conclude its consideration of the Law Commission’s paper. The long wait for consensus and action on the reform of corporate criminal liability in the UK continues.’

The government also rejected the committee’s recommendation to pilot specialist economic crime courts on the basis there is a current shortage of judges. Read its full response here.

Issue: 8009 / Categories: Legal News , Fraud , Criminal
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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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
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
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’
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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