Scottish Government statistics released yesterday back the new presumption against prison sentences of three months or less - introduced as part of the Criminal Justice and Li

Tony Blair is to get a knighthood, "Supreme Order of Christ" from the Pope for "services to peace". The award was first given during the last crusades. I think Mr Blair should be tried as a war criminal and not some Catholic Saint.

Via. See? Cash-strapped Bulgaria and Romania hoped taxing cigarettes would be an easy way to raise money but the hikes are driving smokers to a growing black market instead. Criminal gangs and impoverished Roma communities near borders with countries where prices are lower — Serbia, Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine — have taken to smuggling which has wiped out

Also on the NK beat, here’s a report (pdf) on the activities of Office 39, which is about the closest thing the world actually has to SPECTRE. I’m not sure about some of the stuff in there. There’s a real...

Criminal laws dealing with petty offences should be scrapped, according to the body responsible for reviewing the law in England and Wales.

I'm just back from my hols in Scotland and was listening on the radio to the interviews over the collusion between the RUC, UK Govt and Catholic Church to prevent a Catholic Priest being handled by the criminal justice system. Listening it strikes me that modern day commentators seem incapable of putting themselves into the mind set of 1972, and the fact that unpalatable decisions have to be ...

The government’s position is that prison does not work. It aims to reduce prison numbers and now Ken Clarke has announced that further savings will be made to the criminal justice budget. The Times reports (£) that Clarke will continue Labour’s policy of closing courts; 103 magistrates courts and 54 county courts will shut-up shop. Whitehall and Westminster whisper concern that th...

The campaign of criminal damage in Edinburgh is targeting companies engaged in decent, lawful and worthwhile activities, says Alan Cochrane.

Zoe Williams wrote this week that not informing your sexual partner you are HIV positive should not be a criminal offence, taking her evidence from the current trial of Nadja Benaissa in Germany. The irresponsibility of this attitude undermines the work in sex education and public health that has taken years for the the general population to absorb...

Organised criminals in the UK are becoming increasingly involved in financial frauds including insider share dealing that they see as lucrative and low risk, investigators have warned