Laura Hoyano

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This article will explore recent developments in neuroscience which show that the normal adolescent brain does not fully develop in its capacity to appreciate consequences and assume full responsibility for conduct until many years past the age of criminal responsibility, currently 10 in England and Wales. The article will advocate that England and Wales should move to the Scottish Children's Hearing System, which offers an integrated service to offending children who are deemed to be children in need to address their offending behaviour and its root causes without criminalisation.

This is an empirical research project funded by the New Zealand law foundation, examining how child protection experts experience the adversarial criminal trial system as compared with the more inquisitorial family court system,and the factors which inhibit them from choosing to become involved in expert testimony work. The Nuffield Foundation has invited the researchers to resubmit a funding proposal for a companion study of UK experts, which we will probably do following the conclusion of the New Zealand study, which should result in at least one Journal article.

This Textbook, designed for postgraduates andsenior undergraduates, will provide an accessible but intellectually rigorous text book which addresses how human rights issues are configured and adjudicated in the specific British context, exploring the multiple dimensions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Union, international law, and national legislation and common law, and an introduction to human rights theory , integrating this into the legal analysis.

This is a substantial rewrite of the section D4 of Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2012, which was written as a new chapter of the book.

This article contests the notion, prevalent in British jurisprudence regarding ECHR Article 6, and recently adopted by the Grand Chamber in Al-Khawaja v UK, that the right to a fair trial involves the 'balancing' of the rights of the defendant against the rights of the prosecution, the complainant and other witnesses, and the community at large. It argues that the whole notion of balancing is fundamentally misconceived, setting up a conflictual trap whereby defence rights are always seen as being in antithesis to those of the prosecution representing the overarching public interest. Instead, I propose a model embodying a sense of objective fairness predicated upon the right to a verdict with integrity; as such this right is not allocated to any one participant in the trial but is a common good, erasing any perceived antitheses within Article 6. The article goes on to explore the concept of "the essence of the right" in Article 6(3) caselaw, and explains why this has been extinguished by the approach to Article 6 of the Grand Chamber in Al-Khawaja, sacrificing principle to juridical, and possibly political, expediency. The consequence is that Article 6 now only serves to protect the right to a 'fair-ish' trial.

This is an entirely new chapter for Blackstone’s Criminal Practice, and explains the statutory provisions and case law governing (1) special measures for child and vulnerable witnesses, including defendants (2) best practice in questioning child and vulnerable witnesses and (3) witness anonymity orders.

This book examines the whole process of child protection from complaint investigation to prosecution in the criminal and civil courts. It provides a coherent analysis of current law and procedure across the legal and geographical boundaries within which legal discussion of child abuse is usually confined, analysing criminal, family, tort, human rights and evidence law as they bear on child abuse cases. Comparative material is drawn from over 75 jurisdictionsusing the adversarial trial model. The book was awarded the first Inner Temple Book Prize (2008). The paperback edition is updated in English law, including the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 enacted on 12 November 2009.

ISBN: 978-0-19-957156-7

This article maps (through diagrams) and analyses the changes made by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to existing Special Measures Directions for child witnesses, child defendants and complainants of sexual assault under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Adult defendants suffering from some form of significant mental impairment are for the first time made eligible to apply for leave to testify using the live link and with the assistance of an intermediary. In addition, the 2009 Act deems witnesses to violent offences against the person involving the use of firearms or knives to be intimidated and hence automatically eligible for Special Measures. The article concludes that the measures for defendants do not go far enough and are susceptible to challenge under ECHR Article 6, and perhaps go too far in introducing anomalies in the treatment of different categories of intimidated witnesses.

The current offence of child cruelty in the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 originates in 1868. This article contends that it is not fit for its purpose, particularly given new understanding of the neurological and developmental impairments inflicted by neglect and emotional abuse. It proposes a new comprehensive maltreatment of fans which would be comprehensible to criminal and civil child protection agencies, professionals and the public.