Law and legislation

OPINION: The illegal organ trade sporadically hits the national and international headlines, with suggestions that the activity largely takes place underground, carried out by organised criminals; but Assistant Professor and organ trade researcher Frederike Ambagtsheer argues that the reality is far removed from that, involving close collaborations between professionals and the criminals, and requires a broad range of responses.

FEATURE: Whitehall has long raised questions about the impact of end-to-end encryption on law enforcement efforts to tackle terrorism and child abuse; UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat raised the stakes at a recent policing conference with a speech dedicated to slamming Meta’s future plans, while others present had a more nuanced view, as Policing Insight’s Ian Weinfass reports.

ANALYSIS: Forced marriage affects millions of people around the world from many different cultures, and forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) were introduced in England and Wales to prevent such crimes; but new research by Prof Sundari Anitha and Prof Aisha K Gill shows that the legal tools currently available fall seriously short of protecting victims of forced marriage from further abuse.

OPINION: The UK’s new Public Order Act completed its late night passage through the House of Lords this week, with the Government using rare secondary legislation to secure its success; Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order policing specialist, believes it is not only members of the upper house who regret the new law – police officers and commanders will face an impossible task in trying to interpret and implement the Act.

FEATURE: New powers introduced by the European Union to tackle terrorist content online includes far-reaching obligations for host service providers both inside and outside the EU; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, much more needs to be done to raise awareness of the regulations among tech providers, government, law enforcement and others in order for them to be effective.

FEATURE: In the third of a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly explores the biological theories of crime heralded by the emergence of positivism, which saw the focus switch from the offence to the offender, and considered the implications of biological predisposition, heritable traits, and the need for a response that includes rehabilitation.

OPINION: Recent high-profile disruptive protests by climate activists in Australia have led to rapid changes in legislation, with new laws and amendments to existing acts being introduced in some cases in as little as 24 hours; but University of South Australia Senior Law Lecturer Dr Sarah Moulds warns that such swift lawmaking can lead to poorly designed, unconstitutional and widely opposed legislation.

FEATURE: With environmental crime highlighted as a key organised crime threat in Europol’s Serious Organised Crime Threat Report (SOCTA), the new EU PERIVALLON project will use AI-based tools to tackle the crime; but as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports, any law enforcement use of such technology will need to abide by the risk criteria set out in the proposed European Artificial Intelligence Act – the first law of its kind by a major regulator.

OPINION: A series of recent cases in New Zealand has seen offenders under the age of 25 given home detention despite being found guilty of sexual assault, on the basis that were too young to fully understand the consequences of what they were doing; University of Canterbury Associate Professor Debra Wilson believes these and other cases underline the need for the country’s Sentencing Act to be reformed.

FEATURE: In the second of a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly looks at the classical concept of crime as a rational act, and considers traditional justice, enlightened thinking, and the range of critiques which have founded the wider discipline of criminology.

FEATURE: Australia is the latest country to give serious consideration to criminalising coercive control, a step taken in the UK in 2015; new research published by Melbourne’s Monash University suggests that while the majority of victim-survivors believe such a step would be beneficial, they also argue significant investment in police training and a ‘cultural shift’ in the policing of domestic abuse would be required to make any new offence effective, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

ANALYSIS: The Mass Casualty Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia shootings that left 22 people dead has made a range of recommendations around tighter gun control, particularly of the most powerful and potentially destructive weapons; Professor Blake Brown of St Mary’s University believes the non-partisan nature of the Commission will give its findings added weight – but if and how quickly they are implemented by the federal government remains to be seen.

FEATURE: In the first of a new series of The Police Student focusing on Criminology in Policing, Policing Insight Academic Editor Dr Carina O’Reilly looks at the definition of criminology, the wide range of areas that feed into the discipline, and how the various approaches to criminal justice – including retributive justice, deterrence, and rehabilitation – impact on the role of policing.

FEATURE: Four pilots of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are now underway in England and Wales, but only in Merseyside are the powers being trialled force-wide; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to Supt Phil Mullally about the impact of SVROs, the use of associated stop and search powers, and the potential for the orders to reduce violent crime.

ANALYSIS: The Public Order Bill making its way through the UK Parliament has attracted both support and criticism, with opponents highlighting concerns around new police powers in relation to protest techniques such as ‘locking on’ and tunnelling; Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a subject matter expert on public order policing, believes the Bill balances the right to protest with need for new laws to tackle the more disruptive actions of protestors.

OPINION: As a veteran of the lengthy stakeouts of heroin dealers, cultivation of informants, and the stitches, lost teeth and broken bones that come with the war on drugs, former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher believes it’s time for international agreement that the failed war should be over – and for co-operation and collaboration in putting together a more effective plan for peace.

ANALYSIS: From their earliest implementation by the US in the 1990s to tackle Colombian drug cartels, the potential use of sanctions to target organised crime is attracting growing attention beyond the States; Policing Insight contributor Cathy Haenlein explores some of the key issues highlighted by recent research to assess the wider practical application of the approach.

ANALYSIS: Senior UK police chiefs met with the Prime Minister and Home Secretary earlier this month to discuss the criminal activism in some recent protests, with Mr Sunak pledging to give police “whatever they need” in relation to additional powers; but Policing Insight’s Graham Wettone, a subject matter expert on public order policing and protest groups, believes more effective use of existing legislation, together with a stronger response from the criminal justice system, could bring greater benefits than new laws.

OPINION: A spate of juvenile charges being laid in youth courts in New Zealand has reignited the debate around whether the country needs to raise its criminal age of responsibility; Professor Claire Breen of the University of Waikato argues that increasing the age of responsibility from 10 to 12 or older would see children still face the consequences of their actions, but escape being caught up in the criminal justice system.

OPINION: Measures around UK public order policing that were defeated in the Police, Courts, Crime and Sentencing Bill are now making their way through Parliament in the Public Order Bill, prompting impassioned debate along the way; Senior Policing Lecturer Owen West, a former chief superintendent and public order policing specialist, argues that while the proposals may enthuse government supporters, they are not in the interest of the public or the police service.

FEATURE: A new report from Europol has highlighted some of the policing and legislation challenges posed by the emergence of the metaverse, and warned that failing to ‘stay abreast’ of the new technology will leave law enforcement playing catch-up in the same way it has been forced to do with digitally enabled crime, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: In the wake of the 2014 University of California shootings, a number of US states began utilising Extreme Risk Protection Orders, with Florida’s Fort Lauderdale PD among those leading the way; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Detective Christopher Carita about the success of the so-called ‘red flag’ laws, and how the Parkland high school shooting in 2018 made things much more personal for FLPD’s Threat Response Unit.

OPINION: As the London Police Services Board in Ontario prepares to call on Canada’s federal government to add femicide to the criminal code – and with other police boards indicating their support for the move – Professor Myrna Dawson of the University of Guelph says introducing femicide-specific legislation would be a crucial first step in reducing the crisis of violence against women and girls.

ANALYSIS: New Zealand reduced the minimum age for buying alcohol from 20 to 18 in 1999 and, with over two decades of data on the possible effects of the change, some health campaigners are calling for a return to the upper age limit; researchers Alexander Plum, Christopher Erwin and Kabir Dasgupta of the University of Auckland believe the evidence over the impact on crime figures is less than clear.