OTHER NEWS

The Ministry of Justice is seeking views on whether it would be appropriate to consider a change to the standard of proof for the short-form inquest conclusion of unlawful killing from the civil standard to the criminal standard.

See website for details.

Closing date: 7 December 2026.

The Scottish Government is consulting on a new Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill to modernise the legal aid system and create a simpler, more sustainable and user-focused framework for publicly funded legal assistance.

See website for details.

Closing date: 13 October 2026.

The Lord Advocate and her deputy the Solicitor General for Scotland each assume a 'dual role' being both senior government legal advisers, and senior public prosecutors. There is a long-standing and ongoing political and constitutional debate within Scotland about whether the dual role should be split to better mitigate actual and/or perceived conflicts of interest between the two functions. This inquiry will appraise the case for and against splitting the dual role, and exploring different options for reform.

See website for details.

Closing date: 16 October 2026.

The Transport Committee is looking at how effectively the Government is keeping women and girls safe as they travel, and what more could be done to ensure that they can make their journeys without fear of violence, intimidation or harassment.

The Committee will consider how government could most effectively prevent risks to women’s safety when they make journeys in the UK, what interventions are most effective to respond to incidents of violence, intimidation or harassment, and how well the Department for Transport is working to ensure safer journeys for women and girls.

Closing date: 9 October 2026.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is consulting publicly on a revised edition of the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code).

The Code is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. It sets out the principles prosecutors must follow when making decisions about whether to prosecute, what charges to bring, and how cases should be handled as they progress. The Code contains the CPS legal test for deciding whether or a not a suspect should be charged with a criminal offence.

See website for details.

Closing date: 8 November 2026.

This is an open call to conduct a two-day, in person workshop at Cardiff’s School of Law and Politics, organised through the Cardiff Centre of Law and Society. The workshop must be designed not just to showcase excellent socio-legal research but also focus on a central theme of current importance to the socio-legal community. The is expected to be scheduled between May-July 2027.

The event will potentially lead to a Special Research Issue of the Journal of Law and Society.

Download the flyer from the link below.

Daniel Clark and Judith Townend (University of Sussex) are inviting individuals who are 18+ and have observed a court or tribunal in England and Wales at some point in the last year to participate in a survey of court observers. Those who have observed courts that do not ordinarily allow public access, like the family courts, are also encouraged to participate. The results will inform the creation of a guide to court observation, and will also provide data on the operation of transparency. Further information, including the link to the survey, can be found on the link to the blog below.

The survey is currently due to close on Wednesday 30 September 2026.

On 20 August 2026 HMCTS began a pilot to publish decisions made by the

First-tier Immigration and Asylum Chamber. This pilot has been developed in partnership with the Open Justice and Transparency Taskforce. Hatton Cross Tribunal Hearing Centre and Taylor House Tribunal Hearing Centre will join the pilot first before it expands to further sites.

Over time, decisions will be published on the Find Case Law service operated by The National Archives and will be selected at random. All final decisions will be in scope unless the judge directs otherwise.

See the Find Case Law page at The National Archives.

The Talent Development Awards are available to promote the acquisition and advancement of skills in relevant areas by UK-based researchers, supporting innovative research methods, be that through skills development, collaboration or dissemination. The aim of the scheme is to enable researchers to build their skills and capacities in core areas to develop their current and future research.

Closing date: 7 October 2027.

The Ministry of Justice has launched an independent review examining the function and purpose of criminal courts for child defendants and identifying options for longer-term reform. Whilst the Chair of the review, David Ormerod, will reach out directly to some academics with particular specialisms, the review team would welcome views from all academics with an interest in this area, specifically on the challenges affecting criminal courts for children in England and Wales and possible solutions. The review team are also interested in novel approaches to youth justice more broadly, including case studies from other jurisdictions. Submissions should be emailed by 30 September 2026 (or as soon as possible thereafter) to the following address: criminalcourtsforchildren@justice.gov.uk. For more information see the terms of reference on the link below.

The Law Commission has published a Consultation Paper on homicide offences. This first consultation paper sets out our provisional proposals for reform of the homicide offences to ensure that the law of homicide is clear, consistent, fair, proportionate and practical. A copy of the paper is available from here and a summary of the paper is available here. The consultation period will run until 30 September 2026. Responses to the consultation paper should be submitted using the online response form, available here. A printed form is available on request.