News & Advice

On 31st January 2018, regulations bring into force sections of The Criminal Finances Act 2017 dealing with unexplained wealth orders (UWOs), along with various other related provisions. The purpose of this new order is to allow for certain people who obtain property which would ordinarily be beyond their obvious means, to be required to prove… Continue reading Unexplained Wealth Orders

Redemption has always been an important part of our justice system; you do the crime, you do time. Once your debt is paid, you should then be free to start again, without forever being haunted by ghosts of the past. We all recognise that there must be limits to this principle, so if convicted of… Continue reading The “Right to be Forgotten”

In criminal law, we talk a lot about character, but mainly in the context of ‘bad character’, or previous convictions that the prosecution will try to put before a jury to persuade them of the defendant’s guilt. After all, if he’s done it before, he is more likely to have committed this crime too, is… Continue reading A Matter of Character

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are never far from the news, mainly when the value is rising considerably. This week the price of a single bitcoin rose to a little over £10,000. It is an odd ‘currency’, as it is not backed by any government, and certainly not by an underlying gold stock. It is, in… Continue reading When People Talk Bitcoin, It’s Time to Ask Questions

On the 13 January, the Government ban on surcharges for payments on credit and debit cards came into effect. The new rules mean that individuals cannot be penalised for paying by card, whether purchasing goods in-store or online. The 2013 rules stated that companies were not allowed to make a profit from surcharges and were… Continue reading Card Payment Surcharges Scrapped

Laws that criminalise unlawful violence date back to 1861 and are used every day in criminal courts to support prosecutions. Despite what might appear to be an obvious legal position, the question is often asked as to whether, despite those laws, it is permissible to ‘smack’ a child. The simple answer is that it is… Continue reading Hitting a Child: is it Lawful?

There are several aspects of your business that you need to refine, in order to ensure that it attracts the attention of your target audience. However, an important aspect of your business is its trademark. Standing out in an often saturated market can be difficult, so how do you differentiate your goods or services from… Continue reading Choosing a Trademark

It is estimated that homes with no security measures in place are five times more likely to be burgled than those with even the simplest measures in place. It is at this time of year, when the nights draw in early, and many of us fill our homes with gadgets ready for Christmas day that… Continue reading Home Security: Christmas Safety Tips

‘Follow the money’ is a rather clichéd line from the film ‘All The President’s Men’ which charted the scandal that engulfed President Nixon in the 1970s. But even today, the money trail is very much the first line of investigation in serious fraud cases, and one that is increasingly difficult to follow. Not so long… Continue reading Follow The Money