CPS pledges crackdown on ‘revenge porn’

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says it is committed to tackling “revenge porn” and has urged victims of the crime to come forward.

The call came following the first conviction in the West Midlands under the new revenge pornography offence created in April this year.

The 25-year-old man admitted sending the victim a Facebook message from a false account using a private sexual photograph of the victim as his profile picture, without her consent. At Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 August, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order, fined and ordered to pay costs.

Lionel Idan, deputy chief crown prosecutor from West Midlands CPS said: “This deliberate and callous act was intended to cause the victim maximum distress, humiliation and embarrassment.

“Such criminal actions will not be tolerated by the CPS and the police and we will do everything in our power to obtain justice for victims of this crime by robustly prosecuting all those who engage in such malicious activity.

“I urge anyone who has been a victim of such a crime to report it to the police and to help us bring such offenders to justice.”

In April, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 created the new criminal offence of revenge pornography, involving the disclosure of private sexual photographs and films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with the intent to cause that person distress.

Someone convicted of the offence could face up to two years in prison and receive a fine.

Study to turn spotlight on divorce

A major study is to examine current law on the grounds for divorce and civil partnership dissolution and whether it needs reform.

Resolution, an organisation of lawyers that promotes a constructive, non-confrontational approach to resolving family law issues, announced on 25 August that the Nuffield Foundation charitable trust is to fund a two-year research project examining the issue.

The organisation said that the long delays associated with no fault grounds for divorce – either a two-year separation with both parties’ agreement or a five-year separation if one partner does not agree – meant there was heavy reliance on the fault-based grounds of behaviour, adultery and desertion. In 2012, 48 per cent of divorces were granted on the basis of behaviour and 14 per cent on adultery.

Resolution said: “We are concerned that petitions that rely on apportioning some blame risk creating or inflaming conflict and thus undermining the opportunity for people to resolve disputes outside of court.”

It said that as long ago as 1990, the Law Commission – the body that reviews and makes recommendations for reform of the law – had highlighted problems with fault-based divorce, including that the law was confusing, created unnecessary hostility, made things worse for children by increasing parental conflict and did nothing to save marriages.

The project will include a survey exploring public attitudes to the grounds for divorce and reform of the law, research into the way the courts investigate divorce petitions alleging adultery or unreasonable behaviour and exploring how divorce petitions are produced and what effect they have on the people involved. The survey results will be available early next year and the outcome of the other studies by 2017.

Workers ‘priced out of justice by employment tribunal fees’

The body that represents solicitors in England and Wales has called for “fair and affordable” employment tribunals.

The call came from the Law Society after Ministry of Justice figures revealed that the number of employment tribunal cases has fallen by more than 60 per cent in the two years since charges were introduced for bringing a case against an employer, with the aim of transferring the cost of tribunals to users and encouraging employers and employees to resolve disputes more informally.

Depending on the type of case, it costs either £160 or £250 to lodge an employment tribunal claim, with a further fee of either £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead, making a total of either £390 or £1,200.

The lower costs apply to cases involving issues including unpaid wages or breach of contract and the higher fees in situations such as unfair dismissal and discrimination.

The Law Society warned on 29 July that access to justice on employment matters was now limited to people able to afford tribunal fees. President Jonathan Smithers said: “The £1,200 that a claimant must now pay for most types of cases is close to the average monthly salary, putting a tribunal well beyond the reach of many people, particularly those on lower incomes.

“Everyone needs employment tribunals that are fair and affordable. They must work for both employers and employees.”

The Law Society said it would be contributing to a Ministry of Justice review of the impact of the introduction of the fees, announced in June.