Police "arresting people just to get their DNA"?

Sound unlikely? Well, it's one of the conclusions drawn by the independent Human Genetics
Commission as part of their report into the DNA Database entitled "Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear?".

The report suggests that, according to one former senior police officer, arrests are now made for every possible offence with one goal of this being to record as many people's DNA as possible.

The report is a very critical one and suggests that Parliament should decide as to the role of the database, and particularly on the issue of keeping innocent people's DNA.

The Times illustrates the potential absurdity of this by highlighting the case of Tesfaye Smith (below) who had a DNA sample taken after a friend's father accused him of stealing Pokemon cards when Tesfaye was 12 years old.

For AS level students, a comment about the alleged overuse of the power to arrest for all offences introduced when PACE was amended by SOCPA 2005 would be a nice way to show ther examiner you have your finger on the pulse!

Manage your college work using the web

Soshiku is a cool web app which allows you to manage your homework, revision etc using the web or even from your mobile. Worth a go? Things only get tougher between now and the exams - might this help you to stay on top of stuff? Give it a go and let me know.

Exclusion Clauses

A2 students - as you know, your January Special Study Paper is all about exemption clauses - this term covers both limitation and exclusion clauses. (Click the link above for a sneak preview of the paper!)

Those of you looking for a high grade could do worse than print, read and make notes on this guide to exclusion clauses from Insite Law, which is also a good site for free contract law resources generally!

One of the good things about the article is that it contains links to original judgments - good practice for university study, and useful if you are struggling to understand a case - read the judgment carefully to get your answer from the horse's mouth!

Lord Chief Justice - podcast

Interesting interview here with the Lord Chief justice - good insight on both sentencing and the civil courts - both relevant topics for A level students!

By the way, his name is Lord Igor Judge - or "Judge Judge" to his colleagues, presumably.

The hazards of granting bail...

Great post here on the Magistrate's Blog about the difficult decisions facing Magistrates when deciding whether or not to grant Bail. Have a read!

In this case, the accused was in court on charges of threatening to kill his former partner. He was granted bail on condition that he did not approach her or go near her home.

As AS Law students will know, bail may only be refused if there are substantial grounds that the accused would: re-offend, fail to surrender to bail, or interfere with witnesses, or be refused bail for his own protection.

In this case, no such grounds were present. Bail was granted. The accused then went out and, it is alleged, stabbed his former partner to death.

Magistrated do not have a crystal ball, and must apply the law on the evidence in front of them. One AO2 criticism of the law on bail is that the accused will sometimes offend whilst out on bail - sometimes with tragic consequences like these.

Of course, the media then put the boot in - like this.

Garrow's Law...

is a new series on BBC1 based on the Old Bailey trial records. It shows the development of our modern adversarial system of justice and might be an eye-opener as to how the courts once worked - or didn't! It's based on pioneering Eighteenth-century Barrister William Garrow's career. Watch here!