Caroline Woodley

Solicitor and Director of obw perera ltd. My opinions are my own and not necessarily endorsed by obw perera ltd.

[Joel Willans @VFinnishProbs]

All you need to know about Eurovision in one pic.

[Mappers @CarolMaps]

I know I post it every year but just zoom in on baby jaysus. Worth it!

[The Law Society @TheLawSociety]

🚨 Solicitors are refusing cases over poor legal aid rates.

We tell @ScottishLegal why below 👇

https://t.co/AUDbf828lm

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

She had to wait five years and 11 months for her case to go to trial.
It was postponed eight times. She says the wait was traumatic.

Her case is becoming the normal
Tragically
It need not be like this.
Read @SkyNews

https://t.co/fULMGvx68m

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

#SingleJusticeProcedure #SJP independent review by 4 practising criminal barristers of 50 cases for @EveningStandard @kirkkorner + @itvnews
“They found it was not in the public interest to prosecute almost three quarters (74%) of these cases, and that nearly one in three (58%) would likely have resulted in a different outcome if the defendant had access to a lawyer in open court.”

https://t.co/pYci8rdkE1

[Kerry Hudson @HudsonKerry]

The duty solicitors you have at the police station at night/weekends are the SAME people you have at court & the SAME people working all day in office hours preparing your court files. We don't have shifts or "rest days". Astonishing that this isn't widely known by police/public.

[CrimeLine @CrimeLineLaw]

Oh dear. No duty solicitor is employed by the government (although legal aid is provided for by government, so State finances). No duty solicitor in the history of man has ever been subservient to the government - solicitors are bound by ethical rules. The CPS does not employ duty solicitors, period. Any person can employ a solicitor of choice, albeit only if they can afford to do so. Here endeth the Day 1 lesson in English criminal law. I’m here all week.

[The Secret Barrister 🦋 @BarristerSecret]

NEW BLOGPOST: Two-tier justice? Cutting through the online myths

A cut-out-and-keep guide for the conspiracy theorists in your timeline.

https://t.co/RBPORQTCEi

[Chris @ryansmi89]

@PippaCrerar Will Chris Grayling be able to find his way to The Lords or will he need help?

[The Secret Barrister 🦋 @BarristerSecret]

Everything that could possibly said about @RishiSunak’s character, judgement and integrity is encapsulated perfectly by his final act in office: giving a lifetime honour to Chris Grayling, the most destructive and incompetent minister in recent history.

[Kerry Hudson @HudsonKerry]

Calling 20 sets of Chambers to find an Advocate for one case. Time spent: 120 mins. Amount paid: 0. Thanks given: 0. Becoming a daily problem for criminal defence solicitors.

[East Anglian Daily Times @EADT24]

There is six miles of traffic on the A12 near Colchester after a two-vehicle crash. https://t.co/uTfHrliiXB 👇 Full story

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

Prisoners could be released after serving 43 per cent of sentences to tackle jails overcrowding
No 10 and Ministry of Justice considering plans to reduce time convicted offenders spend in prison to fix crisis
@Telegraph
”Criminals could be released from jail after serving only 43 per cent of their sentences under plans being considered to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.
No 10 and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are discussing the proposals to reduce the time that convicted offenders spend in jail as a way to avoid running out of places in prison.
Prisoners serving standard fixed-term sentences are currently automatically released on licence after serving half of their sentences.
The move would effectively bake earlier release dates into the criminal justice system, offering a medium-term solution to the overcrowding crisis, which has seen the number of spare places in male prisons dip below 300. It would affect about 42,000 prisoners serving sentences of under four years.
Ministers see the option as politically more palatable than the current plan to scrap most prison sentences under 12 months amid a revolt by more than 50 Tory MPs over what they claim is “soft” justice.
The 43 per cent proposal would instead mean that courts could still jail such offenders but for a shorter length of time.
Ministers believe that it would mean they could scrap the current early release scheme, which comes into force from Thursday and allows criminals to be released up to 70 days before the end of their prison sentence.
There are fears that this will only give the MoJ a couple of months of breathing space before prisons fill up again.
The Sentencing Bill, which contained the plan to scrap short sentences, has been on hold since last year when it was first unveiled.”

[The Bar Council @thebarcouncil]

Stop blaming barristers' strike for prison population crisis, says Bar Chair Sam Townend KC, adding: "The true cause is a long-term hike in demands the Government has placed on the criminal justice system while starving it of resources needed." Read on⬇️
https://t.co/GbYgJZ0ubZ

[Jonathan Black @jonblackbsb]

Perhaps that list can be provided to criminal court benches so that they can refer all defendants unable to get representation to these firms who have the resources to provide pro bono work .

[CrimeLine @CrimeLineLaw]

Ouch!

"Unlike prosecuting counsel, the judge had an awareness of the authorities"

https://t.co/1h20IU2fh1

[Caroline Woodley @obwcaroline]

@CEOofHMCTS listing magistrates trials in North Essex in 17 months #thelawisbroken

[Patricia Cornwell @1pcornwell]

You won’t want to miss this one!

#IDENTITYUNKNOWN
https://t.co/Hk9JBLrBO6

[Caroline Woodley @obwcaroline]

Example of the parlous state of criminal legal aid: Essex are booking Magistrates trials for Feb 2025. Trying to book junior barrister/pupil for Magistrates trial 14.2.25. 4 chambers cannot cover as already no availability.