United Kingdom: Criminal Law

The Court of Appeal has delivered a landmark ruling on abuse of process, upholding findings that claimants engaged in unlawful conduct by covertly obtaining privileged litigation material from the defendants' solicitor through deception. The judgment addresses whether such conduct warrants striking out applications and discharging freezing orders worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a complex fraud case involving stock lending transactions.

Regulatory and enforcement landscapes across the UK, France and Italy are converging around a fundamental question: can organisations demonstrate that risk management is truly embedded in their governance and operations? Drawing on insights from a Milan roundtable featuring compliance leaders from ENI, Assicurazioni Generali, UniCredit and RSM Italy, this analysis explores how sanctions, anti-money laundering, fraud, ESG and corporate governance have evolved from separate disciplines into deeply interconnec

BCL Solicitors' partners have earned recognition as leading lawyers in criminal investigations, while the firm's experts analyze high-profile cases and systemic reforms shaping the UK criminal justice system.

The UK’s Companies House has released its third report on the implementation and operation of Parts 1 to 3 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).

Companies can now be held criminally liable for any offence, including health and safety and environmental breaches, committed by a senior manager acting within their apparent authority.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (CPA) significantly expands the scope for criminal liability to be attributed to companies. Under section 250 of the CPA....

BCL Solicitors' partners have earned recognition as leading lawyers in criminal investigations, while the firm's experts analyze high-profile cases and systemic reforms shaping the UK criminal justice system.

A client facing historic rape allegations was spared prosecution after detailed legal representations highlighted digital communications that contradicted the complainant's account.

An elderly man caring for his seriously ill wife was accused of making threats to kill her in front of paramedics, leading to his arrest and separation from his spouse of over 40 years. Despite a previous similar incident, expert legal intervention successfully demonstrated that his words were born of desperation rather than genuine intent. Through strategic representations to the Crown Prosecution Service highlighting the exceptional circumstances, the case was ultimately dropped, allowing the devoted coup