A leading UK fire expert has uncovered serious errors in an investigation that led to the execution of a man convicted of causing the deaths of three children in a house fire in America.
The findings came in an independent expert's report to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the state's equivalent of the UK Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Government moves to cut the cost of expert evidence could lead to 'second class justice', according to the Society of Expert Witnesses.
Delegates at the Society's Autumn Conference in Cheshire heard detailed proposals from the Legal Services Commission to cap expert witness rates in publicly-funded criminal and family court cases, irrespective of a specialist's seniority or field of knowledge or the complexity of the work involved.
SEW's Vice Chairman Frazer Imrie warned the audience of experts and speakers from the legal and forensic world: "It is clear that the intention is not to ensure justice for all but to constrain costs."
The UK government imposes financial restrictions on persons and entities as part of its domestic counter-terrorism regime, as well as those persons proscribed by the United Nations and/or European Union. However, in a recent Law Society survey, 48% of respondents said that they did not check their clients against those sanctions lists. The first prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 will begin on 17 June, at Stroud Magistrates Court, against Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd.
The Office of Fair Trading is warning the debt collection and tracing sector that using neighbours to pass on messages to trace subjects is an unacceptable practice and should be ceased immediately.
