Trying fraud in a crisis

Emma Gordon(+44 20 7919 4931,emmagordon@eversheds-sutherland.com) is a partner,Laura Dunseath(+44 20 79190712,lauradunseath@eversheds-sutherland.com) principalassociate barrister, andPhilTaylor(+44 207 919 4594,philtaylor@eversheds-sutherland.com) an associate atEversheds Sutherland in London.

At the end of March, as the impact from the UK’s Coronavirusrestrictions began to hit the criminal justice system hard, the Crown ProsecutionService (CPS) published an Interim Charging Protocol, agreed with the NationalPolice Chief’s Council. The Protocol, write  Emma Gordon,  Laura Dunseath and  Phil Taylor of Eversheds Sutherland, acknowledgesthat the criminal courts are unable to operate as usual while lockdownrestrictions are in force, and therefore aims to manage new criminal casesbeing fed into the court system and deal with how those cases are progressed.