Home / Corporate Crime / Appeal and judicial review / Judicial review in criminal proceedings

Legal News

Does Twitter ‘joke trial’ help to clarify courts' approach to social media?

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Published on: 31 July 2012

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Table of contents

Original news
What is the problem of identifying criminal culpability?
How do you distinguish between a foolish comment and a menacing message?
How did the court approach Twitter, tweets and the Communications Act 2003?
What are the implications for social media?

Article summary

IP & IT / Crime analysis: Paul Chambers’ recent acquittal in the High Court for ‘tweeting’ a message of a ‘menacing character’ highlights the difficulties in prosecuting the offence created by s 127 of the Communications Act 2003 (CA 2003) and clarifies, to some extent, what the prosecution are required to prove to secure a conviction. This case highlighted the proximity of IP & IT with the criminal justice system and the way in which the law sometimes struggle to keep pace.

Popular documents

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companiesWhy does it matter?A company that is a member of a group and has incurred any of the types of losses available for surrender by way of group relief may, without any further rules, have more than one way in which to use the loss. There are a

What is the difference between an appeal and a review?

What is the difference between an appeal and a review?What is an appeal?An appeal in insolvency proceedings is no different to an appeal in normal litigation. An appeal will be allowed only if the appeal court is satisfied that the decision of the lower court was 'wrong' or 'unjust because of a

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal fees, will that count as a PET against their estate?A disclaimer is the refusal of a gift prior to acceptance. The refusal of the gift must take place before the beneficiary accepts any benefit

Strike out—making an application to strike out a statement of case

Strike out—making an application to strike out a statement of caseA strike out order can be made either following an application by the parties or on the court's own initiative. This Practice Note deals with the scenario of the order being made following a party's application.Making an application