The Judicial College has announced the publication of the October 2025 revision of the Crown Court Compendium Parts I and II, a comprehensive judicial guidance document for criminal and crown court proceedings. Originally published in 2016, this updated revision provides current guidance as of October 2025. Notably, no further updates to the Compendium are anticipated until 2026, making this revision the definitive guidance for the coming year.

The judiciary refers to the body of judges and judicial office-holders responsible for interpreting and applying the law, resolving disputes and overseeing the fair administration of justice. In UK and Irish legal practice, the term is descriptive rather than usually given a single statutory definition, but is widely used in legislation, case law and constitutional commentary. Across England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, the judiciary includes judges in superior and inferior courts (for example, Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeal judges, High Court judges, sheriffs in Scotland, District Judges and equivalent offices), and in some contexts tribunal judges. The judiciary is institutionally independent from the executive and legislature, a core principle underpinning the rule of law, fair trial rights and separation of powers. Judicial independence is protected by constitutional instruments and statutes (for example, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 in the UK and Articles 34–37 of the Irish Constitution). In practice, references to “the judiciary” commonly arise in discussions of judicial appointments, discipline, recusal, judicial review, constitutional litigation, court reform and access to justice across all four jurisdictions.

The Judiciary of England and Wales has published a protective measures fact sheet prepared by the International Hague Network of Judges for England and Wales, with support from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), for international child abduction cases under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the 1980 Hague Convention). Aimed at judges, parties, parents and mediators, the fact sheet summarises the protective measures available in England and Wales for cases involving a child allegedly wrongfully removed from, or retained outside of, the jurisdiction following an application under the 1980 Hague Convention. Modelled on the Australian Hague Network judges’ fact sheet, it provides only an overview, is not exhaustive and does not suggest or imply any particular outcome in any application.

The Judiciary of England and Wales has published a summary of its response to the recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. The response addresses recommendations within the Lady Chief Justice's responsibilities under section 7 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, including judicial training, guidance, deployment and the allocation of work within the courts. It confirms that work is already underway on recommendations concerning to case listing and remote access to court proceedings, led by judges working with organisations across the criminal justice system.

The Judiciary of Scotland has published a report covering the key areas of discussion at a ‘Think Tank’ event which took place on 22 April 2024. It was held to explore further opportunities and gather views on further developments in open justice in Scotland. The report outlines initial actions and a way forward in response to the points raised. Some actions will be taken forward immediately, including extending livestreaming to the Criminal Appeal Court, a ‘Reporters’ Guide’ to be completed and actively promoted an more Sheriff Court judgments for substantive cases to be made available online.

The Judiciary of Scotland (JS) has reported that the Jury Manual Committee (JMC) has updated its jury manual to address misconceptions and stereotypes that could impact jury deliberations in cases involving rape and other sexual offences. The JMC has asserted that these updates take account of the recommendations from the Lord Justice Clerk’s report on Improving Management of Sexual Offence Cases. The directions and their foundations in law are contained in a new chapter of the manual, titled ‘Addressing Rape Myths and Stereotypes.’ The JS has noted that many of the new principles and directions will also be relevant to cases involving domestic abuse.

The Judiciary of Scotland has welcomed the traditional ceremony of opening the Legal Year 2023—2024. The Legal Year 2023—2024 was introduced by the Lord President, Lord Carloway, on 25 September 2023 and included speeches from the Lord President, the Vice Dean of Faculty of Advocates, Ronnie Renucci, and the President of the Law Society of Scotland, Sheila Webster. In his speech, Carloway made reference to the Regulations of Legal Services Bill, commenting on the ‘serious constitutional concerns’ of the Bill and to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill which has been welcomed by the judiciary. Carloway also commented on the criminal courts recover renew and transform programme; technological improvements in the civil courts; new live streaming service for the Court of Session and the growth in volume of business being experienced by Tribunals.

The Building Safety Act (BSA) Working Group has submitted proposed amendments to the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) Guide to address practical issues for proceedings rely on Part V of the Building Safety Act 2022. The changes:

On 10 July 2024, the Home Office issued a number of revised versions of the guidance documents which set out salary going rates for  eligible roles in sponsored routes. At the foot of each of the webpages housing the guidance documents, the update note stated that the document had been updated ‘in line with changes to the Immigration Rules’. There have been no changes to the Immigration Rules since Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 590, which was issued on 14 March 2024, and relevant changes from that Statement came into force on 4 April 2024 (at which point these guidance documents were previously updated). However, comparing these documents with the preceding versions reveals that some of the going rates have changed. We understand that the Home Office has confirmed to advisers who have queried certain rates, that there were some errors in HC 590 as regards certain of the going rates figures, and that, pending new Immigration Rules being laid, the rates that the Home Office are relying on are those in the guidance rather than in the Rules. As an example, the standard going rate for Skilled Worker new hires in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020 code 8232 Marine and waterways transport operatives set out in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations is £53,200, while the transitional rate for persons already sponsored in that code before 4 April 2024 is £36,700 (Table 2). In contrast, the guidance gives the relevant figures for this code as £33,600 for the standard going rate for new applicants applying with a Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from 4 April 2024 onwards, and £24,200 for those sponsored before 4 April 2024. As such, advisers should use the published guidance rather than the Rules when looking at what is the relevant going rate for a role in sponsored routes. A copy should be taken of the relevant guidance when assigning a CoS based on a lower figure given in the guidance than the Rules, and retained. They could also check specific differences with the Home Office.

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has published the July 2024 interim revision of the Equal Treatment Bench Book (ETBB). The ETBB aims to increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals. This new edition aims to be as concise as possible, so that judges can easily access the necessary information. Each chapter has been updated, incorporating legislative/caselaw changes, removing out-of-date studies, newspaper references and adding relevant new statistics from reliable sources.

Jump bail Describes a situation where an accused person who has been granted bail fails, without reasonable cause, to attend court or comply with a bail condition, and effectively absconds. “Jump bail” is a colloquial, non‑statutory expression; legislation and case law in the UK and Ireland instead refer to offences such as “failing to surrender to custody” or “contravention of bail”.In England and Wales, failing to surrender to custody is an offence under the Bail Act 1976. In Northern Ireland, similar provisions appear in the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003. In Scotland, breach of bail is governed principally by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. In Ireland, failure to appear in accordance with bail is criminalised under the Bail Act 1997.Across these jurisdictions the core elements are: an accused is on bail; is required to appear or comply with conditions; and, without reasonable excuse, does not do so. Consequences can include arrest, forfeiture of any recognisance or surety, separate criminal charges, and significantly reduced prospects of being granted bail in future proceedings.

‘Jump cutting’ is defined in Norowzian v Arks Ltd (No 2) as: ‘…a film editing process whereby the editor excises pieces of the original film within a sequence of movements by the actor, with the result that on the edited version of the film he appears to have performed successively, without an interval, two movements that in reality could not have immediately succeeded each other.’