When you log in to CrimeLine you will see the Main Menu screen, you will see that there are 9 sections in bold black text: Offences, Pre-trial, Law of Evidence, Trial, Youth Court, Sentencing, Keogh on Criminal Costs, Extradition Hub and Other Resources.
At the top of the screen to the right of our logo you will also see other important options such as News Centre, CrimeLineAssist and the Legislation Service.
You can click on any of those items to explore the content.
Over the next few pages, these are explained in detail. How to search is dealt with later in this guide.
CrimeLine Alert
In CrimeLine Alert we bring you the latest cases, legislation and other developments. Please note that we do not archive CrimeLine Alert emails, so ensure you keep them in your email folder if you wish to refer back.
We automatically send these emails to your registered email address.
CrimeLine Regulatory is not sent via email, but can be accessed via the menu at the top of the website by clicking on NEWS CENTRE (previously titled Recently Added Content), the content is updated daily but not archived.
Note that unlike other services we do not publish to any particular fixed schedule. If there is an important case we may send it out within minutes of being published, if there is nothing of interest to report, then we will simply not bother. But on average, you will receive 1 or 2 emails a week from us, sometimes more. Do not hesitate to contact us if you feel that there is a problem with email delivery.
News Centre (Recently Added Content)
We put a wide range of other cases and news on our website that will not get published in the Updater. If we sent you everything then you would have a deluge of updates and most probably lose interest and therefore miss the really important information.
All of this extra material is published via this link (and we also publish it via our X (Twitter) and Facebook feeds also). So, to more broadly keep up to date with what is happening, you should visit this link from time to time. You will be able to see the 50 most recently added items, so be sure to check this at least once daily.
Regulatory law updates are also accessed via this function.
We offer a separate feed in relation to extradition cases (as a pop down menu when you click on the menu link).
Offences
You should think of this part of the service as an online legal textbook, except that we update it on a daily basis.
This is the best place to go in search for cases in relation to a particular subject as we provide full-text links to the important case law. It is much quicker to go here rather than try and search through a database of thousands of cases.
You will find a link to any relevant sentencing guidelines, statutes, caselaw and commentary.
For example, School Non-attendance:
Pre-trial, Law of Evidence and Trial
Once again, you should think of this part of the service as an online legal textbook, except that we update it on a daily basis.
This is the best place to go in search for cases in relation to a particular subject as we provide full-text links to the important case law. It is much quicker to go here rather than try and search through a database of thousands of cases.
For example, Territorial Jurisdiction:
Sentencing
Once again, you should think of this part of the service as an online legal textbook, except that we update it on a daily basis.
The more significant sentencing cases relating to individual offences are to be found in the Offences section (detailed above). Other sentencing cases are routinely added to our database, so you can also use the search function to find these (see later for general search guidance).
This is the best place to go in search for cases in relation to a particular subject as we provide full-text links to the important case law. It is much quicker to go here rather than try and search through a database of thousands of cases.
For example, Automatic Deportation:
Statutes
We maintain a live feed to the government legislation database (legislation.gov.uk), this ensures access to up-to-date primary and secondary legislation without having to visit any other website.
Keogh on Criminal Costs
This part of the service contains the full text of Keogh on Criminal Costs (updated daily) along with links to a comprehensive selection of costs related legal resources. E.g.
Extradition Hub
Extradition Hub contains latest cases, commentary from barristers at 9 Bedford Row and resources.
Other resources
General: A large collection of criminal law resources from external sources.
Letters and Precedents: Pro forma documents for use by criminal law professionals.
CPD & Competence
You can claim CPD by (but note what is said about the barrister NPP scheme below):
- Reading CrimeLine Updater (around 100 hours per year)
- Viewing or listening to podcasts/webinars
- Completing learning modules, such as money laundering, data protection etc
Our offering is constantly updated to provide a fresh offering of relevant learning.
CPD rules
We offer a range of CPD that will assist you in satisfying CPD and Competence requirements. Users should consult their own regulatory body and fully read the advice given on this subject in order to ensure compliance.
Barristers:
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-barristers/cpd.html
New practitioners still subject to the New Practitioner Programme CPD Requirements should note that this is not so much flexibility so far as CPD is concerned.
Solicitors:
http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/cpd/tool-kit/continuing-competence-toolkit.page
Please note that lexcel/SQM may impose face to face training requirements.
Duty Solicitors: The Law Society has confirmed that online CPD meets the 6 hours CPD requirement for duty solicitors under the CLAS scheme – face to face training is NOT required.
Cilex:
https://www.cilex.org.uk/membership/cpd
Accredited fee earners and Police Station Accredited Reps:
Any of our CPD counts for these purposes.
CPD Records & Competence Statements
At the bottom of the CPD page you will see a link to ‘My CPD Record’, this shows a log of the CPD completed via CrimeLine.
Please note that we cannot of course log CPD for your reading of CrimeLine Updater, but a notional time for that (1hr 15 per issue) appears on the draft competence statement issued at the end of the year.
Below that there are links to the competence statements for solicitors and barristers which we provide at the end of each CPD year. Please note: these are generic statements that are intended only to assist you in preparing your competency declaration, these should be treated only as a starting point, and will in some cases require modification.
If your account lapses your CPD record will be deleted in line with our GDPR statement: