The Criminal Justice Project can provide advice to anyone who has been drawn into the criminal justice system, whether as a suspect, witness, or victim. We deal with queries from people with a range of issues, including:
• victims of crime;
• those who are charged with or being investigated for criminal offences;
• those who have been sentenced for criminal offences and wish to seek advice on appealing their sentence;
• people due to be witnesses at court;
• fare evasion; and,
• those who want advice on CRB checks.
We accept cases to do with all types of charges and appreciate that coming to seek advice can feel scary or embarrassing. It is our policy to deal with every query in a completely confidential and non-judgemental manner.
Four of our Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre students worked alongside Emily McFadden of Bolt Burden Kemp to create a self-help guide for clients who want to make a Criminal Injuries Compensation claim (CICA) [PDF 220KB].
This guide helps with eligibility, frequently asked questions and the processes when making a CICA Claim.
Mr F came to the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre to seek advice on how to deal with his neighbours. They were continually behaving in an aggressive and anti-social fashion towards him. He felt that their behaviour was such that it probably amounted to a criminal offence of some kind. He came for advice on what to do and how to do it. His advice letter outlined all the various offences which could have been committed against him and we advised him how to report the matter to the police. We were also able to give advice on what to do if he was unsatisfied with the response by the police. We noted that he may have remedies available to him in civil law. Accordingly in the time between his interview at the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre and our advice letter being sent out, Mr F gave us his consent to consult those working on the general law team about potential remedies he might be able to pursue in civil law. We did this and were able to include this additional aspect in his advice letter. Mr F was pleased with his advice letter and said that it was not only useful but also helped him feel like he had control over the situation.
Queen Mary Legal Advice Students Linda Dusic, Rowan Hall and Emily Jane O’Hanlon have put together a video which explains police powers around stop and search.
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