the offence of high treason.
3
WHEN CAN THE POLICE STOP AND SEARCH YOU?
The main powers of the police come from the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, normally referred to as PACE. Section 1 of PACE confers powers on police to stop and search any person where they have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that the person may be carrying a weapon, illegal drugs or stolen property. They can even search you for perfectly legal items such as a crowbar or screwdriver, if they have grounds to suspect that it is intended to be used in a crime (referred to as ‘going equipped’). In the year up to March 2017, the Metropolitan Police carried out over 137,000 stop and searches in London alone and it remains an effective tool in the fight against drug-related violent crime.
A police officer may stop you in the street and ask you what your name is and where you are going, and there is nothing to say that you must stop and answer him. If you choose not to, and there is no other reason to suspect anything is wrong, then the police have no right to search you. However, refusing to answer these questions may give the police ‘reasonable suspicion’ that you have some criminal reason for not wanting to speak to them. It is therefore normally advisable to cooperate with the police, unless of course you really are hiding something. Perhaps it’s also worth pointing out that the police do a very difficult job, during which they often deal with angry, rude and violent people. It doesn’t hurt you to be courteous and polite when dealing with a police officer – and it might help.
4
WHAT IS THE HIGHEST COURT AUTHORITY IN BRITAIN?
For centuries the highest court in Britain was the House of Lords. Sometimes confused with its namesake, the parliamentary House of Lords, this was in fact the supreme court in Britain until 2009. It was originally a court intended to try peers of the realm (lords who had been charged with crimes), as well as being a court of last resort in the UK and across the Commonwealth. In 2009, many of the judicial functions of the House of Lords were transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which is the highest court authority for anything governed by English, Welsh and Northern Irish law, as well as for any matters in Scottish civil law. The ‘Judicial Committee of the Privy Council’ remains the highest appellate court for a number of Commonwealth countries and Crown dependencies (such as the Falkland Islands).
While the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, Britain has been a member of the European Economic Community (later the EU) since 1973 and has therefore been subject to the rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). However, the supremacy of the European Courts has always sat uneasily with the UK’s unique, largely unwritten constitution and the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. Many have argued that being subject to the ECJ fundamentally undermines a central tenet of the British constitution, while others point to the fact that Parliament could, ultimately, withdraw the UK from the EU at any time, thus preserving its sovereignty. At the time of writing, it is impossible to say whether EU law will still apply in the UK after 2019.
5
CAN YOU BE TRIED TWICE FOR THE SAME CRIME?
For centuries a legal principle existed in the UK that prevented a defendant being retried for the same offence, or a similar offence arising out of the same facts, if he or she had already faced trial and been acquitted. However, that rule was removed by the Criminal Justice Act, introduced in April 2005, which allows the Crown Prosecution Service to reopen cases where ‘new and compelling’ evidence comes to light. There have been several cases where defendants acquitted of serious crimes, such as murder or involvement in organised crime, have given interviews to the press and even written books in which they appear to admit their crimes. However, this evidence is often inadmissible in court, so cannot be used to reopen old cases. The development of DNA techniques, however, as well as other digital forensic investigation tools, means that prosecutors can now re-examine serious cases in which they suspect a miscarriage of justice, such as the murder of Julie Hogg by her boyfriend Billy Dunlop in 1986. Dunlop was acquitted after two juries failed to reach verdicts, meaning that he could not be prosecuted again for the crime. Knowing this, Dunlop confessed to having killed Hogg to a prison guard while serving a sentence for assault. He was also reported to have confessed the crime to Judge Michael Taylor during a closed family hearing following the criminal trials. The double-jeopardy principle meant that he could only be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice at his original trial, for which he received a six-year sentence. Following the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act, however, Dunlop became the first person ever to be convicted of an offence in the UK having previously been acquitted.
A chess opening is a pattern of moves that has been proven over time to create a strong attack or defence. The idea is both to control the centre of the board and to create an opportunity to castle. Which opening you use depends on the responses of the opponent, with nearly infinite variations. The idea here is to learn and practise four or five of them, so as to be able to develop any opening position. That said, former world champion Bobby Fischer began every white game with pawn e2-e4. He considered that the perfect opening move.
There was a chapter on the basics of chess in the first Dangerous Book. Unfortunately, with the constraints of space, the only classic opening we were able to include was ‘The King’s Indian’. For that reason, we have not included it here.
We’ll use the standard modern description of a board, with ‘a’ to ‘h’ across from the left and 1–8 up. (Always begin with a white corner in the bottom right.) So ‘e2-e4’ would mean the fifth white pawn from the left, moving forward two places. (A lot of chess books use shorthand such as ‘e4’ to describe the same move.) As both knights and kings begin with the letter ‘k’, knight moves are usually written with an ‘N’ such as ‘Nf3’ or ‘Nc6’. For those, there will be only one knight that can reach the square
RUY LOPEZ
One of the quickest and easiest openings in three white moves.
1 White opens with pawn e2-e4. Black counters with pawn e7-e5.
2 White moves knight Nf3, attacking the black pawn. Black responds with Nc6, protecting the pawn.
3 White brings out the bishop to b5, to attack the black knight on c6. That’s it.
The Ruy Lopez (pronounced ‘Roy’) is a favourite of Garry Kasparov. It does, however, usually lead to the exchange of knight and bishop.
THE ENGLISH OPENING
Most openings begin with the white pawn move e2-e4 or d2-d4. That’s because those moves begin to control the central four squares and open a path to move a bishop – allowing you to castle on king or queen side. Set up a board and have a look at the opportunities that come from each move.
The English Opening is so named because it was a popular first move among English players in the 19th century, including Howard Staunton. You are probably using a set with pieces named after him as they are now the standard design. However, it is not a weak or old-fashioned opening. It was used by Fabiano Caruana in round ten of the 2016 world championship, to defeat former world champion Viswanathan Anand.
1 Pawn c2-c4 – that’s it. One move.
In the Caruana vs. Anand game, Anand as black replied by going for the centre squares with pawn