‘The crown court backlog in England and Wales will continue to rise and may be at the same level at the next general election despite a new package of reforms, Justice Secretary David Lammy has told the BBC.’
BBC News, 24th February 2026
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Access to justice in public law contexts is mediated by several procedural rules, including standing and permission requirements, which reflect a concern to confine judicial review to cases that properly warrant the governmental costs of public law litigation. However, in addition to these universal checkpoints, which are a well-known feature of the judicial review terrain, Parliament has historically entrusted to the Attorney General a distinct gatekeeping role in relation to a subset of public law proceedings which require that law officer’s consent, or “fiat”, before they may be brought. Section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 is a clear example. It provides that an application to the High Court to quash an inquest finding and order a fresh investigation may be made only by, or with the authority of, the Attorney General, thereby assigning to the law officer a “public interest” function at the threshold of a judicial process. This blog explores whether it would be appropriate for a public interest function of this nature to be examined by way of an application for judicial review under any circumstances, given that the UK Supreme Court has indicated it will hear competing arguments about this in the near future.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th February 2026
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Reddit has been fined £14.47m by the UK’s data watchdog for unlawfully using children’s personal information.’
BBC News, 24th February 2026
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The training of lawyers in England and Wales, both at law schools and through CPD, “is not good enough” and could be improved by regulation, a leading legal academic has told MPs.’
Legal Futures, 25th February 2026
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The High Court has refused five claimants permission to bring a challenge to the Metropolitan Police’s policy requiring practicing Freemasons to declare membership of that organisation to their superiors. None of the grounds, including a challenge based on ECHR rights, had a realistic prospect of success. The judgment did not, however, consider the affected claimants’ rights under Article 9 ECHR, which may be a significant omission. The case is R (United Grand Lodge of England) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2026] EWHC 330 (Admin) (17 February 2026).’
Administrative Court Blog, 23rd February 2026
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