Don’t crow over court victories, bar leader warns – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Barristers should not crow online about court victories, the profession’s leader has warned amid renewed controversy over lawyers being identified with their clients.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 23rd March 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Joint enterprise prosecutions to be monitored for racial bias – The Guardian

‘Joint enterprise prosecutions in England and Wales are to be monitored after a legal challenge from campaigners who argued it disproportionately targets black males and young men.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 16th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

RBB’s 10 next steps for an anti-racist justice system – Counsel

Posted February 15th, 2023 in bias, diversity, equality, judiciary, legal profession, news, race discrimination, racism by sally

‘In 2022, the Racial Bias and the Bench report found evidence of institutional racism in the justice system and fundamental flaws in the Judicial Diversity Strategy. Change is coming and all judges and lawyers can help revitalise the rule of law by implementing RBB’s 10 anti-racist recommendations, say Keir Monteith KC and Professor Leslie Thomas KC.;

Full Story

Counsel, February 2023

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

Accent bias still holding back regional barristers, research finds – Legal Futures

Posted January 31st, 2023 in advocacy, barristers, bias, diversity, news by tracey

‘Barristers with regional accents still encounter bias from both clients and professional colleagues that those who speak in what is regarded as an “acceptable” accent do not, new research has found.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 30th January 2023

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judiciary calls on office holders to avoid “shouting” and treat others fairly in ‘expected behaviours’ list – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 24th, 2023 in bias, complaints, diversity, judiciary, news, professional conduct by sally

‘The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has published a list of expected behaviours for judicial office holders, which includes a call to avoid “shouting or snapping” and to ensure that no one in a hearing room is exposed to bias or prejudice.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 23rd January 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Court orders judge’s recusal due to “business association” with defendant – Legal Futures

Posted January 23rd, 2023 in banking, bias, judges, news, recusal by tracey

‘The High Court has ruled that a circuit judge should not hear any more of a claim against HSBC because his own relationship with the bank raised the risk of apparent bias.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 23rd January 2023

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court judge quashes planning permission for apparent bias, finds monitoring officer “went wrong in law” – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 11th, 2022 in bias, codes of practice, local government, news, planning by tracey

‘A High Court judge has quashed a district council’s grant of planning permission for the erection of five self-contained buildings to store and facilitate construction of carnival floats, after finding that the permission was vitiated by apparent bias on the part of two councillors.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 11th November 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judiciary in England and Wales ‘institutionally racist’, says report – The Guardian

‘The judiciary in England and Wales is “institutionally racist”, with more than half of legal professionals surveyed claiming to have witnessed a judge acting in a racially biased way, according to a report.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 18th October 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

A rare EAT finding of the appearance of unconscious confirmation bias – Doughty Street Chambers

‘In Laing v Bury & Bolton Citizens Advice [2022] EAT 85, the EAT found that a tribunal had erred in dismissing a claim brought by Litigant in Person where it had commented extensively, at times using strong and personalised language, on the Claimant’s behaviour throughout the hearing drawing upon such behaviour in support of how he must have behaved at work. It concluded that a fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility that his behaviour had engendered an antipathy towards him which unconsciously influenced the tribunal’s collective decision in relation to a victimisation complaint.’

Full Story

Doughty Street Chambers, 1st August 2022

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Police racial bias played role in UK Covid fines regime, says report – The Guardian

Posted August 5th, 2022 in bias, coronavirus, equality, fines, news, police, race discrimination, racism by tracey

‘Bias in policing at least partly explains why minority ethnic people were more likely to receive fines for Covid breaches than their white counterparts, research says.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 5th August 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK data watchdog investigates whether AI systems show racial bias – The Guardian

‘The UK data watchdog is to investigate whether artificial intelligence systems are showing racial bias when dealing with job applications.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 14th July 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

High Court gives guidance on scope of article 2 inquests – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 29th, 2022 in bias, coroners, evidence, human rights, inquests, mental health, news, suicide by sally

‘In R (Gorani) v HM Assistant Coroner for Inner West London [2022] EWHC1593 (QB), a Divisional Court comprising Macur LJ and Garnham J rejected on all grounds a wide-ranging challenge to the conduct of in inquest into a suicide. Of particular interest were the Court’s observations on the effect of a finding that the investigative duty under article 2, ECHR was engaged, and their clarification that a coroner does not need to hear submissions before refusing to make a ‘preventing future deaths’ report. That said, it is a broad and interesting judgment and deserves reading in full by those with an interest in coronial law.’

Full Story

UK Human Rights Blog, 28th June 2022

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Police in England and Wales to get anti-racism training – BBC News

Posted May 25th, 2022 in bias, equality, news, police, race discrimination, racism by sally

‘Police officers in England and Wales will be given mandatory anti-racism training under a new plan to tackle racism, discrimination and bias.’

Full Story

BBC News, 24th May 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Laurence Fox denied first libel jury trial for a decade – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 20th, 2022 in bias, defamation, interpretation, judges, juries, news, racism, trials by sally

‘Actor and political activist Laurence Fox has failed in his bid for the first libel trial by jury in a decade over a social media spat between him and three public figures he called “paedophiles” on Twitter.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 18th May 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Arbitrators escape the red card in Manchester City case – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted September 23rd, 2021 in arbitration, bias, news, remuneration, sport by tracey

‘What, I hear you ask, am I doing writing about football? Well, despite the title of this blog, it’s actually about an arbitration and subsequent court proceedings that just happen to involve a football club. I think it’s interesting for a number of reasons, not least because it applies the Supreme Court’s findings in Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd, which I blogged about last year.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 22nd September 2021

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

QC arbitrators in Man City case were not “beholden” to Premier League – Legal Futures

Posted August 11th, 2021 in arbitration, barristers, bias, news, queen's counsel, sport by tracey

‘The High Court has rejected a claim by Manchester City football club that there was apparent bias on the part of three QCs sitting on a Premier League arbitration panel.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 11th August 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Transparency 1 – 0 Confidentiality?: Manchester City v The Premier League in the Court of Appeal – Littleton Chambers

‘The Court of Appeal this week handed down its decision in Manchester City Football Club Ltd v The Football Association Premier League & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 1110, the latest judgment to consider the difficult tension that exists between the generally confidential nature of sports arbitration and the desirability of transparency where matters of public interest arise.’

Full Story

Littleton Chambers, 22nd July 2021

Source: littletonchambers.com

When complaints must be referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct – UK Police Law Blog

Posted July 27th, 2021 in bias, chambers articles, complaints, news, ombudsmen, police, professional conduct by sally

‘In R (Rose) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police [2021] EWHC 875 (Admin), a businessman successfully challenged a decision not to refer his complaint to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) under the mandatory referral criteria. The High Court concluded that the chief constable had failed to review the conduct alleged and consider whether, if substantiated, it would constitute serious corruption as defined in the (then) Independent Complaints Commission (IPCC) Statutory Guidance on the handling of complaints. Instead, he had performed an assessment of the merits which had rendered the decision not to refer the complaint unlawful. The case makes clear that complaints engaging the mandatory criteria, especially that of “serious corruption”, must be referred to the IOPC.’

Full Story

UK Police Law Blog, 26th July 2021

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

Digital forensics experts prone to bias, study shows – The Guardian

Posted June 1st, 2021 in bias, computer programs, evidence, expert witnesses, news by sally

‘Devices such as phones, laptops and flash drives are becoming increasingly central to police investigations, but the reliability of digital forensics experts’ evidence has been called into question.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 31st May 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘Lawyers must do better’: Lord Hodge criticises use of expert witnesses – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 28th, 2021 in bias, expert witnesses, judges, news, solicitors, statistics by tracey

‘Instructing solicitors must not jeopardise the impartiality of expert evidence, the deputy president of the Supreme Court said today, citing a study which suggests expert witnesses are being used as “hired guns” by lawyers.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 28th May 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk