‘Judges sitting at the Central Family Court will wear robes during proceedings from this week (15 April 2024), in a pilot intended to explore the impact of increased formality in family courts.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th April 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A high court judge has been removed from presiding over a case involving an alleged rape and domestic abuse victim, in part due to his membership of the men-only Garrick Club.’
The Guardian, 15th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Keynote speech by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb at the South Eastern Circuit: Mental Health, Diversion and Crime.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 21st March 2024
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘The myriad problems with the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, as well as the policy that the Bill is supposed to facilitate, have been clearly documented. One common criticism is that the Bill would precipitate a “constitutional crisis” by provoking the courts into refusing to recognise its legal effect. Adam Tucker argues that the Bill’s most problematic sections could very well “count as a novel entry in our canon of possible limits of parliamentary sovereignty”. Jeff King argues that the House of Lords would be justified in radically amending or voting the Bill down, precisely because of the danger that it might incite a constitutional crisis. The Lords suggested sweeping amendments to the Bill, all of which were rejected by the Commons. The Bill will continue to go through a ping-pong process between each House before a final wording is settled.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th March 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘A judge sitting in the Court of Protection has declined to meet the applicant in advance of a capacity hearing, over concerns that a judicial visit “may influence decision making” and cause unfairness to the parties.’
Local Government Lawyer, 12th March 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Disclosure of Information between Family and Criminal Agencies and Jurisdictions: 2024 Protocol comes into effect on 1 March 2024. It replaces the 2013 Protocol and Good Practice Model: disclosure of information in cases of alleged child abuse and care directions hearings.’
Courts & Tribunals Judiciary, 1st March 2024
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘Lady Rose – The Sordid Controversies of Litigants? Why and When Facts Matter. The Neill Law Lecture 2024.’
Supreme Court, 23rd February 2024
Source: www.supremecourt.uk
‘Ministers have vowed to press ahead with legislation to automatically overturn convictions related to the Post Office Horizon scandal by the end of July.’
The Guardian, 22nd February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘In a recent comment on the Government’s Rwanda Bill and on speculations about an unprecedented strike down by the Supreme Court, Professor Mark Elliott asked a question that has been on many UK public lawyers’ minds lately: “Are we headed for a constitutional crisis?” This question, to be sure, is not new. However, with a Government and Parliament increasingly willing to act with disregard for cardinal constitutional principles such as the rule of law and with certain judges’ growing outspokenness about their intention to resist further attacks on the country’s constitutional fundamentals, determining whether we are indeed in a constitutional crisis has gained great urgency. For if we are already in a crisis, then it may be necessary to take action to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th February 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Last year’s Supreme Court decision in R (AAA) v Home Secretary – which found the British government’s Rwanda policy to be unlawful – has reignited broader debates about the position of a government which commands a majority in Parliament vis a vis the judiciary, the separation of powers, the extent to which legislating against judicial decisions is constitutionally proper or compatible with the rule of law, and the appropriateness of disapplying sections of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998). This post does not restate or reengage with such topics; substantive attention has already been given by Tom Hickman KC, Professor Mark Elliott, Adam Tucker, Professor Sarah Singer, and Richard Ekins KC et al. Neither does it take a position on the feasibility or desirability of any specific government policy, the continued operation of HRA 1998, or membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Instead, this post will argue that the backlash to and disapproval of the British government’s response to R (AAA) – the introduction of the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which, amongst other measures, allows Parliament to diverge from the Supreme Court’s judgment – neatly evidences the intended effect of New Labour and Lord Derry Irvine’s HRA 1998 system and judicial reforms.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th January 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘At the beginning of the year, this blog covered the report from the House of Lords Constitution Committee into the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers, with Conor Casey’s post focusing in particular on the latter. This post aims to ensure that 2023 is bookended by consideration of the issues addressed in the committee’s report – and in the subsequent Lords debate on that report in July – by providing a closer look at the role of the Lord Chancellor.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 19th December 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) throughout society continues to increase, and so does its relevance to the court and tribunal system. All judicial office holders must be alive to the potential risks. Of particular importance, as the guidance document emphasises, is the need to be aware that the public versions of these tools are open in nature and therefore that no private or confidential information should be entered into them.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 12th December 2023
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘Generative AI could be a “potentially useful secondary tool” for judges to use in the course of their work, according to new guidance from the senior judiciary.’
Legal Futures, 13th December 2023
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Courts can order parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), so long as it does not restrict their ability to proceed to a judicial hearing, the Court of Appeal ruled today.’
Legal Futures, 29th November 2023
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Part of the debate around accountability in the UK concerns the judiciary and its relationship with the elected parts of government. A potentially useful concept in assessing this relationship is constitutionalism. This post is a summary of my presentation at the recent UKCLA Conference in Liverpool, in which I engaged with some long-running debates around constitutionalism. I argue here that there is a version of constitutionalism, which I term “moderate constitutionalism”, that is normatively desirable and suited to the UK’s constitutional tradition. After discussing the situation of constitutionalism in the UK and setting out the case for moderate constitutionalism, I identify some possible implications of the analysis for the system of government in the UK. What is presented here is an early sketch, at a high level, of an account that I intend to develop in significantly greater detail in the future.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 7th November 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘A law allowing judges to force convicted criminals to be in court for their sentencing will be in the King’s Speech, the Justice Secretary has indicated.’
The Independent, 25th October 2023
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Dame Ingrid Simler, Lady Justice of Appeal, is appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by Lord Kitchin’s retirement, it was announced today.’
Supreme Court, 17th October 2023
Source: www.supremecourt.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2024