‘The Justice Committee has launched a new inquiry into access to justice in England and Wales, examining the current state of the legal services and representation market, and how it, and associated operating pressures, affect access to justice.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th July 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Nothing has caused such legal conundrums for governments across the globe than the ‘harms’ associated with social media usage. Many of these ‘harms’ dominate news headlines, with the same cry, ‘there should be a law against that’. Governments have responded with ‘new’ legal provisions in a bid to make the online world a safer place, including the United Kingdom with the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023. This complex piece of legislation predominately regulates online platforms, including social media companies. However, Part 10 of the Act creates ‘new’ criminal offences in a bid to make the UK one of the safest places to go online. This article critically examines two of these ‘new’ offences: (1) threatening communications and (2) false communications, drawing firstly on why it was thought necessary to create such provisions, before turning to examine the actus reus and mens rea of both offences. The article provides an academic critique of each provision, highlighting the main flaws with each offence and why, with examples, the provisions will not overcome many of the issues previously raised against their predecessors, most notably s.1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and s.127(1) and (2) of the Communications Act 2003. The article suggests improvements which can be made to strengthen these ‘new’ offences.’
Statute Law Review, August 2025
Source: academic.oup.com
‘Most labour lawyers would agree that Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has had a limited impact on collective labour law in the UK. This article argues that an important factor explaining the domestic courts’ cautious approach in Article 11 cases is their treatment of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Section 2 HRA requires courts to ‘take into account’ ECtHR decisions, a phrase which has been interpreted in leading cases such as Ullah and Elan-Cane to mean that the Strasbourg case-law should be treated as both a floor and a ceiling in terms of the protection to be afforded to Convention rights in domestic law. It is easy to overlook the significance of this case-law because it is rarely referred to by the domestic courts when deciding Article 11 claims. However, despite the lack of explicit judicial analysis, the Article 11 case-law is wholly orthodox in its application of the general approach to s. 2. As a result, the courts have limited capacity to ‘go beyond’ the Strasbourg case-law, decide issues where Strasbourg gives the state a margin of appreciation, or engage in anything other than incremental development. Understanding the role played by s. 2 helps to explain many of the disappointing outcomes we have seen. It also has important implications for the kinds of Article 11 cases that are worth pursuing and for the way in which they should be framed.’
Industrial Law Journal, 19th July 2025
Source: academic.oup.com
‘New figures have revealed around one in 10 people aged 16 and over in England and Wales were victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the year to March.’
Independent, 24th July 2025
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Designated Family Judge for the Thames Valley, HHJ Vincent, has written to legal aid lawyers to express her “full support” following the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s online digital services, saying she was aware that it had caused “untold stress and worry” to those solicitors and barristers who do family work.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th July 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘R (Ferguson) v HM Assistant Coroner for Sefton, Knowlsey and St Helens [2025] EWHC 1901 (Admin) concerned a challenge by the next of kin of Joseph Farley, who died after jumping from the fourteenth floor of a carpark. The Coroner conducting mr Farley’s inquest has determined that Article 2, ECHR, did not apply and that the inquest could be heard without a jury. Mr Ferguson challenged both of these decisions by way of judicial review.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 25th July 2025
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A man who was jailed for 19 years in 2016 for subjecting a girl to a “campaign of violent rape” in Rotherham has been found guilty of raping another vulnerable teenager in the town.’
The Independent, 23rd July 2025
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) has taken the rare step of dismissing an appeal over the outcome of a fact-finding hearing even through it was supported by the parties in the case.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd July 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A man has been found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son in a special care baby unit in Somerset by shattering his skull and breaking his neck while nurses worked less than 5 metres away.’
The Guardian, 24th July 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Two men have been sentenced for falsely distributing chicken as halal meat to restaurants and takeaways across south Wales.’
BBC News, 24th July 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The world of planning law once again proves itself to be a motor for the development of public law principles. This time, Lewis LJ saw a chance to develop the public law requirement on decision-makers to have regard to relevant considerations. This development takes the form of an arguable gloss on the relevant test. The case is Keep Chiswell Green v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government & Ors [2025] EWCA Civ 958.’
Administrative Court Blog, 24th July 2025
‘Over 1,000 illegally imported puppies in five years have ended up in rehoming centres after being stopped at the British border, new figures suggest.’
BBC News, 25th July 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to £100m worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years.’
The Guardian, 24th July 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Four traders are appealing to have their rate-rigging convictions overturned after the Supreme Court quashed two rate-rigging cases on Wednesday.’
BBC News, 25th July 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Justice Committee has launched a new inquiry into access to justice in England and Wales, examining the current state of the legal services and representation market, and how it, and associated operating pressures, affect access to justice.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th July 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Complaints about contentious social media posts by barristers have fuelled a jump of a third in reports to the Bar Standards Board (BSB).’
Legal Futures, 25th July 2025
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘In R (Campbell) v HM Attorney General [2025] EWHC 1653 (Admin), the Divisional Court (Lord Justice Stuart-Smith and Mr Justice Chamberlain) determined that a refusal by the Attorney General to issue a fiat for an application for a new inquest under section 13 (1) (b) of the Coroners Act 1988 is non-justiciable.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 24th July 2026
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The Freedom of Information Act 2000 created a scheme which sets up a general right upon members of the public to have information held by public bodies disclosed to them. This right is, however, subject to a number of important exemptions, set out in Part II of the Act. Exemptions are either absolute or qualified. Absolute exemptions, by their nature, operate as a complete answer to any information request: if one of the absolute exemptions applies, it would never be in the public interest for a public body to disclose the information sought.’
Administrative Court Blog, 23rd July 2025
An “urgent and comprehensive, root-and-branch” review is required to address systemic delays and entrenched inefficiencies across the County Court’s operations, MPs have said.
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd July 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘An advert by high street retailer Marks & Spencer has been banned for featuring an “irresponsible” image of a model who appeared “unhealthily thin”.’
The Guardian, 23rd July 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
© Inner Temple Library 2025