‘The Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”.’
The Guardian, 23rd April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Rishi Sunak’s plan to fly people seeking asylum to Rwanda this spring appears to have been put back to the summer after House of Lords insisted on changes to the scheme.’
The Guardian, 19th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill was introduced into Parliament before Christmas, starting in the House of Lords, to which it will shortly return for consideration of Commons amendments. Generally, the progress of the Bill, much of which implements recommendations made by Lord Anderson of Ipswich in his review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 of June 2023, has been smooth. This post considers an issue which has been the focus of a large portion of the attention the Bill has received during the Parliamentary process – the change being made to the law permitting the surveillance of parliamentarians – and the logic it might be thought to reflect.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th April 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Benjamin Scott-Thrale, 32, of Chester, Cheshire, launched a campaign of harassment against Samantha Dixon MP, in June 2023 until January, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.’
BBC News, 7th April 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘On 4 December 2023 the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced future changes to visa rules in what he described as a “five-point plan” to reduce immigration. The Home Office released more information on 21 December, including some adjustments to what had initially been announced.’
House of Commons Library, 11th April 2024
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘A crossbench peer and former ethics adviser to Boris Johnson has been found to have broken House of Lords rules by joining a meeting with Ministry of Defence officials on behalf of a US satellite company that was paying him.’
The Guardian, 27th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘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
‘The House of Lords has inflicted fresh defeats on the government over its flagship Rwanda bill, meaning further delay to it becoming law.’
BBC News, 21st March 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill could be forced on to the statute books without fulfilling the government’s legal commitment to independent scrutiny, the former borders watchdog has told peers.’
The Guardian, 19th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Post Office (Horizon system) offences bill, published on Wednesday, will quash the convictions of people resulting from the scandal, which involved hundreds being wrongly prosecuted on the basis of a faulty IT system. Here the Guardian explains the thinking behind the bill and why it is controversial.’
The Guardian, 13th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The government has suffered five further defeats in the House of Lords over its Rwanda bill.’
BBC News, 6th March 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘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
‘A far-right extremist who posted offensive content on social media and glorified the murderer of Jo Cox MP has been jailed for two years and eight months.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 9th February 2024
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘The UK government’s proposals to send asylum seekers arriving to the UK onto Rwanda continue to spark intense opposition.’
EIN Blog, 6th February 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘Sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPPs) were abolished in 2012. However, this abolition did not apply retrospectively to prisoners already serving IPPs. Recent prison population data on IPPs has shown over 1,200 prisoners have never been released. This briefing examines concerns raised by campaign groups, professional bodies and international partners about the impact of IPPs on prisoners’ release prospects and mental health.’
House of Lords Library, 6th February 2024
Source: lordslibrary.parliament.uk
‘Baroness Hale revealed her “true colours” by voting against the Rwanda Bill, according to former leader of the Commons Jacob-Rees-Mogg, who yesterday called for the “politicised” Supreme Court to be emasculated.’
Law Society's Gazette, 7th February 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘This Briefing looks at plans to legislate for an independent regulator for English football.’
House of Commons Library , 6th February 2024
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘It is difficult to provide a satisfying account of constitutional accountability in the UK without considering the internal processes of major political parties (especially the governing party and the largest opposition party). Yet, intra-party processes often do not receive the attention of constitutional scholars. Therefore, in this blog, I will discuss the constitutional importance and the legal treatment of intra-party processes. I will start with the constitutional significance of certain intra-party processes. Subsequently, I will discuss the consequences of the existing private law status of parties. I will then comment on the amenability of intra-party processes to judicial review in light of a recent judgment delivered by Fordham J in R (Tortoise Media) v Conservative Party [2023] EWHC 3088 (Admin) (“Tortoise Media”). The blog concludes with a caution against a blanket rejection of judicial review of intra-party processes.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 31st January 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 29 January 2024, having cleared the House of Commons unamended. There are a great many problems with the Rwanda Bill, any of which might weigh with the Lords, but this blog post focuses on just one: the likelihood that, if enacted, the Bill may well trigger a constitutional crisis between the courts and Parliament. It would be a crisis that is likely to endure beyond the life of the policy embodied in the Bill. I argue here that one of the roles of the House of Lords is to act as a constitutional safeguard, a steam-valve, and, in exercise of this function under the rare circumstances that attend this Bill, it would be legitimate for the Lords to not only make and insist upon far-reaching changes to the Bill, but even to refuse to pass it altogether. This post is not concerned with the realpolitik of whether peers would in fact vote the Bill down – though I come to the point in the conclusion. It rather seeks to refute the constitutional argument that it would be illegitimate to block or make potent amendments to it.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th January 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Some commentators have claimed that the decision to expedite the process of formally exonerating the sub-postmasters potentially runs afoul of certain core constitutional principles, in particular the separation of powers. It has also been claimed that the “crown does not have a prerogative of justice but only a prerogative of mercy”. This blog considers and challenges those claims.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 16th January 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
© Inner Temple Library 2024