Category: parliament

Part 82: The worrying new rules of the Secret Court – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 15th, 2013 in civil procedure rules, closed material, inquiries, interpretation, news, parliament by sally

“While MPs were dreaming of the imminent long summer break and a possible pay hike, in mid-June the Government produced the draft amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (‘CPR’) necessary to bring Part 2 of the Justice and Security Act 2013 (‘JSA’) into force. Many – including JUSTICE – consider the Act’s introduction of closed material procedures (‘CMP’) into civil proceedings unfair, unnecessary and unjustified.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 12th July 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Press regulation: government’s plan for a new watchdog delayed until autumn – The Guardian

Posted July 12th, 2013 in charters, media, news, parliament, Privy Council by sally

“The government’s plan for a new press regulator has been officially put back to the autumn after a privy council meeting on Wednesday referred the matter to a new committee.”

Full story

The Guardian, 12th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Roundtable report – LegalVoice

Posted July 11th, 2013 in criminal justice, legal aid, news, parliament by sally

“A roundtable meeting took place yesterday at the House of Commons, speakers included Andy Slaughter MP, Sadiq Khan MP, Emily Thornberry MP, Lord Willy Bach and Jeremy Beecham. Gemma Blythe reports.”

Full story

LegalVoice, 10th July 2013

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Abu Qatada extradition treaty finalised by British Parliament – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 21st, 2013 in deportation, extradition, news, parliament, terrorism, treaties by sally

“An extradition treaty to pave the way for Abu Qatada’s removal from Britain
after a near decade-long saga has been approved by Parliament.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 21st June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jack Simson Caird: A Proposal for a Code of Legislative Standards? – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted June 17th, 2013 in bills, codes of practice, constitutional reform, legislative drafting, news, parliament by sally

“On the 20 of May the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (the PCR) published its report on legislative scrutiny standards titled ‘Ensuring standards in the quality of legislation’. The Report contains two eye catching and ambitious proposals for parliamentary reform: the creation of a joint committee on legislative standards and the adoption of a code of legislative standards. This blog is about the second of these proposals. The proposal is a significant one, and if implemented it would dramatically improve the information available to parliamentarians in their scrutiny of government bills. The PCR’s code is in effect a series of questions and demands for information relating to the content and to the timetable of a bill, that the government would answer within the explanatory notes to a bill. In this blog post, I draw attention to the code proposed by the PRC and I offer a critique of their approach, and in particular of the decision not to include substantive legislative standards.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 14th June 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Minister tells profession to adapt to “the new circumstances” of life in the law – Legal Futures

Posted June 4th, 2013 in consultations, legal aid, legal profession, news, parliament by sally

“Solicitors and barristers will have to adjust to ‘the new circumstances’ they are facing as a result of legal aid and other reforms ‘if they are going to survive’, justice minister Lord McNally said yesterday.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 4th June 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

At-a-glance: Queen’ Speech 2013 bill-by-bill – BBC News

Posted May 9th, 2013 in bills, news, parliament, speeches by sally

“The Queen’s Speech sets out the government’s legislative programme for the next
year. Here is a guide to all the bills in it.”

Full story

BBC News, 8th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Queen’s speeches since 1994: how many bills did they introduce? – The Guardian

Posted May 7th, 2013 in bills, news, parliament, speeches by sally

“Ahead of the 2013 state opening of parliament, we look at how long the Queen’s speech has been over the last two decades, and how many bills it introduced.”

Full story

The Guardian, 7th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Carers to receive legal rights under new laws – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 7th, 2013 in bills, carers, financial provision, news, parliament, pensions, speeches by sally

“Hundreds of thousands of people who care for elderly or disabled relations will be given new rights to state support for the first time, Norman Lamb, the Care and Support Minister, says.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 7th May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Queen’s speech: consumer bill of rights to cover faulty apps or downloads – The Guardian

Posted May 7th, 2013 in bills, consumer protection, internet, news, parliament, speeches by sally

“Consumer rights covering products such as cars and white goods are to be extended to apps and music downloads in a consumer bill of rights to be unveiled in the Queen’s speech on Wednesday.”

Full story

The Guardian, 6th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Should parliament give itself more powers? – The Guardian

Posted May 3rd, 2013 in constitutional reform, freedom of expression, judiciary, news, parliament, parliamentary privilege by sally

“Should parliament give itself more powers? That’s the intriguing question posed by a paper to be published next week by the Constitution Society, an educational charity established five years ago.”

Full story

The Guardian, 2nd May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

MPs’ expenses: copies of receipts are subject to FOIA – Panopticon

Posted April 30th, 2013 in disclosure, documents, expenses, freedom of information, news, parliament by sally

“Following the MPs’ expenses scandal, the then newly-founded Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) decided that it would not routinely publish images of the receipts submitted to IPSA by MPs in support of their expenses claims. Rather, only text transcribed from the submitted receipts was to be published.”

Full story

Panopticon, 29th April 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Justice and Security Act 2013 – legislation.gov.uk

Posted April 26th, 2013 in disclosure, intelligence services, legislation, parliament by sally

Full text of Act

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Health and safety automatic civil liability to end as House of Lords accepts Government’s plans – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 26th, 2013 in bills, health & safety, news, parliament, strict liability by sally

“The House of Lords has approved Government plans to prevent companies from being
automatically liable for some workplace injuries after a second vote on the
issue.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 24th April 2013

Soure: www.out-law.com

Bar Council welcomes House of Lords report on EU Opt-out – The Bar Council

Posted April 23rd, 2013 in barristers, EC law, intelligence services, news, parliament, police, reports by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has welcomed the finding of the House of Lords EU Committee that the Government has not made a convincing case to opt-out of about 130 EU police and criminal justice measures and that to do so would have significant negative repercussions for the UK’s internal security.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 23rd April 2013

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Fast-track legislation preventing proper scrutiny, says rights committee – The Guardian

Posted April 17th, 2013 in bills, human rights, legislation, legislative drafting, news, parliament, reports, select committees by sally

“The increasing use emergency legislation, lack of adequate debating time and insertion of last-minute amendments are preventing effective parliamentary scrutiny of new laws, a committee has said.”

Full story

The Guardian, 15th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Complexity of parliamentary legislation ‘undermining the rule of law’ – The Guardian

Posted April 16th, 2013 in legislation, legislative drafting, news, parliament, regulations, rule of law by sally

“Parliamentary legislation is excessively complex and its confusions undermine the rule of law, according to the official in charge of drafting government statutes.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Blow to freedom of speech as key libel reform the Defamation Bill is blocked – The Independent

Posted April 16th, 2013 in bills, defamation, freedom of expression, news, parliament by sally

“The Government is to block plans to reform Britain’s ‘chilling’ libel laws and to prevent large companies from silencing their critics with the threat of being sued.”

Full story

The Independent, 15th April 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Justice and Security Bill: The “Secret Courts” Endgame? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 26th, 2013 in bills, closed material, news, parliament, private hearings by sally

“Today we will see the beginning of the end of the passage of the Justice and Security Bill through Parliament: the process commonly known as parliamentary ‘ping-pong’.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 26th March 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Lords to vote on restoring safeguards to plan for secret courts – The Guardian

Posted March 26th, 2013 in bills, closed material, news, parliament, private hearings by sally

“Peers vote on Tuesday on whether to restore extra safeguards to the justice and security bill – amendments that the government has warned will make the expansion of secret courts unworkable.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk