Environmental Law News Update – Six Pump Court

‘In this latest Environmental Law News Update, Christopher Badger and Laura Phillips consider the Bar Council’s Brexit Working Group paper on environmental law, the publication of revised voluntary guidelines for issuing Green Bonds, and pledges by the Mayor of London for a ‘zero-emission’ city by 2050.’

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Six Pump Court, 26th June 2017

Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk

Systems of law and the European project – OUP Blog

Posted July 4th, 2017 in EC law, news, treaties by sally

‘Since the end of the Second World War, the European project has met with difficulties and even crises. Its momentum has, however, been strong enough to fend off these turbulent undercurrents, and it has developed incrementally in the decades since. Supported by its two pillars, The Council of Europe and the European Union, it is a Europe built on law, and the project is progressively taking on the contours of a new legal system.’

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OUP Blog, 4th July 2017

Source: blog.oup.com

New measures to allow ratification of Istanbul Convention – Home Office

Posted June 30th, 2017 in domestic violence, news, press releases, treaties, women by tracey

‘The government will introduce new measures to protect women and girls from crimes committed overseas as part of its Domestic Abuse Bill. The new legislation would be the final step to enable ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention.’

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Home Office, 29th June 2017

Source: www.gov.uk

Speech by the Lord Chief Justice: Law Reform Now in 21st Century Britain – Brexit and Beyond – Courts and Tribunals Judicairy

Posted June 27th, 2017 in brexit, EC law, judiciary, Law Commission, legislation, speeches, treaties by tracey

‘I have taken as the first part of the title of this lecture words with which Lord Scarman would have been very familiar: Law Reform Now – the three words which formed the title of the Gerald Gardiner and Andrew Martin book which contained their blueprint for what would become the Law Commission. As Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC, in the course of tracing the origins and huge success of the Law Commission in his 2015 Scarman Lecture, recalled, it started with a proposition; one they took to be axiomatic: “. . . that much of our English law is out of date, and some of it shockingly so.” They were not wrong.’

Full speech

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

How do citizens’ rights affect Brexit negotiations? – The Guardian

‘Protections for 1.2m Britons on continent and 3.5m Europeans in UK should be easy to settle in theory, but there are obstacles.’

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The Guardian, 23rd June 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Theresa May faces legal challenge over proposed deal with DUP – The Guardian

‘Theresa May is facing a landmark legal challenge over her proposed deal with the Democratic Unionist party on the grounds that it breaches the Good Friday agreement.’

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The Guardian, 20th June 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Liora Lazarus: Do Human Rights Impede Effective Counterterrorism? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Theresa May and Keir Starmer disagree about whether human rights impede effective counterterrorism. Both bring experience at the coalface of this field, May as former Home Secretary, and Starmer as former DPP responsible for the prosecution of terrorist cases. Who is right? There is no point in pretending that human rights do not present legal constraints on counterterrorism powers. Nevertheless, the constraints that do exist are certainly not as restrictive as rights opponents would like us to believe. Moreover, it is crucial to distinguish between legal constraints, and the notion that these constraints constitute practical impediments on the effective prevention and punishment of terrorism. The debate is full of confusion between the two. This post will deal only with the first question of legal constraints, as the second is a matter of empirical proof. Before we can proceed with the normative project of changing human rights protections, a process that has far wider implications for human rights in general and our liberal democratic culture, any government has to provide persuasive evidence that human rights do in fact stand in the way of security. The present government, for as long as it lasts, would also need to dispose of the charge that a 13 % reduction in police numbers over the last six years is less significant in the fight against terror, than the human rights constraints that guide police action.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th June 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Brexit: 2018 Queen’s Speech cancelled by government – BBC News

Posted June 19th, 2017 in bills, brexit, EC law, news, repeals, speeches, treaties by sally

‘There will be no Queen’s Speech next year to give MPs more time to deal with Brexit laws, the government says.’

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BBC News, 18th June 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Breverse: Politically Problematic but Legally Possible, by Rosie Slowe – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 15th, 2017 in constitutional law, EC law, elections, news, parliament, treaties by sally

‘On 29 March 2017, Theresa May’s Article 50 letter of notice was delivered to Donald Tusk, thereby formally triggering the Treaty-based process for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The question remains: is this trajectory irreversible, or can the UK rescind its notification?’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 14th June 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Kenneth Armstrong: Has Article 50 Really Been Triggered? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted June 15th, 2017 in constitutional law, EC law, news, parliament, treaties by sally

‘With the Supreme Court handing down its judgment in Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU on 24 January this year, one might have been forgiven for thinking that the issues around the legality of the triggering of Article 50 had been settled. As we all now know, the Supreme Court decided that Parliament had to give legislative authority for UK ministers lawfully to notify the UK of its intention to withdraw from the EU. The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 was enacted and the Prime Minister duly wrote President Tusk her Article 50 letter.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th June 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Rise in anti money laundering inquiries poses challenge for banks, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

‘Requests from foreign authorities for the UK’s assistance in anti money laundering (AML) investigations rose last year to record levels.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th June 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Colin Harvey and Daniel Holder: The Great Repeal Bill and the Good Friday Agreement – Cementing a Stalemate or Constitutional Collision Course? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘As predicted, Brexit is proving to be profoundly destabilising for the peace process and the constitutional politics of Northern Ireland. An outcome that lacks the consent of the people of Northern Ireland (a majority voted to remain) is re-opening fundamental questions about future relationships across these islands. We argue that this constitutional mess has potentially created a ‘perfect storm’, and leaves many here struggling with the troubling consequences.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 6th June 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

UK unlawfully denies transfer to UK of refugees living for 18 years in Cyprus British Sovereign Base – Free Movement

Posted June 6th, 2017 in appeals, armed forces, immigration, news, refugees, treaties by tracey

‘R (Bashir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 397. The British Sovereign Base Areas (“SBAs”) are small British-run areas on the Cyprus islands that survived the former colony’s independence. The Home Office has taken the position for a number of years that the Refugee Convention does not apply there. The Court of Appeal has unanimously held that in doing so, then-Home Secretary Theresa May acted unlawfully in denying refugees from the SBAs access to the UK.’

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Free Movement, 6th June 2017

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

BREXIT: UK faces renegotiating 759 treaties with non-EU countries – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 1st, 2017 in brexit, EC law, news, treaties by sally

‘The UK will have to renegotiate at least 759 trade agreements with 168 non-EU countries after it leaves the European Union, according to research by the Financial Times.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 31st May 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Crowdfunded legal challenge over article 50 abandoned – The Guardian

Posted May 31st, 2017 in brexit, EC law, news, referendums, treaties by sally

‘A crowdfunded legal challenge to test whether Brexit can be reversed has been abandoned.’

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The Guardian, 30th May 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Brexit and implications for UK Merger Control – Part 3/3: Managing and prioritising the CMA’s mergers workload – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted May 16th, 2017 in brexit, competition, EC law, mergers, news, treaties by sally

‘The Competition Bulletin is pleased to welcome the third in a three-part series of blogs on Brexit and merger control by Ben Forbes and Mat Hughes of AlixPartners. Ben and Mat are (with others) co-authors of the new Sweet & Maxwell book, “UK Merger Control: Law and Practice”.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 16th May 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Brexit may cost MPs and peers the power to pass laws, says former judge – The Guardian

‘The “legislative tsunami” unleashed by Brexit will deliver the “greatest challenge” in history to the integrity of parliament’s procedures, a former lord chief justice has said. Lord Judge raised his concerns that by the time Brexit is completed and the “great repeal bill” enacted, MPs and peers will have effectively given away their powers to pass laws.’

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The Guardian, 3rd May 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Eirik Bjorge: The Dualist System of the English Constitution and the Victorian Acquis – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted May 2nd, 2017 in constitutional law, news, parliament, treaties by sally

‘The Supreme Court in Miller set out the model that ‘the dualist system is a necessary corollary of Parliamentary sovereignty’ (para 57), or in the words of Campbell McLachlan in his admirable Foreign Relations Law, cited by the Supreme Court:

“If treaties have no effect within domestic law, Parliament’s legislative supremacy within its own polity is secure. If the executive must always seek the sanction of Parliament in the event that a proposed action on the international plane will require domestic implementation, parliamentary sovereignty is reinforced at the very point at which the legislative power is engaged (para 5.20).”‘

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 28th April 2017

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

London’s legal eminence will survive Brexit, LCJ insists – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 26th, 2017 in brexit, EC law, legal services, London, news, referendums, treaties by sally

‘Brexit will not harm London’s status as a centre for dispute resolution, the lord chief justice has assured Chinese colleagues. In a speech to the National Judges College in Beijing earlier this month and circulated by HM Judiciary today, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd took English contract law as an illustration of why Brexit will have ‘no effect on London’s key strengths’.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 25th April 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Plan to opt out of rights accords in future wars dangerous, inquiry hears – The Guardian

‘Government plans to opt out of international human rights agreements in future conflicts would be dangerous and prevent British soldiers from obtaining justice, according to evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry by the Law Society and Liberty.’

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The Guardian, 24th April 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk