The Cabinet Office has released its long awaited (by this blog at least) Justice and Security Green Paper, addressing the difficult question of to what extent the state must reveal secret information in court proceedings. A consultation has been launched on the proposals; responses can be sent via email by Friday 6 January 2012. The [...]
Archive for the ‘Judges and Juries’ Category
More secret justice on the horizon
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Criminal, Freedom of Information, In the news, Judges and Juries, Politics / Public Order, Secret justice, Terrorism, tagged secret justice on October 19, 2011 |
Why have a European Court of Human Rights? – Dr Ed Bates
Posted in European, In the news, International, Judges and Juries, tagged European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg on October 13, 2011 | 26 Comments »
At last week’s Inner Temple hall event, ‘Strasbourg and the UK: Dialogue or Conflict’, Lord Justice Laws asked some provocative questions: why should judges decide matters of social policy [thrown up by human rights cases] at all? The political rights, Article 8 – 12, with the right set out in the first part and the [...]
Don’t throw the BAILII out with the bath water
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, In the news, Judges and Juries, Technology, tagged BAILII on September 26, 2011 | 8 Comments »
The Guardian published an editorial today arguing that court judgments should be opened up to the public. The editorial challenges the fact that BAILII, the charity which currently publishes most judgments online, is not searchable on Google. Broadly speaking, it is good to see The Guardian taking up this somewhat esoteric but important topic. As [...]
Whose law is it anyway?
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Freedom of Information, In the news, Judges and Juries on July 26, 2011 | 1 Comment »
What is a “tort”? No, not a rich multilayered cake, but rather an “actionable wrong”. Tort law is also the means through which five Kenyans alleging they were mistreated in British detention camps in the 1950s may get damages. How do I know this? Because Mr Justice McCombe told me in a helpful summary of his judgment [...]
British judge to head European Court of Human Rights
Posted in European, In the news, Judges and Juries on July 5, 2011 | 8 Comments »
Sir Nicolas Bratza, the only UK judge at the European Court of Human Rights, has been elected as its new President. The start of his presidency will coincide with the UK’s 6-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe which begins in November 2011. Bratza will succeed Frenchman John Paul Costa on 4 November 2011 after [...]
Lady Hale on access to justice, legal aid and staying at The Ritz
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Costs and Procedure, In the news, Judges and Juries, tagged legal aid on June 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »
As reported by Guardian.co.uk, Lady Hale, one of the 12 UK Supreme Court justices, has said in a speech to The Law Society that the government’s proposed reforms to legal aid will have a “disproportionate effect upon the poorest and most vulnerable in society“. Although the current crop of senior judges has not been afraid [...]
Bill of Rights Commission on politics, preconceptions and football metaphors
Posted in Bill of Rights, European, In the news, Judges and Juries, tagged Bill of rights commission on June 27, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Members of the UK Bill of Rights Commission, an independent body asked by the government to investigate the case for a UK Bill of Rights, has been giving evidence to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (transcripts here: part 1, part 2). The sessions give an interesting if predictable insight into the likely discussions between the [...]
Judicial review golden goose has narrow escape in Supreme Court
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Article 13 | Effective remedy, Case comments, In the news, Judges and Juries on June 24, 2011 | 1 Comment »
R (on the application of Cart) (Appellant) v The Upper Tribunal (Respondent); R (on the application of MR (Pakistan)) (FC) (Appellant) v The Upper Tribunal (Immigration & Asylum Chamber) and Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) [2011] UKSC 28, 22/6/2011 – read judgment; press summary here Unappealable decisions of the Upper Tribunal are still subject to judicial review by the High Court, [...]
The power of unelected judges – Part 1 of 2
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, Employment, In the news, Judges and Juries, Scotland on May 30, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Two court decisions have upset UK governments this week. One is being appealed in the normal way by the Secretary of State for Education, but the other may lead to a fundamental rethink of the Scottish justice system. As a Bank Holiday special, this post is split into 2 parts. Starting with the Sharon Shoesmith [...]
Let’s talk about sex
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Defamation / Libel, In the news, Judges and Juries, Media on May 26, 2011 | 7 Comments »
In 1991 US band Salt-n-Pepa reached number 2 in the UK charts with Let’s Talk About Sex. It is difficult to imagine now, 20 years on, why such an inoffensive and gently educational song generated huge controversy. That difficulty highlights how much less prudish we are about sex now than we were then. Salt-n-Pepa talked [...]
Murder, toil and trouble – three new Supreme Court judgments
Posted in Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, In the news, Judges and Juries on May 25, 2011 |
The Supreme Court has delivered three judgments this morning, all of which are of interest from a human rights perspective. We will cover them in more detail soon, but for now, a brief summary. First, murder. In 2003 Nat Fraser was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In Fraser (Appellant) [...]
No legal aid cuts to avoid bad days in court
Posted in Case comments, Case law, Case summaries, Costs and Procedure, In the news, International, Judges and Juries, Politics / Public Order, tagged Access to justice, legal aid on May 18, 2011 | 2 Comments »
R (on the application of Evans) v The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice [2011] EWHC 1146 (Admin) - Read judgment The High Court has found that the Ministry of Justice, when making a decision to cease the state’s funding of judicial review challenges on purely public interest grounds (apart from one exception), took into [...]
Unelected, underqualified and frankly bonkers
Posted in European, In the news, International, Judges and Juries on May 9, 2011 | 2 Comments »
A near-hysterical reaction has greeted some recent European court rulings. If you believed the coverage, you would think that unelected, underqualified and frankly bonkers judges are dictating our laws and making our Prime Minister physically ill. With this week potentially heralding another hang-the-judges media storm over Max Mosley’s Strasbourg privacy case, it is a relief [...]
Silence please: A Facebook contempt of court – allegedly
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case comments, Costs and Procedure, Criminal, In the news, Judges and Juries, tagged contempt of court, Facebook, Judges and Juries on April 28, 2011 | 2 Comments »
A juror has found herself facing contempt of court charges, it being alleged that she communicated on Facebook with a defendant who had already been acquitted. These types of proceedings can have human rights implications in two ways: Article 6, providing the right to a fair trial can be infringed upon by improper communicaton by jurors, and [...]
Welcome!
Browse by legal topic
Recommended- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- Supreme Court judgment: Assange v Swedish Judicial Authority - Carl Gardner May 30, 2012
- Julian Assange's extradition stayed thanks to quick legal footwork | Joshua Rozenberg | Law | guardian.co.uk May 30, 2012
- New Judgment: Assange v The Swedish Judicial Authority [2012] UKSC 22 May 30, 2012
- What if Julian Assange loses in the Supreme Court? May 29, 2012
- Secret justice concessions won't silence its critics | The Spectator May 29, 2012
- ICLR's case summaries are now on Guardian Law | Daniel Hoadley | Law | guardian.co.uk May 29, 2012
- The High Court is unable to agree on Twitter Joke Trial appeal - David Allen Green May 28, 2012
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012
- Case law
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- SCOPPOLA v. ITALY (No. 3) - 126/05 [2012] ECHR 868 (22 May 2012) May 23, 2012ECtHR Grand Chamber: automatic and indiscriminate disenfranchisement of prisoners unlawful but up to individual states how to implement changes were such a ban exist
- Dishonesty in entry clearance applications May 21, 2012An Upper Tribunal (UT) decision confirms that, where an application for entry clearance is “marred by dishonesty” – whether in the applicant’s knowledge or not and even where the applicant is presently eligible for entry – it is not a disproportionate response for the Home Secretary to refuse the application, even in light of Article 8
- MM and AO (A Child), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 668 (18 May 2012) May 18, 2012Secretary of State acted lawfully in not ordering independent inquiry into 2009 protest at Immigration Detention Centre. Challenge by children separated from parents during protest and claiming pschiatric damage as result.
- British Sky Broadcasting Ltd & Ors, R (on the application of) v Chelmsford Crown Court [2012] EWHC 1295 (Admin) (17 May 2012) May 17, 2012Sky, BBC, ITN etc. succeed in JR of decision by court to order production of 100+ hours of video footage to Essex Police of Dale Farm protesters: "... there were no reasonable grounds for believing that the footage of over 100 hours included material likely to be of substantial value to the investigation"
- Humphreys v Revenue and Customs [2012] UKSC 18 (16 May 2012) May 16, 2012Supreme Court: paying child tax credit to "main" care giver not discriminatory under art.14 ECHR to father caring for child 3 days per week. The specific test for justifying discrimination in the context of state benefits is that with questions of social and economic strategy the Court will generally respect the legislature’s policy choice unless i […]
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012
-
UKHRB on Twitter
- #Assange loses SC appeal 5 votes to 2. Like to be #ECtHR application to block #extradition 4 hours ago
- #Assange Supreme Court decision imminent bbc.co.uk/news/uk-182594… #extradition 5 hours ago
- Also fresh on the blog- The Erika: Cour de Cassation has its thinking cap on by David Hart QC ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/the… 5 hours ago
- Good morning all, @IsabelMcArdle here. Justive and Security Bill- the govt is not for turning by Angela Patrick ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/jus… 5 hours ago
Adam Wagner on Twitter
- RT @simonmckay: Catt v Metropolitan Police. Important case on #protest and #dataretention. Would be surprised if it was not appealed:htt ... 55 minutes ago
- For anyone who hasn't read it > Justice & Security Bill: Government is not for turning - Angela Patrick of @justicehq: wp.me/pJiO3-3Gc 1 hour ago
- RT @CrowtherSimon: Excellent piece by @justicehq's Angela Patrick on Just& Sec Bill on @ukhumanrightsb ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/jus… #secretj ... 1 hour ago
- RT @I_am_peevee: @AdamWagner1 @gideonconn "and excellent artist"... 1 hour ago
- My friend and brilliant musician @GideonConn has a brand new video: youtube.com/watch?v=tX-ZrZ… 1 hour ago
- Excellent from @joshuarozenerg on the potentially embarrassing mess surrounding the #Assange ruling is.gd/4Qs0h3 1 hour ago
- Recent posts
- The Erika: Cour de Cassation has its thinking cap on May 29, 2012 David Hart QC
- Justice and Security Bill: The Government is not for turning – Angela Patrick May 29, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
- We need to think about Kevin May 29, 2012 Rosalind English
- Key Justice and Security Bill resources May 29, 2012 Adam Wagner
- Free Speech at Work: A 1COR Seminar and Mock Trial – Wed 27th June May 29, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
- Time and time again: Article 6 to the rescue May 27, 2012 David Hart QC
- Prisoner voting, Bratza’s replacement and peaceful protest – The Human Rights Roundup May 27, 2012 Wessen Jazrawi
- The case for letting prisoners vote – Reuven Ziegler May 24, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
Disclaimer
Secret evidence v open justice: the current state of play
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Article 13 | Effective remedy, Case comments, Damages, Discrimination, European, In the news, Judges and Juries, Secret justice, Terrorism on July 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »
1 Crown Office Row’s Peter Skelton appeared for The Security Services in this case. He is not the author of this post. On Wednesday last week, the Supreme Court handed out two apparently contradictory judgments on what seemed to be the same issue – see our reports here and here. Had they taken leave of [...]
Read Full Post »