The Weekly Round-up: indefinite CBA strikes, Truss considers Article 16, and Spanish consent laws

29 August 2022 by

Source of image: http://www.fleetpoint.org/law-and-legislation/brexit/logistics-uk-make-the-northern-ireland-protocol-a-priority/

In the news:

Members of the Criminal Bar Association have voted in favour of an indefinite strike, escalating the industrial action that the courts have witnessed since June. The decision follows failed negotiations with the Ministry of Justice, with Dominic Raab still having not met with the CBA and the government standing firm in its position. The MoJ have expressed their disapproval of the decision, labelling it ‘irresponsible’. The CBA, alternatively, have accused the government of overseeing a ‘recklessly underfunded’ criminal justice system. In response to the decision, Raab has proposed granting more solicitors rights of audience, allowing more to advocate in the Crown court. The strike is due to commence on 5 September, coinciding with the announcement of the new Conservative party leader.  

Liz Truss has expressed that she will consider triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol if she were to be successful in her leadership campaign. Article 16 provides ‘safeguarding measures’ that entitle the UK or the EU to suspend any part of the agreement. It does not, however, dismantle the Protocol in its entirety.  Rather, triggering the article would provide an alternative to other suggestions which propose primary legislation to deem it necessary that the Government not comply with its existing obligations under the agreement. Triggering the article would exhaust the legal options the UK has before following through on this threat to discard the agreement altogether. The news comes after the EU launched a series of legal challenges against the UK’s commitment to the Protocol.

In other news

  • Spain have passed legislation that means consent cannot be assumed by default or silence. Under the new law, which has been termed the ‘only yes means yes law’, consent must be affirmative. The equality minister stated that ‘it is a victorious day after many years of struggle.’
  • The Metropolitan police is taking a former senior officer to court, claiming her allegations of racism and sexism broke an agreement which designed to stop her speaking out. The Met are claiming £60,000 plus interest after Parm Sandhu purportedly broke an NDA when she discussed the discrimination she faced within the police.

In the courts:

  • In Nodea v Judecatoria Oradea Romania [2022] EWHC 2217 (Admin), the High Court dismissed an appeal against an extradition order to Romania. The extradition had been made in respect of 6 offences of which the appellant had been convicted. The appeal centred on the fact that Romania has regard to the issue of totality when it sentences for more than one offence at a time. This means it applies a formula which determines the most serious sentence appropriate and adding it to one third of the combined appropriate sentences for all other offences. This results in a single sentence being imposed for the totality of the offender’s criminality, and not a series of individual offences as in the UK. The difficulty is that the appellant was only extradited for some of their offences, and this formula cannot, it was submitted, accommodate this. However, the court found that the state had made proper provision to ensure the principle of speciality had been enacted into its laws, and the appellant did not discharge the heavy burden of disproving this.  
  • In HSK v Crown Prosecution Service [2022] EWHC 2213 (Admin), the High Court allowed an appeal against a conviction of a racially aggravated offence. The appellant pleaded guilty to unlawfully and maliciously wounding contrary to section 20 of the Offence Against the Person Act. It was held that the Youth Courts were not entitled to convict the appellant of the racially aggravated offence simply on the basis that he was part of a group which attacked on a racially motivated basis. It had to be the appellant himself who was racially motivated. This could also have been satisfied if all of the group shared that motivation. On the present facts, only one member of the group, who was not identified, had used racially charged language, which was insufficient.

Elsewhere on the UKHRB:

  • Natalie Nguyen analyses local authority age assessments considered in R (HAM) v Brent LBC. Find it here.

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Aarhus Abortion Abu Qatada Abuse Access to justice administrative court adoption ALBA Allison Bailey Al Qaeda animal rights anonymity Appeals Article 1 Protocol 1 Article 2 article 3 Article 4 article 5 Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 article 10 Article 11 article 13 Article 14 Artificial Intelligence Asbestos assisted suicide asylum Australia autism benefits Bill of Rights biotechnology blogging Bloody Sunday brexit Bribery Catholicism Chagos Islanders charities Children children's rights China christianity citizenship civil liberties campaigners climate change clinical negligence Coercion common law confidentiality consent conservation constitution contempt of court Control orders Copyright coronavirus Coroners costs court of appeal Court of Protection covid crime Cybersecurity Damages Dartmoor data protection death penalty defamation deportation deprivation of liberty Detention diplomatic immunity disability disclosure Discrimination disease divorce DNA domestic violence duty of candour duty of care ECHR ECtHR Education election Employment Employment Law Employment Tribunal enforcement Environment Equality Act Ethiopia EU EU Charter of Fundamental Rights EU costs EU law European Court of Justice evidence extradition extraordinary rendition Family Fertility FGM Finance football foreign criminals foreign office France freedom of assembly Freedom of Expression freedom of information freedom of speech Gay marriage Gaza gender Gender Recognition Act genetics Germany gmc Google government Grenfell Health healthcare high court HIV home office Housing HRLA human rights Human Rights Act human rights news Huntington's Disease immigration India Indonesia injunction Inquests international law internet Inuit Iran Iraq Ireland Islam Israel Italy IVF Jalla v Shell Japan Japanese Knotweed Judaism judicial review jury trial JUSTICE Justice and Security Bill Land Reform Law Pod UK legal aid legal ethics legality Leveson Inquiry LGBTQ Rights liability Libel Liberty Libya Lithuania local authorities marriage Maya Forstater mental capacity Mental Health military Ministry of Justice modern slavery monitoring murder music Muslim nationality national security NHS Northern Ireland nuclear challenges nuisance Obituary ouster clauses parental rights parliamentary expenses scandal Parole patents Pensions Personal Injury Piracy Plagiarism planning Poland Police Politics pollution press Prisoners Prisons privacy Private Property Professional Discipline Property proportionality Protection of Freedoms Bill Protest Public/Private public access public authorities public inquiries public law Regulatory Proceedings rehabilitation Reith Lectures Religion RightsInfo Right to assembly right to die right to family life Right to Privacy Right to Roam right to swim riots Roma Romania Round Up Royals Russia Saudi Arabia Scotland secrecy secret justice Sex sexual offence sexual orientation Sikhism Smoking social media Social Work South Africa Spain special advocates Sports Standing statelessness Statutory Interpretation stop and search Strasbourg Supreme Court Supreme Court of Canada surrogacy surveillance Syria Tax technology Terrorism tort Torture Transgender travel treaty TTIP Turkey UK Ukraine UK Supreme Court unduly harsh united nations unlawful detention USA US Supreme Court vicarious liability Wales War Crimes Wars Welfare Western Sahara Whistleblowing Wikileaks Wild Camping wind farms WomenInLaw YearInReview Zimbabwe
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