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News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform
A selection of topical legal news from the UK and around the world, including the historic dispute over the mortal remains of the last Plantagenet king, a consultation over hate crime, the continuing saga of legal aid cuts and the criminal justice system, and tales of justice (or injustice) in foreign parts. Other recent posts… Continue reading
Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis reviewed by Paul Magrath Few authors can claim to have set in train an investigation by the FBI, but Michael Lewis’s latest book, Flash Boys, has done just that after exposing some of the more dubious practices associated with High Frequency Trading (HFT) on the US securities market. Nor is… Continue reading
A weekly roundup of topical legal news from the UK and around the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain and the USA. Afghanistan The appeal of a British marine, initially tried by court martial as “Marine A” but later revealed to be Sgt Alexander Blackman, against his conviction for murder was dismissed by the… Continue reading
Yesterday the Court of Appeal roundly allowed an appeal by the prosecuting authority and the Secretary of State for Justice (intervening, or as some might suggest, interfering) against the trial judge’s decision to stay a major fraud case by reason of the unavailability of counsel for five legally aided defendants. The case has aroused a… Continue reading
A weekly roundup of topical legal news, including the continuing VHCC saga, a review of criminal advocacy (or what might be left of it), and a torrent of historical “divorce porn” from the new Family Court. But first, that “unforgettable” google ruling from the ECJ. You have a right to remain silent, thanks to Magna… Continue reading
Reviewed by Paul Magrath When the drugged, strangled corpse of a blonde in a green dress is found in the bedroom of hedge fund honcho Vernon James’s trashed hotel suite, the morning after the gala awards ceremony where he was awarded the Ethical Man of the Year prize, his protestations of innocence meet a wall… Continue reading
A weekly roundup of topical legal news This week’s stories deal largely with issues of representation: its quality (if you can get it) and what happens if you can’t. Operation Cotton Over the past week, there’s been a lot of commentary on the collapse of a major fraud trial, owing to the lack of suitable… Continue reading
The news that an experienced criminal barrister and part-time judge, Constance Briscoe, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for three offences of perverting the course of justice has prompted widespread comment and, in some quarters, indignation. It brings a promising career to an abrupt end and, for a once inspiring role model, it is also a sad fall from grace.… Continue reading
“The law reports are replete with examples of important judicial law-making in diverse areas affecting many aspects of our national life.” So said the Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson in a recent speech. But for how much longer can this continue? King Henry II (1133 – 1189): his legal reforms laid the basis for… Continue reading
In an earlier post, The Curious Case of The Court, The Commentators, The Woman, and Her Baby, we considered the story, widely and hysterically covered in the media, and more rationally by legal bloggers, of a pregnant Italian woman who had visited the UK in the summer 2012 only to be “sectioned” under the Mental… Continue reading
