Commentary

News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform

ICLR Criminal Law Updater (January – March 2015)

Welcome to the ICLR Criminal Law Updater for January to March 2015. Here’s our round up of the reportable criminal cases decided in the High Court, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and the UK Supreme Court over the last four weeks. Where a transcript is available on BAILII, a linked reference has been provided. Continue reading

Family legal aid and funding: January 2015

Guest post by David Burrows   Funding case law: ‘advantage’, applicants A fresh batch of legal aid and funding cases has appeared since mid-December last year; and of these the news is that the much publicised (by the President of the Family Division) parents in Re D (A Child) [2015] EWFC 2; [2015] CN 64,  Continue reading

BIALL conference 2014: The Curious Case of the Judgment Enhancers

The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) held their 45th annual conference in June 2014 at the Harrogate International Conference Centre. ICLR was at Stand No 10 to offer demonstrations, free trials and subscription sign-ups of ICLR Online to delegates. And among the speakers at the plenary sessions, Daniel Hoadley, ICLR’s Business Development Continue reading

The C-section case: final chapter

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

Court rejects legal challenge to QASA

The long running saga concerning attempts by legal regulators to impose a quality assurance scheme on criminal advocates in the face of widespread and determined opposition from barristers and solicitors added another chapter today when the High Court rejected a challenge to the scheme by way of judicial review. In a judgment handed down yesterday, Continue reading

Woman wearing niqab

Further reflections on the niqab ruling

The recent decision by a Crown Court judge requiring a Muslim woman defendant to remove her niqaab (face-covering veil) when giving evidence in her own defence, but permitting her to keep it on during the rest of the trial, has prompted a good deal of comment in the social media. The reasons given by His Continue reading

Woman wearing niqab

Judge Murphy’s ruling in R v D (R) on wearing of niqaab in court

A Muslim woman appearing as a defendant in the Crown Court could be required to remove her niqaab when giving evidence, though she was free to wear it during other parts of the trial. To limit the restriction on her religious freedom, she would be permitted to give evidence from behind a screen, shielding her Continue reading

Nothing new under the sun: prolix pleaders then and now

In a recent Commercial case Standard Bank plc v Via Mat International Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 490 the Court of Appeal drew attention to Khader v Aziz (Note) [2010] 1 WLR 2673, reiterated its warning against the unnecessary length of skeleton arguments and reminded parties of the possibility of the sanction of adverse costs orders. Continue reading