Legal Profession
News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform
The European Court in Luxembourg enjoys a level of support and quality of facilities that domestic courts, with the possible exception of the UK Supreme Court, can only envy. Before issuing its multi-lingual judgments, the judges have the benefit, not only of a superb modern library, but also the intensively researched opinion of an Advocate General, the nature of whose role is perhaps not as well known as it could be. … Continue reading
Whoever the Secret Barrister is, they deserve massive kudos for drawing to the attention of those who might well prefer to look away the critical state of the criminal justice system in this country.… Continue reading
Giving his first annual press conference since his appointment earlier this year, the Lord Chief Justice said his two main concerns would be to increase awareness of what judges do, and to secure reforms needed to modernise the justice system. After his speech, he answered questions from the press, some of which raised interesting issues… Continue reading
The great hall in the Royal Courts of Justice has a cathedral-like splendour by day, but on a freezing midwinter evening its dim chandeliers failed to dispel the cavernous gloom. It was here that a crowd of some 62 legal professionals gathered on the evening of Monday 11 December, to hear about the latest developments in… Continue reading
David Burrows considers practitioner issues arising in a recent case in which a husband applied for an injunction to prevent a firm of solicitors, with whom he had previously had a preliminary consultation, from acting for his wife in divorce proceedings between them, and ponders an unexplained reference to ‘skull painting’… The ‘blasé’ evidence… Continue reading
Earlier this year Mr Justice Warby was appointed to the newly created role of Judge in Charge of the Media and Communications List. We look at what this means in practice and how it will affect the future management of High Court media claims. The new list Speaking at the Annual Conference of the Media… Continue reading
On 2 November 2017 the Ministry of Justice hosted an HMCTS Public Community Change Event to showcase some of the work being done in the course of its current £1bn overhaul of the court system. Paul Magrath was there. [Post updated 17/11/17.] The Ministry of Justice in St James is an imposing and somewhat dystopian… Continue reading
A law report is a record of a judicial decision on a point of law which sets a precedent. Not all decisions taken in a court of law set a precedent, however interesting they may be in terms of the facts of the case or its consequences. A decision is only reportable if lays down… Continue reading
Paul Magrath wonders how seriously we should take the prospect of judges and court staff engaging with the public on social media The traditional and until recently the official view was that, in order to maintain public respect for their office, judges should not engage in public discourse outside the courtroom. They could write legal articles… Continue reading
A debate has been raging on Twitter about dining in hall in the Inns of Court. It’s a tradition that goes back centuries, but in recent years the requirement to complete a certain number of dinners to qualify as a barrister has grown less and less significant. The question is, should they be abandoned altogether… Continue reading
