Sometimes I just don’t know where to start. It is Monday and I do have a heavy cold, but this is not why it has taken me so long to start writing this post. Rather, my inertia is born out of an utter bewilderment, bordering on disbelief, as I watch a democratically elected government quite brazenly trash the rule of law, the main thing (some might say the only thing) separating it from a totalitarian state.
Read more...I try not to be too political in this blog because it has someone else’s name on it and they don’t necessarily want to be associated with my lefty government bashing. That said, sometimes it’s quite difficult to avoid getting down and dirty.
Read more...Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Spooks as much as the next person, although I lost interest once the characters played by Rupert Penry Jones and Hermione Norris were bumped off. Along with most people, I have no illusions as to how accurate a portrayal it represented of the security services. Most amusing was the idea that there were only about a dozen spies at most, all highly swashbuckling, protecting us.
Read more...Easter Sunday, along with Christmas and birthdays, is the only day you are allowed to eat chocolate for breakfast. It’s not a very enforceable rule and not one, as far as I know, defined by statute, but it’s a rule nonetheless. Unlike the supposed law banning eating mince pies on Christmas day, which is, as with many of the most amusing examples of stupid laws, an
urban myth. Being in government isn’t just about what you do, it’s how and when you do it. You would think that a general rule of thumb might be for ministers to indulge in a lot of flag waving over things they propose to do and to try and sneak out bad news when something more interesting is going on. But sometimes ministers attempt to slip their own proposals under the radar because they know they are contentious. One such proposal, quietly pushed out last year, is indeed highly contentious: secret courts.
Read more...I wasn’t taught
citizenship when I was at school. It was pretty much just reading writing and arithmetic, with a bit of cooking and needlework thrown in to make sure us ladies would be able to ‘keep house’ when we grew up (although how I was supposed to have a career AND make cushions and scones I don’t know). Having said that, I think I largely came out all right and with a broad understanding of my rights and responsibilities as a citizen.
It’s probably not quite close enough to Christmas to start employing pantomime analogies, but if there were ever a Cinderella in our justice system it is surely administrative justice. It’s not a phrase that trips easily off the tongue, most of the public have probably never heard of it, most lawyers don’t pay it much attention and even the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) barely mentions it in its business plan. Which is odd because, unlike criminal justice, most people will probably come into contact with it at some point.
Read more...Tagged:
administrative justice,
AJTC,
appeals,
AvMA,
benefit removal,
clinical negligence,
complaints,
justice,
LASPO,
legal aid cuts,
legislation,
Medical Justice,
Osborne,
policy,
Public Law ProjectI have a cat. I’m quite fond of him and I like having him around, but, if I’m honest, I don’t think he’d be too upset if I moved away and left him. He’d probably just go and live with the neighbour up the road where he seems to spend most of his time anyway. It’s what cats do. So it’s surely common sense that a cat couldn’t be a reason not to deport someone? Apparently not.
Read more...Tagged:
bill of rights,
catgate,
ECHR,
home secretary,
HRA,
human rights,
Human Rights Act,
justice,
Learco Chindamo,
legislation,
rule of law,
Theresa MayThe Dale Farm saga has the power, it seems, to invoke passions as few other recent events. It has unleashed streams of vitriol on Twitter and in the blogosphere and a glut of contradicting information and claims. As well as the main protagonists, the Dale Farm residents and Basildon Council, a range of other supporting players have emerged to underline this isn’t just a legal, but a moral debate.
Read more...No-one could fail to be moved by the words of Tariq Jahan, the father of one of the three men mown down by a hit and run driver in Birmingham last week. His reaction to his son’s death, killed as he tried to protect his community from rioters, was both poignant and extraordinary. He said he believed people could stay calm and could live together. The
police said his words had played a significant part in helping to quell further unrest.
There are lots of things that make me proud to be British, at least there were until yesterday. I feel pretty ashamed at seeing yobs and hoodlums looting and rioting, laying waste to people's homes and businesses for nothing more than a shiny pair of trainers or an iPod. It's particularly depressing when seen alongside the recent protests across the middle east.
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