In recent days, the news has carried reports of business owners who have been fined tens of thousands of pounds after defying the “Covid regulations” and refusing to close their business premises. Common to these cases is a belief expressed by the individuals that they were not bound by the snappily-titled Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)…
Read moreFake Law: An evening with Joshua Rozenberg QC, Joanna Hardy and The Secret Barrister
Tonight I had the privilege of appearing on a panel with Joshua Rozenberg QC and Joanna Hardy, at a live event for the Human Rights Lawyers’ Association. My words were voiced by the wonderful Joanne Kane. Should you wish to watch the discussion, it is available here:
Read moreThe Big Interview with Chambers Student
I was kindly invited to take part in The Big Interview with Chambers Student, and took the opportunity to sound off in the usual gibbering fashion. If gibbering is your thing, the interview can be found here.
Read moreGuest post by Dame Judi Bench: Exam Fiasco Part 2: Message in a bottle
I am pleased to host this guest blogpost by Dame Judi Bench. —————————— I just saw a picture of a bottle of yellow liquid in a bar exams. Those crazy students and their Lucozade That’s not Lucozade. Of course it is. That’s what all the kids drink during exams. It’s what I drank. It gave…
Read moreThe government would rather have dangerous criminals released onto the streets than pay for a working justice system
A thread I wrote yesterday following a decision by a Crown Court judge in Woolwich. It may sound like a technical legal issue, but the practical effects for public safety could be devastating. The original tweet that sparked the thread is here: https://twitter.com/crimelinelaw/status/1290563065684074496?s=21 My thread is here:
Read moreWhat can be done to appeal an unjust acquittal?
It was reported this morning that Lissie Harper, the widow of Pc Andrew Harper, has written to the Prime Minister asking for a retrial of her husband’s killers, who at their trial last week were acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter. There is also a petition, signed by over 200,000 people, seeking a similar…
Read moreGuest post by The Tartan Con: The government’s approach to our prisons is an admission of failure
I am pleased to host this guest post by The Tartan Con, a leading prison reform blogger. _____________________________ The Ministry of Justice issued a press release on the 28th of June announcing the news that they were to build 4 more prisons over the next six years. (To read this wonderful piece of self-promotion click…
Read moreGuest post by Jamie Fletcher and Dr Samuel Walker: Sexual violence, the Overton Window and the limits imposed by the law
I am pleased to host this guest post by Jamie Fletcher and Dr Samuel Walker, who are Lecturers in Law at Bournemouth University. ———————————————— Introduction The aim of this post is to discuss the increasing prevalence of consensual sexual violence and its relationship with criminal law. It will be shown that acceptance, engagement and…
Read moreGuest post by Dame Judi Bench: The Bar exams are less exam and more Takeshi’s Castle
I am pleased to host this guest post from a pseudonymous contributor, looking at the exams fiasco facing this year’s Bar students. ——————————————– The Bar Exams in England and Wales are a funny thing. Ask the older generation and they’ll regale you with stories of their local authority paying for them, spending most of the…
Read moreThe truth about the government’s claims to have “ended the rough sex defence”
Following a lot of media coverage of this issue, I wrote a Twitter thread looking at the law behind it. I’ve reproduced it here in case it’s of interest. Postscript: Unforgivably, I suggested in the thread that R v Brown was a Court of Appeal decision when, as every first-year law student knows, it was…
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