This week, MPs will vote on the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Don’t let the anodyne name fool you – this is one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in our country’s history. The government intends to radically curtail the right we all hold to be tried by a jury when…
Read moreToday, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years in prison, will, under David Lammy’s proposals, no longer be tried by juries, returning verdicts based on their assessments of the…
Read more“You’d want to see him put to death! You’d want it to be cruel and unusual, which is why it’s probably a good idea that fathers of murder victims don’t have legal rights in these situations – now we’re going back to school!” Toby Ziegler, The West Wing, Season 4 Episode 6 Four weeks after their…
Read moreIn 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 moreI 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 moreI have written something for The Guardian about our politicians’ rush to create new criminal offences protecting statues. The piece can be found here.
Read moreYesterday morning, newly-appointed Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told Radio 4’s Today programme of his pleasure that the Prime Minister is taking an interest in the criminal justice system. And certainly, after three years of wilful abandonment under Theresa May, I would in principle gladly welcome some Downing Street-level political attention on the ruinous state of…
Read moreA familiar sound for readers of the Mail on Sunday is the deafening cymbal-clash of Peter Hitchens colliding with reality. This last Sunday offered a particular highlight, which, although there is undoubted wisdom in leaving him alone to figuratively wander the 21stcentury in his dressing gown shouting at clouds, cannot pass without comment. Summarised by…
Read moreA piece for iNews today following Lord Hain’s decision to invoke Parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green in defiance of a court injunction. You can read my musings here.
Read moreI’m a couple of days behind the official announcement on this, but I am thrilled to confirm that I will be publishing a second, as-yet untitled book, scheduled for Spring 2020. More details are available here: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/picador-snaps-secret-barristers-second-book-881876.
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