Charon makes ABA Journal top 100 blog list?!

I am pleased to report that I appear to be on the ABA Journal Top 100 law blogs list – along with that complete and utter bounder, rogue, mate  and serial Twitterer Geeklawyer. We are in the IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) section.  It is fortunate we are not appearing in the Legal Theory section.  [...]

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Postcard from The Staterooms-On-Sea: 30 November 09

Dear Reader, I’m a bit late with my weekly postcard this week.  I was kidnapped by a very good friend who came to stay this weekend… but, fear not…there is much to discuss this week.  The observant will have noticed an addition to my header – a smoking Santa -  which I ‘borrowed’ from the [...]

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College of Law Inside Track Podcast: Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty

College of Law Inside Track Podcast: Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty Today I talk to Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty. Shami Chakrabarti gives her thoughts on why the Human Rights Act is so important and outlines Liberty’s key role in the successful campaign to defeat proposals to increase the period that terror suspects could be [...]

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Charles meddles while Chelsea burns?… and Lord Goldsmith’s letter writing skills.

The Times had an interesting story over the weekend: Prince Charles named in £81m Chelsea Barracks court battle The Candy brothers, property developers for the super-rich, want to call the Prince of Wales as a witness in an £81m case in which they are suing the Qatari royal family over the collapse of their plans [...]

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Lord Sugar delivers maiden speech in car crash TV style

I quite like ‘SurAlan’ from his various appearances on The Apprentice and he seems to know what he is doing business wise.  Quite why he wanted to be a Lord in the first place  and then deliver an extraordinary maiden speech in The Lords I’ve no idea… but it didn’t go down well.  He did [...]

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Lawcast 161: Geoffrey Woollard, a prospective parliamentary candidate

  Geoffrey Woollard blog Lawcast 161: Geoffrey Woollard, a prospective parliamentary candidate   Today I am talking to Geoffrey Woollard, a farmer of many years standing who describes himself as an ex-Tory and is planning to stand for Parliament as an independent for South East Cambridgeshire. . Geoffrey responded to my new parody series The [...]

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Rive Gauche: I cannot fiddle but I can make a great state of a small city – Lawrence of Arabia

Christmas is coming and in some shopping malls it is Christmas every bloody day. It may have been Christmas for the bankers yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled that they didn’t have to worry about the OFT poking its nose into their sordid dealings with customer recidivists (although, leaving the door open for the OFT [...]

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Ah… a plot…. let’s go and lose it…

The day began well enough  shortly before 4.00 am, the time I usually rise to beat the Grim Reaper to it  – It being well known that a lot of people snuff it at 4.00 am)  – and I enjoyed doing two podcasts later in the morning: One with Paul and Jack from All About [...]

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Lawcast 160: Paul & Jack from All About Law

Lawcast 160: Paul & Jack from All About Law Today I am talking to paul and Jack, the founders of All About Law – a law careers oriented site for law students with independent reviews of law schools and much much more.. Listen to the podcast Podcast version for iTunes

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Libel: Doctor stands up for freedom of speech

The Times reports: “A British doctor who is being sued for libel after criticising an American company’s research has pledged to turn the action into a test case for freedom of speech. Peter Wilmshurst, a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, told The Times that he aims to use a public-interest defence to fight [...]

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The dangers of punditry…

While most bloggers try to comment accurately on the issues of the day and, possibly, add a perspective from their own experience, this excellent post from Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice does illustrate the dangers of punditry and the art of  talking ‘complete and utter bollocks’ as we say down on the Medway. Freedom of [...]

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Iraq Inquiry: Newsfeed now on Insite Law magazine

I have created  a widget on Insite Law Magazine for daily Iraq Inquiry news direct from the Iraq Inquiry RSS feed. Iraq Inquiry RSS feed widget on the right hand panel of Insite Law

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Cruel Britannia

Is this how low we have fallen?  Is this why David Miliband, Foreign Secretary, is so keen to keep secret the information which our judges wish to make public as part of the due process of law?  Is this what is being done in our name?  Is this how we preserve our so called freedom? [...]

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Blawg Review #238 from Ireland….

‘Main of the Match‘: Appalling Conflations and Tenuous Links As An Island Recovers From A Close Brush With Injustice… Today HRinI is pleased to host this week’s Blawg Review, following in the footsteps of previous Irish hosts Daithí Mac Síthigh and Eoin O’Dell. An amusingly themed Blawg Review – but one from a very good [...]

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Jack Straw speech: Constitutional change and the future of parliamentary democracy

Whatever your political leanings, this speech by Jack Straw, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is interesting; providing a review of constitutional change over the last 12 years . Constitutional change and the future of parliamentary democracy 24 November 2009| Magna Carta Institute, Brunel University

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Lord Neuberger MR Speech: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: CIVIC DUTY AND THE RULE OF LAW

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: CIVIC DUTY AND THE RULE OF LAW Lord Neuberger MR Denning Lecture 2009 at The Inner Temple Very good – very thorough review.

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Rule of Law…of the day…

The New Statesman reports: Police arrest people just to get their DNA, inquiry warns Well… there’s a surprise… came right out of left field that one did. My thanks to fellow twitterer  @CrimeCounsel for inspiring me…and there was I thinking that there weren’t any law stories in the press today to mock… shows how wrong [...]

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Nemo iudex in causa sua: Do me a por favor!

Today, Britain begins a process of carefully controlled investigation. We do public inquiries rather well.  We appoint distinguished men and women to listen to evidence and they then go off and write something to the taste of the government in power. Newspapers, television channels, bloggers and other commentators get hot under the collar for a [...]

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Legal education, BPP and the Freedom of Information Act

With the news today that BPP Law school’s owners, Apollo Global (who now call the tune) are being investigated for a second time by the United States SEC – this time for accounting issues on revenue recognition – I feel the time has come to push for BPP Law School to be subject to the [...]

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College of Law Inside Track Podcast: Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions

College of Law Inside Track Podcast: Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions I talk to Keir Starmer QC the Director of Public Prosecutions about  the role of the DPP, the recently issued guidelines on assisted suicide, the future of the Public Prosecution Service, the relationship with the independent Bar and opportunities for students and qualified [...]

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