Return of The UNDEAD….

Curious choice of election slogan… so I re-did it.

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Not Blawg Review… but UKBlawgReview !

Delighted to see a new initiative to promote UK law blogs!. Do have a look at this excellent round up by Peninsulawyer “Welcome to the second edition of UKBlawgRoundup. The theme of the roundup is “new beginnings”. Given the season, you might expect the usual Easter cliches, but instead I have for you a fine [...]

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A youth army ? Tomorrow belongs to us?

I was alerted to the latest idea from The Laurel & Hardy Institute of Social Policy Studies by @lazyhena – editor and star of GuyNews tv progs. Apparently the Tories want a Youth Army and run busy-bee training camps. My response was, of course, facile… But… I am glad to see that Old Holborn, who [...]

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Law Review: The spectre of a ‘Hung Parliament’

Gordon Brown likely to stay as PM in hung parliament MPs will get 18-day window to form government under emergency plan drawn up by Whitehall Guardian There will be many who relish the prospect of a ‘hung Parliament’ – forcing people to work together. I am not, at this stage, in favour of such a [...]

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Law Review: UK lawmakers delay reform of tough libel laws

Hat Tip to @JackofKent for reminding us of this tweet by Tom Watson MP – ironic.  Before he instructed Carter-Ruck? Also this tweet by Beau Bo D’Or..he’s right.  Important to get the story right! Julie Kirkbride MP ( reported by Guido Fawkes as being one of those involved in blocking libel reform…) is a Tory… [...]

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Insite Law Newswire – 1st Edition

Here is the first edition of the new Insite Law Newswire – a work in progress, inevitably,  covering key information of relevance (I hope) to practitioners and students with the occasional contribution from ‘Charon QC’.  The newswire is rather more ‘serious’ than Charon Reports.  The plan is to publish once a week on a Monday [...]

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Home Office to ban Meow Meow within days when knees stop jerking

The Home Office is to ban Meow Meow plant food within days. I suspect the net drugbarons are devising some quite different plants food as I type… …and, as the newspapers are now suggesting, rubbing their hands with glee as they stockpile and wait for the price to rocket for retail on the streets.

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Law Review: Satanic mechanics?… you can’t get better than a Kwik-Brief getter?

The difficulties of the Criminal Bar are considered by Frances Gibb, legal editor at The Times.  It would appear that mechanics are not being paid £60 gross per hour (£40 net).  As ever, the comments in the Times continue to reveal the pulse of the nation… Keith Welton wrote: 1/ virtually all car mechanics take [...]

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Charon Reports – a plan to do occasional ‘Reports’

Having spoken to a number of sponsors at Insite Law magazine today who like the idea of an Insite Law weekly newswire – I was asked if I would be prepared to do one with Charon posts from time to time.  If it will help the FREE resource project… I am more than prepared to [...]

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Law Review: Justice on the cheap

Paul Mendelle QC, Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said today in The Times that there are not too many barristers, there are too many laws and that Jack Straw’s plan to cut legal aid by 18% would lead to members of the Criminal bar earning less than a car mechanic. He went on to [...]

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An idea – a weekly newswire summarising law news and comment

I am planning a free weekly newswire to summarise the week’s events – material not published on the blog or Insite Law magazine  as well as selected posts from the blog – which I hope will be of value and use.  Not everyone has time to keep up to date with legal news, reports et [...]

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Postcard from The Staterooms-on-Thames: Papal Bull edition

Dear Reader, While I will, of course, be doing my annual ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blog post next weekend, it being Easter… it would be most remiss of me not to note, at the very least, the Pope’s ‘difficulties with assorted and sundry sodomists or should that be sodomites..or buggerers, even? They appear to be popping [...]

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Rive Gauche: Antique ASBOS, a BNP barrister, Meow Meow drug barons, and a pharamacist who won’t give out contraception because of ‘religious beliefs’..et al

I had thought of moving my weekly ‘Rive Gauche’ post to Saturdays but why deprive myself of a little pleasure looking at the  more unusual side of the law on a Friday morning when there isn’t a lot of ‘hard law’ about?  I will try and shoehorn a bit of real law news in towards [...]

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Law Review: Habemus Papam!? – Of planet sized brains and ‘skulduggery’ redux

The legal sector is, perhaps, more prone to puffery and self aggrandisement than other sectors – and certainly a quick glance at the style of Chambers & Partners ‘puffs’ about members of the Bar makes interesting reading.  I selected a number of QCs at random from chambers websites in the almost certain knowledge that they [...]

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A ramble about in some interesting places…

While I thoroughly enjoy doing my usual (often) daily Law Review (and I am soon to return to serious podcasts after a brief break) – one of the joys of having a blog with no real ‘agenda’, no deadlines and readers who seem to enjoy popping in as the mood suits them – is being [...]

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Budget 2010

The Chancellor has delivered his budget, pleasing Labourites and angering Tories who have rubbished it.  Not much point in reading the blogs on this and twitter is awash with Tory and Labour bloggers et al shouting at each other – pointlessly!  The money markets will decide who is right.

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The “Ban It” brigade is out in force again…

Woke at 4.00 as usual and logged on to The Times online and read the screaming headline… Leading doctors call for ban on smoking in cars On closer inspection the ‘leading doctors’ – as opposed to the non-leading variety  who get up each day wondering which particular bit of medical negligence law they will test [...]

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Law Review: Pre-nuptial agreements, Citizen’s arrest for Blair?, Sympathy for barristers… you’re having a larf, guv?

Supreme Court to decide on the validity of prenuptial agreements Not being a Family lawyer -  and with much of my interest in law rooted in Contract -  I can’t really see why two adults should not  attend to their financial affairs in advance of marriage in the reasonable expectation that the courts will uphold [...]

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Sir JohnButterfillhisboots MP unlikely to go to Lords after Dispatches?!

I may as well have been sitting in The Whitehall Theatre back in the old days when Brian Rix did his farces as I watched Dispatches. Tonight’s edition of Channel 4 Dispatches was a Tour de Farce…epic even.  Hoon, Hewitt, Byers, Baroness Morgan, Margaret Moran – too ill to do constituency work.. but not ill [...]

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Minicab for Number 10…..?

Channel 4 tonight will broadcast Dispatches – a tale of corruption, mendacity, greed, deception , absurdity and sheer idiocy. Stephen Byers has referred himself to the watchdog – possibly in the hope that he will be exonerated in full and be recommended for a peerage so that he can join other arch criminals who have, [...]

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