Law Review: Magna Carta 800th anniversary – Oh… the irony #twitterjoketrial

Lord Chancellor and Master of the Rolls prepare for Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary The Lawyer: This morning the Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke QC and the Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger will be among the dignitaries gathered at Runnymede Meadows to kick off five years of celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. The [...]

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Law Review: QAA and the role of Judges in that process – Neuberger endorses accreditation scheme for advocates

Neuberger endorses accreditation scheme The Law Society Gazette The master of the rolls has given judicial backing to the proposed quality assurance for advocates (QAA) scheme, saying judges are the ‘ultimate consumers’ of advocacy services and are well placed to assess quality. Speaking at the Bar Council’s annual conference, Lord Neuberger defended the proposal for [...]

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Law Review: Twitter Joke Trial – A travesty… why do we really bother?

David Allen Green (Jack of Kent) will, I am sure, cover this.  He has been involved right from the beginning.  So all I will say is that I am very sorry that our legal system does not seem to be able to accommodate a joke (albeit, not a great joke) and that our laws, designed [...]

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Remembrance Day – a guest post from OedipusLex

Agro belgico… Oedipus Lex It is with honour and a great sense of trepidation that I have been asked to write this short piece on Remembrance Day. As I sat at my computer I wondered how I could possibly do justice to such a theme, I can’t but I can at least try and explain [...]

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Law Review: 1 Crown Office Row UK Human Rights blog on Woolas

The UK Human Rights blog from 1 Crown Office Row is an excellent resource for lawyers and non-lawyers…Rosalind English  has shed a bit more light on the Woolas case and has come up with some serious ‘food for thought’. I wrote about this last week…. and I am more than happy to do some more [...]

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Law Review: Torture and waterboarding – A line in the Sands?

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” Albert Camus George Bush announced on Monday that he authorised the use of waterboarding.  Many in our country applaud him, including parents of the victims of 7/7. I suspect, if there [...]

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Law Review: Supreme court rules expenses MPs must face trial

Supreme court rules expenses MPs must face trial Guardian: Highest court in UK dismisses argument that expenses issue should be covered by parliamentary privilege rather than legal system The supreme court has dismissed claims made by David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine that they should not be tried in a criminal court because their [...]

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Law Review: LPC numbers

A History of LPC Numbers This excellent analysis from Richard Moorehead is fascinating   Has the Bar shot itself in the foot? Richard Moorehead has also blogged on the subject of BTPC numbers……. a subject I did a post on last saturday. Law Review: The Bar’s moral obligation to the number of new, Called, barristers   Richard Moorehead’s [...]

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Law Information for practitioners: New drugs and alcohol advisory board

NEW DRUGS & ALCOHOL ADVISORY BOARD ESTABLISHED A new Hair Strand Scientific Advisory Board has been established by UK-based Trimega Laboratories. Its purpose is to analyse the fast growing database of information created from the 10,000 hair alcohol tests and 7,000 hair drug tests carried out in the UK each year, of which Trimega Laboratories [...]

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Acerbic….? Moi? Oh no…… just *Baffled of Battersea* :-)

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Lord Shagger writes…. Woolas, Dorries and mince pies

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Law Review: The Party is OVER!

Ditch legal aid for ‘planes and trains’, chairman tells Bar conference Solicitors Journal In a speech subtitled ‘There’s no more money’, Bar Council chairman Nicolas Green QC has urged barristers to distance themselves from legal aid work. Green’s calls to modernise, made at the annual Bar conference, included orders for publically funded sets as well [...]

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WOOLAS LATEST: The Guardian pictures shock horror!

Probably not the most flattering pictures The Guardian could have chosen see here and here for source of pics above. Phil Woolas case: Speaker puts Oldham East rerun election on hold Speaker will wait for court to rule on attempt by former minister to overturn ruling expelling him from Commons before announcing decision on new [...]

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Law Review: Legal education – What is marriage? – Journalist faces jail in Singapore for criticising judiciary

Law Review: The Bar’s moral obligation to the number of new, Called, barristers My post on this issue on Saturday has generated both interest and interesting comment. The full text of Nicholas Green QC’s speech to the Bar Council is here.  Nicholas Green was right to initiate debate.  I have a view, but it is a [...]

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Postcard From The Staterooms: Raymond Chandler edition…

The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be. Raymond Chandler Dear Reader, I spliced the main brace last night in a bar and ended up [...]

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H M Government: Britain leads the world in new GREEN energy source

It had occurred to me that IDS / Coalition plans to put people on benefits to work could cause a few Human Rights issues.  Kris, who commented, suggested that we look at Article 4 !   I may do some proper thinking and research on this shortly…..   Article 4 of the European Convention on Human [...]

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Law Review: The Bar’s moral obligation to the number of new, Called, barristers

Today, the Bar held its annual conference – there were even some tweets on the #barconference2010 hashtag – not that many….but a few.  There are not that many tweeting barristers…or, if there are, they weren’t at the Bar conference tweeting. Nicholas Green QC, the Chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales,  discussed, among [...]

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Law Review: Woolas case – An infringement on freedom of speech? You’re having a larf, Guv

Phil Woolas ejected from parliament over election slurs The Guardian: Court ruling that former immigration minister lied about his Lib Dem opponent triggers a by-election in Oldham East I don’t propose to cover the issue, save for a few observations below.  The press reports (Guardian above) do this fully. Section 106 Representation of the People [...]

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Muttley Dastardly LLP Episode 7: The Partners meet……

PODCAST VERSION OF MUTTLEY DASTARDLY LLP 7 A group of 24 suited men are seated in the Muttley Dastardly LLP boardroom next to the penthouse office of Muttley Dastardly LLP managing partner, Matt Muttley.   There are no women partners at Muttley Dastardly LLP. It is unlikely that there will be in the  future.  There are [...]

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Law Review: BPP continues to expand with three new law schools

BPP continues major expansion with the opening of three new city centres in Cambridge , Liverpool and Newcastle . BPP Law School now has 9 regional city centres and 24 exclusive law firms. Read….

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