Finally recovering from a daft injury sustained when I tripped on a bathmat while shaving and fell backwards into the bath, cracking my spine., I can, at last, type with some accuracy and no pain. Whether this advance will do anything to the cause of informing and commenting on the laws of our country is not for me to consider.
Nor is it for me or anyone else to consider calling for the abolition of The Monarchy – or even thinking about it? For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Grayling, I am not and never have been a member of the communist party, nor have I ever had the temerity to think in private or in public about the abolition of The Monarchy etc etc. It is possible that my brain may have toyed with such thoughts when I was asleep – but I can hardly be responsible – or have any of that old mens rea schtik – while I am asleep.
The Ministry of Justice appears to be right up to the mark with ‘efficiency undreamed of in a modern state’ by managing to get ‘confused’ as to what laws in relation to the above are or are not still in force.
The Guardian makes the point: “A 165-year-old law that threatens anyone calling for the abolition of the monarchy with life imprisonment is technically still in force – after the Ministry of Justice admitted wrongly announcing that it had been repealed.”
It would appear that the Lord Chancellor has some competition when it comes to giving advice on the law: Helston pub affray conviction ‘unsafe’ as court bailiff slammed
Still…I suppose it must be difficult for the Lord Chancellor – not being a lawyer himself – to keep a grip on all this ‘law stuff’.
But the good news…demonstrating beyond doubt that the Lord Chancellor is concerned with law reform: “Among 327 offences that have recently been purged from the statute book was that of “being an incorrigible rogue”, under the Vagrancy Act 1824.”
But, be that as it may. On to other matters….
First up is a question which has been on my mind, unanswered, for many years – now solved by this helpful article: What does the Queen’s ‘warden of the swans’ actually do? (Phone hacking has had some benefits.)
I enjoyed this blog post:
A simply appalling scheme
To ensure that Britain continues to lead the way when it comes to matters of criminal Law, Legal Futures notes: Entrepreneur-backed Defence Hub promises to “revolutionise” criminal defence market
I shall sleep easy in my bed this night knowing that all is well in matters of criminal defence and ‘hubs’.
And what about this – just to make us feel ‘Christmassy’?
The Lawmakers riding roughshod over democracy . It would appear Lord Sumption is right: legal activism devalues the demos.
But hey… while I am on what I am pleased to call ‘a roll’ – what about this from Legal Cheek? : Frontman of company seeking to ‘revolutionise’ criminal law makes grammatically incorrect bestiality slur against bemused barrister
Only grammatically incorrect then? 🙂 Actually Farm animals can be fun and they carry fewer ticks than some of the other blood-sucker’s I’ve slept with.