The Independent reports: “Demand for a seat to watch Tony Blair give evidence to the Iraq inquiry has been so high that a public ballot is to be held to allocate the limited places.”
120 people will be given the chance to watch as Mr Blair is questioned – one third of the seats being reserved for the families of servicemen killed during the Iraq war. Blair faces what the Independent calls a ‘six hour grilling’. Given that there are no lawyers experienced at cross-examining witnesses on the panel ( a curious state of affairs which many have noted), the grilling is more likely to be expedient ‘Burger King’ than searingly forensic ‘haut cuisine’.
It is probably just as well for Mr Blair, given his travels and his quest for worldwide fame, that there are few countries which allow private individuals to bring private prosecutions to have politicians and others arrested when they visit.
Attorney General Baroness Scotland may block Israeli war crimes warrants
The Times reports: “The power for a private individual to seek an arrest warrant from a British court for a foreign national they wish to prosecute is an unusual but not unique quirk of English law. The ability, which derives from the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, is also available in varying forms in the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic and New Zealand. But after several high-profile cases where British courts have granted arrest warrants for foreign nationals — many of them Israelis — Britain has gained a reputation as being an easy place to do it.”
It seems that Hamas has been ‘stirring up trouble’ by hiring lawyers to have visiting Israelis arrested for war crimes, prompting the government to act. The Times notes: “The Attorney General could be given a veto over arrest warrants for foreign leaders in an attempt to placate Israeli ministers who fear war crimes prosecutions if they visit Britain. Baroness Scotland of Asthal, who is in Jerusalem, discussed an amendment to British law that would give her office the power to review arrest warrants in private prosecutions against political figures, according to Foreign Ministry sources. Israel warned that a failure to resolve the situation soon would have consequences for both countries.
A Mr Jeffrey loop comments on the issue in The Times: “Do you lot still have trial by fire or combat too? Grow up England.” 
It does seem rather bizarre that private individuals can bring such prosecutions. Lawyers maintain that it is quite difficult to get arrest warrants – but the Times does note that the evidence underpinning the issuing of such warrants has , in the past, included articles in newspapers! Oh dear. Another matter for Jack ‘The Lad Chancellor’ Straw to look at?
Ten ways to reveal your lover: coming out the easy way
James Quarmby, tax partner, Thomas Eggar writes in The Lawyer: “Homosexuals are the hidden minority. Don’t look round but the person sitting at the desk next to you may be one. Unlike other minorities we’re not immediately obvious (apart from a few flamboyant individuals I could mention). This means you won’t know unless you’re told……”
James Quarmby considers various methods for coming out, noting that some law firms are liberal while other law firms still live in caves with their animals when it comes to issues of sexuality. I did like this wry comment ” 2. Don’t make any grand gestures or announcements. Hanging a banner over your desk emblazoned with the words, ‘Yes, I’m gay, get over it’, probably isn’t the best move. Lawyers are conservative creatures by nature and are easily shocked by… well… anything really…
and this… “5. Do take your significant other to the firm’s Christmas party. You can be guaranteed that, within a few hours of arrival, the gossips will have done their work and that every last man, woman and child will know all the fabulous details. However, it’s probably best to avoid getting heroically drunk and snogging to the slow numbers on the dance floor. This may be a step too far.”
There is more good news. On 1st January yet another law regulator lumbered onto the stage. Only time will tell whether the new Legal Services Board will have any value whatsoever. A new blog run by ‘ a barrister’: Of Interest to Some Lawyers noted “We are the new, independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. Our goal is to reform and modernise the legal services market place by putting the interests of consumers at the heart of the system, reflecting the objectives of
the statute that created us, the Legal Services Act 2007″.
I went onto the Legal Services Board website. Not a ripping read, it has to be said – although I enjoyed reading the register of interests and expenses for the board members. The expenses were satisfyingly dull – mainly taxi fares and one board member had no expenses. Why not…was my immediate thought? The LSB is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the website has a helpful section on how to make FOI requests. The website reminded me of the early days of the web in design terms and the new logo looks as if it had been knoocked up by a board member keen to demonstrate that this was not a money wasting quango. The Approved Regulators page explains all to any member of the public with a burning desire to see state of the art web design and modern regulatory practice in relation to law regulators. We shall see… in time.
You may like to look at this excellent article from the Law Society Gazette. It raises ‘food for thought’: The Legal Services Board must properly research what it is about to do
Official: 2,500 ex-servicemen are in prison
My attention was caught when I saw this headline in The Telegraph: “Nearly 2,500 ex-servicemen are in prison in England and Wales, official figures show for the first time.”
The Telegraph report did not explain why we have so many ex-servicemen in prison beyond stating the obvious – that the government is not, perhaps, looking after ex-servicemen that well when they return from war, but the Telegraph did make this wry comment ” The count of the prison population – which was carried out in November – is the first time ever that the Government has attempted to understand how many former members of the armed forces are in jail. Officials were able to complete the count by matching all the 81,000 prisoners aged over-18 in England and Wales with a database of more than one million veterans held by the Ministry of Defence.”
Clearly: The answer to the question – why are there so many ex-servicemen in prison? – is rather important, I would have thought?
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Judges examine rise in complaints against MI5
The Independent reports: ” A record rise in the number of complaints against MI5 and other bodies authorised to spy on the public is being investigated by judges appointed to oversee the use of surveillance powers in Britain. Some of the allegations brought to the attention of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, include claims of harassment against officers working for the Security Service, MI5. Others concern the alleged misuse of surveillance by local authorities. The tribunal judges, who oversee the work of MI5 and other law enforcement agencies authorised under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, confirmed yesterday that they were looking at why the number of complaints had more than doubled from 66 in 2007 to 136 in 2008.
And finally… the weather

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