Law and Rights
A Very Happy New Year 2014
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New Year's Eve 2013 |
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all readers. We are only just into the New Year so let's not be unduly serious for today!
The Telegraph informs us that Murderers could get hundreds of years in jail to get round the European Court ban. Wait a moment ... it may apply to other offenders as well ... The Telegraph goes on .... "Murderers and other offenders convicted of very serious crimes could be given US-style jail sentences lasting hundreds of years to get round a ban by European human rights judges ..." The decision in Vinter v UK, is causing the judiciary some problems when sentencing for murder - (as discussed last month) - and a Court of Appeal ruling is imminent. I was remindedby a follower on Twitter of this old cartoon:
This year, we are expecting the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor to reveal plans for the future of OUR human rights protection. The plans will perhaps appear in the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2015 election. Meanwhile, The Telegraph has chosen to give us a flavour of what may happen -- (article). It is reported that the proposals being drawn up will be based on a Private Member's Bill proposed in March 2013 by Mr Charlie Elphicke MP. This Bill may be seen at Human Rights Act 1998 (Repeal and Substitution) Bill but it should be noted that the Bill has now been withdrawn. It's worth reading it though to get a feel for the thinking. Europe is strangling the life our of democracy says Peter Oborne - The Telegraph 2nd January. Interesting article here, looking at how the EU has come to be a form of "rule by bureaucrats, bankers, and various kinds of unelected expert."
In advance of action by lawyers in protest at government plans to reduce fees in criminal cases, the Ministry of Justice issued some statistics. They are considered by the Pupillage and How to Get It blog. To my mind, it would be fairer to refer to turnover in relation to a barrister's remuneration. In many ways, it is akin to a small self-employed business. Here's wishing you all a Happy and, above all, a Peaceful year.
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Happy New Year 2016
*** A Happy New Year to all readers *** - Looking forward: Looking back 2016 promises to be an interesting year during which the government should be publishing its long-awaited plans for human rights in the United Kingdom. A New Year should be...
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Rights In The Uk And Elsewhere ...
Updated - additional material 24th May ... Just how close the UK is to being an elective dictatorship is debatable. In practice (if not in legal theory), a number of features operate to limit any tendency to such a situation. One is devolution...
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Human Rights Plans ~ Legal Aid ~ Fee Increases
What has happened regarding the much heralded Bill on Human Rights promised last autumn by the Secretary of State for Justice. With only a month to go to the end of the present Parliament, it has not been published. (General Election 2015...
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Happy New Year 2015
Here's wishing all readers a very Happy New Year 2015. As 2014 petered out I could not help but think that the year saw the continuation of the relentless attack by the elected government on access to justice for the average citizen. The severe...
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A Brief Look Back At 2013 ~ A Selection Of Posts
Royal Courts of Justice, London2013 has been a most interesting year marked by the limitation imposed on civil legal aid by the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; the on-going fight for legal aid for criminal...
Law and Rights