Law and Rights
With thanks to Wikicrimeline.
Attention is drawn to the Public Accounts Committee report about the shambles which is the Procurement of Legal Aid in England and Wales. The report is scathing.
The Legal Services Commission? spends £2.1 billion a year on buying civil and criminal legal aid, mainly from solicitors and barristers, and a further £125 million on administration.
?. the Ministry of Justice spends over £2 million a year itself on legal aid policy matters and on overseeing the Commission.
They also found that in 2008-9 some £25 million was overpaid to solicitors and that some barristers (notably QCs) can earn up to £1 million a year from publicly funded legal aid cases.
A lot of wasted money there. It could have been better spent on ? well ?. maybe legal aid for those who need it.
The Chilcot Iraq Inquiry continues. A lot of people see it as some form of court set up to allocate blame. That was never the intention and it is not a court and is not a statutory inquiry. There have been calls for a skilled cross-examiner who would act as ?counsel to the inquiry.? That?s all very well but the whole thing would have become more legalistic with everyone who appeared being represented by a lawyer. Probably many of the things which people have felt able to say would not have been said for fear of any possible legal consequences. Overall, Chilcot has done a good job.
The European Arrest Warrant ? This was discussed on this blog back in early January. Mr Mann has brought a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights but that court is now awaiting the outcome of a hearing before the UK Supreme Court. Even David Blunkett, who introduced the EAW, says that he did not foresee overuse of the powers. Really! Here is The Independent?s take on the story.
- Catching Up ..... !
Supreme Court UK LIbraryA little bit of catching up ........ a) From 27th to 29th October, the Supreme Court heard the joint enterprise case of R v Jogee. The proceedings may be viewed via the Supreme Court website. Previous post. ...
- Chilcot And The Difficult Question Of Fairness ~ Maxwellisation Is Not There 'to Make A Lawyer's Holiday'
The Iraq Inquiry was set up in 2009 under the Chairmanship of Sir John Chilcot. It is a committee of Privy Counsellors tasked with considering the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq,...
- The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth
The Torturer has long been regarded as the enemy of mankind (Hostis humani generis). Those who authorise the use of torture or who, when in an official capacity, condone it or turn a blind eye to it should also be condemned - see, for example, Prosecutor...
- So, Was The War Lawful?
The Head of Legal blog argues that the Iraq War of 2003 was lawful. I have put my own, admittedly non-expert, view on that excellent blog which is to the effect that the trail of UN Security Council Resolutions from Resolution 660 (2nd August 1990) to...
- The European Arrest Warrant - An Arrested Development.
Enjoy your holiday or business trip but be careful what you do when abroad in other EU countries. Step out of line and you could find a European Arrest Warrant following you back home and whisking you off for a stay in a not so nice foreign prison and...
Law and Rights
Legal Aid shambles: Chilcot: European Arrest Warrants
With thanks to Wikicrimeline.
Attention is drawn to the Public Accounts Committee report about the shambles which is the Procurement of Legal Aid in England and Wales. The report is scathing.
The Legal Services Commission? spends £2.1 billion a year on buying civil and criminal legal aid, mainly from solicitors and barristers, and a further £125 million on administration.
?. the Ministry of Justice spends over £2 million a year itself on legal aid policy matters and on overseeing the Commission.
They also found that in 2008-9 some £25 million was overpaid to solicitors and that some barristers (notably QCs) can earn up to £1 million a year from publicly funded legal aid cases.
A lot of wasted money there. It could have been better spent on ? well ?. maybe legal aid for those who need it.
The Chilcot Iraq Inquiry continues. A lot of people see it as some form of court set up to allocate blame. That was never the intention and it is not a court and is not a statutory inquiry. There have been calls for a skilled cross-examiner who would act as ?counsel to the inquiry.? That?s all very well but the whole thing would have become more legalistic with everyone who appeared being represented by a lawyer. Probably many of the things which people have felt able to say would not have been said for fear of any possible legal consequences. Overall, Chilcot has done a good job.
The European Arrest Warrant ? This was discussed on this blog back in early January. Mr Mann has brought a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights but that court is now awaiting the outcome of a hearing before the UK Supreme Court. Even David Blunkett, who introduced the EAW, says that he did not foresee overuse of the powers. Really! Here is The Independent?s take on the story.
- Catching Up ..... !
Supreme Court UK LIbraryA little bit of catching up ........ a) From 27th to 29th October, the Supreme Court heard the joint enterprise case of R v Jogee. The proceedings may be viewed via the Supreme Court website. Previous post. ...
- Chilcot And The Difficult Question Of Fairness ~ Maxwellisation Is Not There 'to Make A Lawyer's Holiday'
The Iraq Inquiry was set up in 2009 under the Chairmanship of Sir John Chilcot. It is a committee of Privy Counsellors tasked with considering the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq,...
- The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth
The Torturer has long been regarded as the enemy of mankind (Hostis humani generis). Those who authorise the use of torture or who, when in an official capacity, condone it or turn a blind eye to it should also be condemned - see, for example, Prosecutor...
- So, Was The War Lawful?
The Head of Legal blog argues that the Iraq War of 2003 was lawful. I have put my own, admittedly non-expert, view on that excellent blog which is to the effect that the trail of UN Security Council Resolutions from Resolution 660 (2nd August 1990) to...
- The European Arrest Warrant - An Arrested Development.
Enjoy your holiday or business trip but be careful what you do when abroad in other EU countries. Step out of line and you could find a European Arrest Warrant following you back home and whisking you off for a stay in a not so nice foreign prison and...