“The increasing use emergency legislation, lack of adequate debating time and insertion of last-minute amendments are preventing effective parliamentary scrutiny of new laws, a committee has said.”
The Guardian, 15th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Government is to block plans to reform Britain’s ‘chilling’ libel laws and to prevent large companies from silencing their critics with the threat of being sued.”
The Independent, 15th April 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The national whistleblowing charity has begun a public consultation exercise to help it establish whether the current law and legal protections are fit for purpose.”
OUT-LAW.com, 15th April 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
“The defamation bill, which was last month threatened with obliteration after a political row over Leveson press reforms, is once again under attack, but this time by the Tories who want to get rid of two key sections.”
The Guardian, 11th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A new generation of secret courts will be established in law within weeks after a last-ditch bid to water down controversial government plans failed in the House of Lords.”
The Guardian, 27th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Guardian analyses the controversial clauses that have sparked a heated debate over the cross-party plan for a new press regulation regime.”
The Guardian, 22nd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Today we will see the beginning of the end of the passage of the Justice and Security Bill through Parliament: the process commonly known as parliamentary ‘ping-pong’.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 26th March 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“Peers vote on Tuesday on whether to restore extra safeguards to the justice and security bill – amendments that the government has warned will make the expansion of secret courts unworkable.”
The Guardian, 26th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“From the beginning of April 2013 the chances of getting help with legal bills will be slim. The Law Society estimates 650,000 cases will no longer qualify, including 20,000 employment cases and 200,000 in family law.”
The Guardian, 23rd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A raft of changes to the way your employer can treat you will be introduced this summer in a bill that, critics say, will make it quicker and cheaper to sack staff.”
The Guardian, 23rd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Conservative cabinet minister Ken Clarke has been accused of misleading parliament as confusion mounts over the government’s plans to introduce secret courts ahead of this week’s crucial vote in the House of Lords.”
The Guardian, 24th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Fears that bloggers and small-scale news websites will be dragged into the new proposed system of press regulation, so facing crippling costs, appeared to be lifting on Friday when Labour and the Liberal Democrats agreed to table last-minute amendments in the Lords to make it clear they will be excluded.”
The Guardian, 22nd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Peers intend to change justice and security bill as it shuttles between houses of parliament, government is warned.”
The Guardian, 21st March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Commission delivered its Report – A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – to the Government in December 2012. It is an odd document, dominated by the lack of agreement in the Commission as to the role that any human rights’ instrument in Britain should play. That was unsurprising since at the inception of the Commission the Coalition partners appeared to want it to play two different roles – defending or attacking the HRA. From the very outset the Commission and the idea of a Bill of Rights (BoR) was relied upon by Cameron and other senior Conservatives to allay anger in the Conservative party, and among some voters, directed at decisions made under the Human Rights Act. David Cameron announced the Commission’s inception in March 2011 at Prime Ministers’ Questions as a reaction to criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court that sex offenders should be able to challenge their inclusion on the Sex Offenders’ register. He indicated that a BoR would address the concerns expressed (17.3.11; see the Telegraph in relation to R and Thompson v SSHD). The idea that a BoR could right the wrongs of the HRA – would provide a panacea for the HRA’s ills – had apparently been embedded in the Conservative party psyche for some years: David Cameron in a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies in 2006 Balancing freedom and security – A modern British Bill of Rights said that the HRA should be repealed: ‘….The Human Rights Act has a damaging impact on our ability to protect our society against terrorism…. . I am today committing my Party to work towards the production of a Modern Bill of Rights’. In contrast, the 2010 Liberal Democrat election manifesto promised to ‘Ensure that everyone has the same protections under the law by protecting the Human Rights Act.'”
UK Constitution Law Group, 21st March 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionllaw.org
“Bloggers could face high fines for libel under the new Leveson deal with exemplary damages imposed if they don’t sign up to the new regulator, it was claimed on Tuesday.”
The Guardian, 19th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“After much political manoeuvring over the weekend, a deal has been struck on the Royal Charter to implement Leveson. A key point is that it will prevent the Charter being unilaterally changed by future governments.”
UK Constitutional Law Group, 18th March 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
“The Supreme Court could use secret evidence in a ruling for the first time in a landmark case this week despite previously banning such material from civil courts.”
Daily Telegraph, 18th March 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The prominent international lawyer Prof Philippe Sands QC has resigned from the Liberal Democrats in protest at the leadership’s support for expanding the use of secret courts.”
The Guardian, 11th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Related link: I’m leaving the Liberal Democrats too
“The former supreme court judge, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, has established a six-strong ‘foundation group’ to kick start the establishment of a new press regulator, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission has announced. Lord Hunt, who was tasked with transitioning the PCC into the new regulator, said on Thursday that he is hoping the move will help extricate the process of setting up a new watchdog out of the ‘quagmire’ it has been stuck in since the Leveson report was published in November.”
The Guardian, 7th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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