Beezadhur v Independent Commission against Corruption and another – WLR Daily

Posted August 22nd, 2014 in banking, constitutional law, law reports, money laundering by tracey

Beezadhur v Independent Commission against Corruption and another; [2014] UKPC 27; [2014] WLR (D) 380

‘Where a statute aimed at the prevention of money-laundering prohibited the depositing of cash sums above a specified limit save where it was “commensurate with the lawful business activities of the customer”, a customer could not claim that cash sums above the limited regularly deposited by him from his pension were deposits from his “business activities”.’

WLR Daily, 7th August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Judicial Speeches, Gaza Boycotts and Social Media Crimes – the Human Rights Roundup – UK Human Rights Blog

‘This week, former leaders of the Khmer Rouge face life imprisonment for crimes against humanity committed in Cambodia. In other news, the on-going conflict in Gaza sparks controversy at home, while the Lords inquiry into social media offences reaches an unexpected conclusion.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 18th August 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

What is the future for UK human rights? – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted August 6th, 2014 in constitutional law, human rights, international relations, news by sally

‘Human Rights analysis: What does the future hold for human rights in the UK? Stephanie Harrison QC at Garden Court Chambers warns repealing the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) would be a seriously retrograde step, that would reverberate around the world.’

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Garden Court Chambers Blog, 6th August 2014

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

MPs call for anniversary debate on ‘new Magna Carta’ – BBC News

‘The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta next year is the right time for a fresh debate on the pros and cons of a written constitution, MPs have said.’

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BBC News, 10th July 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Agricultural Sector (Wales) Bill Reference by the Attorney General for England and Wales – Supreme Court

Agricultural Sector (Wales) Bill Reference by the Attorney General for England and Wales [2014] UKSC 43 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th July 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Religion, the Rule of Law and Discrimination – Gresham College

‘This address will explore the development of the law’s approach at the intersection between, on the one hand, the manifestation of religious beliefs and, on the other, the protection and promotion of secular values.
It charts the shift from the historic protection of Christian orthodoxy, through the development of anti-discrimination legislation, to the recent domestic and European legislation and case law which have provided a coherent framework for the balancing of these rights consistent with the values of the Rule of Law.’

Transcript

Gresham College, 26th June 2014

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Supreme Court is supreme, says Neuberger – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 27th, 2014 in constitutional law, human rights, news, select committees, Supreme Court by tracey

‘No legislative change is needed to enable the Supreme Court to deviate from rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court’s president told peers today.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 25th June 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Alexander Horne and Oonagh Gay: Ending the Hamilton Affair? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689 has been the subject of a variety of legal challenges. The Article, which provides (in modern parlance) that: “the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament” is usually considered to be a fundamental feature of the constitution and a cornerstone of parliamentary privilege.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 21st May 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Andrew Le Sueur: Imagining judges in a written UK Constitution – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The tide of interest (among those who care about these things) in the idea of a written, codified constitution for the United Kingdom rises and falls. At the moment the tide is quite high, but certainly not high enough to flow into the estuaries of government policy making.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th May 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Alexander Horne: Is there a case for greater legislative involvement in the judicial appointments process? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted March 28th, 2014 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, judiciary, news, parliament by sally

‘The dramatic increase in public law and human rights cases coming before the UK Supreme Court (and the Appellate Committee before it) means that the UK’s top court is more frequently determining essentially socio-political questions. In addition, in recent years, the judiciary has pressed for a rather more expansive definition of judicial independence, with a greater emphasis on the institutional independence of the judiciary. This has tended to lead to more powerful leadership roles, for senior judges in particular.

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 27th March 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Scot Peterson: Constitutional Entrenchment in England and the UK – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted March 25th, 2014 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, EC law, news, referendums by sally

‘Frequently people think that there are only two ways address flexibility in a constitution: to legally entrench an entire document and to protect it with strong judicial oversight, or to have a political constitution and a sovereign parliament, which, in the words of A.V. Dicey, ‘has … the right to make or unmake any law whatever….’ One aspect of this sovereignty is that parliament cannot bind itself: ‘That Parliaments have more than once intended and endeavoured to pass Acts which should tie the hands of their successors is certain, but the endeavour has always ended in failure.’’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th March 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Meg Russell: The Byles/Steel bill – unless amended – holds grave dangers for the Lords – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘On Friday 28 February Dan Byles’ Private Member’s Bill on Lords reform completed its Commons passage. It is now in the Lords, and will be sponsored by David Steel. The bill, which allows retirement from the Lords and expulsion of non-attendees and serious criminals, has been presented as a small, uncontroversial “housekeeping” measure. But as already argued in an earlier blog post, as currently drafted it would in fact introduce a very major change that would alter the Lords fundamentally, and in very undesirable ways.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 6th March 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org/blog

The disturbing conflict of interest at the heart of British justice – Garden Court Chambers

‘Today, lawyers go on strike for the second time since January. The battle is with the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, over his proposed reforms to legal aid. Strike action, from a generally traditional and conservative profession, is all but unprecedented and threatens to bring the criminal justice system to a halt. What has brought relations between the legal profession and Mr Grayling to this pitch?’

Full story

Garden Court Chambers, 7th March 2014

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

The British and Europe – Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court

Posted February 14th, 2014 in constitutional law, EC law, human rights, lectures, news by sally

The British and Europe (PDF)

Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court

Cambridge Freshfields Annual Law Lecture, 12th February 2014

Source: www.supremecourt.uk

Jack Alaric Simson Caird: A Code of Constitutional Standards – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted January 9th, 2014 in constitutional law, news, reports, select committees by sally

‘The Constitution Unit of University College London is today publishing a report which sets out a code of constitutional standards based on the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. Since 2001 the Committee has made many recommendations in its reports, and the goal of this report was to codify these recommendations in order to make the Committee’s analysis of the constitution more accessible. The report, by Robert Hazell, Dawn Oliver and myself, contains a code of 126 constitutional standards, each of which is relevant to the legislative process, and each of which has been extracted from the 149 reports of the Constitution Committee that were reviewed. The standards are organised into five sections: the rule of law; delegated powers, delegated legislation and Henry VIII clauses; the separation of powers; individual rights; and parliamentary procedure.’

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 8th January 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionalgroup.org

Lord Judge – Constitutional Change: Unfinished Business – UCL Constitutional Unit

Posted December 18th, 2013 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, human rights, judiciary, news by sally

‘Lord Judge delivered a lecture on the topic of “Constitutional Change: Unfinished Business”.’

Video

UCL Constitutional Unit, 17th December 2013

Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Paying the price for speaking freely about FIFA – the Triesman libel proceedings – Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

‘The Court of Appeal will soon be delivering judgment in a high-profile clash between the head of Thailand’s football federation, Dato Worawi Makudi, and Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the FA, which raises an issue of high constitutional importance.’

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Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 9th December 2013

Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org

Adam Perry and Farrah Ahmed: Are Constitutional Statutes ‘Quasi-Entrenched’? – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted November 26th, 2013 in constitutional law, extradition, news, repeals, Scotland by tracey

‘The Supreme Court issued its decision in H v Lord Advocate (pdf) in 2012. The decision has been virtually ignored by constitutional scholars, but we believe it may be of great constitutional significance. In this post we explain why, starting with some background about constitutional statutes.’

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 26th November 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org/blog

Who’s right about the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? – Head of Legal

Posted November 22nd, 2013 in charters, constitutional law, EC law, human rights, international law, news by tracey

‘Confusion abounds about the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights following Mr Justice Mostyn’s recent judgment in R (AB) v Home Secretary (in which he appeared to say the Charter puts into UK law all sorts of new rights British governments had wanted to exclude) and Tuesday’s reaction by the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling (who, it’s reported, is urgently trying to clarify whether the Charter ”applies in the UK”).’

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Head of Legal, 21st November 2013

Source: www.headoflegal.com

Philip Murray: Natural Justice at the Boundaries of Public Law – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted November 21st, 2013 in civil justice, constitutional law, contracts, news by sally

“The intention of this post is a simple one: to assess the ways in which natural justice arguments have historically been raised in private law proceedings. By ‘natural justice’ I mean those common law principles requiring a fair procedure and an unbiased tribunal when powers are exercised. Ordinarily, of course, natural justice arguments arise in judicial review proceedings against public bodies in the Administrative Court or Upper Tribunal, usually when those bodies are exercising a statutory power. But to what extent can it be argued that a private body, in its private relations with private individuals, has acted unlawfully by making decisions in a procedurally unfair manner?”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 21st November 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org