‘There is to be a drive to recruit retiring law firm partners to the senior judiciary in a bid to improve diversity, it has emerged.’
Legal Futures, 14th November 2014
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A quota system should be introduced to address the under-representation of women and ethnic minority judges, a major independent report commissioned by the Labour Party has recommended.’
Full story
Litigation Futures, 6th November 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Is the question of anything more than historical interest? The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 precluded judicial peers from contributing to parliamentary debate from 1 October 2009. Many of the Law Lords were opposed to the change, and many judges are at least nostalgic for the past arrangements. The current Lord Chief Justice (LCJ) of England and Wales, Lord Thomas, and his immediate predecessor, Lord Judge, have both publicly regretted the fact that they cannot speak in Parliament on matters of importance to the judiciary. To the extent that the outlook of judges today is shaped partly by the feeling that they have lost a valuable platform, the issue is worth exploring. In fact judges were very infrequent contributors to parliamentary debate. Whilst past Lord Chief Justices – and other judicial peers – may have occasionally used the chamber of the Lords as a platform for articulating judicial viewpoints, all things considered they did so rarely.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 28th October 2014
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The UK judicial system lags well behind the rest of Europe in terms of gender balance, according to a study of the relative efficiency of justice systems published on Thursday.’
The Guardian, 9th October 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Proposals by academics to allow new defences against trade mark infringement to be created in the future should be resisted, a trade mark law specialist has warned.’
OUT-LAW.com, 6th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Master Gordon-Saker, who replaced Peter Hurst as Senior Costs Judge yesterday, has used his first public speech in the role to launch a strongly-worded attack on the lack of training for judges in costs budgeting.’
Litigation Futures, 2nd October 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘This consultation seeks views on the proposed design of the Fee-paid Judicial Pension Scheme (FPJPS).’
Ministry of Justice, 19th September 2014
Source: https://consult.justice.gov.uk
‘A career judiciary with fast-track promotion to higher courts may be required to overcome lack of diversity on the bench, the UK’s most senior judge has suggested.’
The Guardian, 17th September 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Lord Chancellors should be recruited from the judiciary and no longer combine the role with that of justice secretary, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has argued.’
Legal Futures, 29th August 2014
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Martin Partington discussed a range of careers in his podcasts yesterday. Today [20 August], he tackles how new legal issues and developments in the professional environment have in turn changed organizational structures, rules and regulations, and aspects of legal education.’
OUP Blog, 20th August 2014
Source: www.blog.oup.com
‘Judges could determine the outcome of some information rights tribunal cases on their own in future under just-published proposals.’
OUT-LAW.com, 19th August 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
‘As part of its inquiry into the office of Lord Chancellor, the Constitution Committee asks whether “new” (i.e. post-2003) Lord Chancellors have actually defended judicial independence in line with their customary and now statutory duty to do so. I was asked for examples earlier this summer when appearing before the Committee (with Andrew Le Sueur and Patrick O’Brien). I tried to identify some, but rather garbled my answer. Earlier in the year I also sketched some thoughts about Lord Chancellors in Public Law, but struggled to find clear-cut examples. One reason is that collective cabinet responsibility and the confidentiality of exchanges between Lord Chancellors and judges mean that outsiders will seldom have a full picture of what has occurred behind closed doors. This is unfortunate since my impression is that many lawyers assume—mistakenly, I think—that new Lord Chancellors are neither willing nor able to defend judicial independence. This post is hopefully third time lucky in correcting this assumption. By drawing on press reports, public statements and interviews that Robert Hazell, Kate Malleson, Patrick O’Brien and I conducted between 2011-2013, I want to piece together evidence that suggests that new Lord Chancellors can and do defend judicial independence.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 18th August 2014
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org/blog
‘The Senior President of Tribunals, Sullivan LJ, has launched a consultation paper on altering the composition of the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) in some Information Rights cases. With the support of GRC Chamber President, Judge Warren, it is proposed to remove the requirement that a judge sit with two non-legal members and allow the Chamber President flexibility to direct that certain cases be heard by a judge alone.’
Panopticon, 18th August 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
The role of judges in human rights jurisprudence: a comparison of the Australian and UK experience (PDF)
Lord Neuberger
Supreme Court of Victoria, Melbourne, 8th August 2014
Source: www.supremecourt.uk
‘President of the Supreme Court admits ‘we should be more ready not to follow’ European Court of Human Rights.’
Daily Telegraph, 11th August 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The family courts system is at breaking point due to delays caused by unrepresented litigants and overstretched judges, according to the body that represents lawyers and professionals in divorce hearings.’
The Guardian, 29th July 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Britain’s only female Supreme Court judge says there needs to be more gender equality shown across Britain’s legal system and that by appointing more female judges the quality of justice could be greatly improved.’
The Independent, 27th July 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Lord Chief Justice speech: Dinner for Her Majesty’s Judges, 9th July.’
CrimeLine, 14th July 2014
Source: www.crimeline.info
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