Category: legal history

Graham John Wheeler: Referendums That Time Forgot – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted February 17th, 2017 in bills, constitutional history, legal history, news, referendums by sally

‘It is well known that the first national referendum in the UK was the 1975 poll on EEC membership. It is also quite well known that A.V. Dicey called for the introduction of the referendum into British politics from the 1880s onwards as a means of defeating Irish home rule. This episode was the subject of an exchange between Dominic Chambers QC and Lord Sumption in the Article 50 case.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th February 2017

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Freedom’s banner – Counsel

Posted September 26th, 2016 in demonstrations, legal history, news by sally

‘The legal and practical issues surrounding street demonstrations have remained remarkably similar over the 200 years since the idea of peaceful demonstrations was first thought of.’

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Counsel, October 2016

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

Attorney General Speech at the Royal Courts of Justice – Attorney General’s Office

Posted July 25th, 2016 in attorney general, legal history, lord chancellor, news, parliament, speeches by sally

‘Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC MP’s speech at the Lord Chancellor’s swearing in ceremony.’

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Attorney General’s Office, 21st July 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/ago

How legal history shapes the present – OUP Blog

Posted April 13th, 2016 in legal history, news by sally

‘The field of “legal history” studies the relationship that “law” and legal institutions have to the society that surrounds them. “Law” means everything from local regulations and rules promulgated by administrative agencies, to statutes and court decisions. Legal history is interested in how “law” and legal institutions operate and how they change over time in reaction to changing economic, social, and political conditions. It looks at people who are “governed” by law, as well as how those people try to influence law and legal actors. Thus, the field covers such diverse topics as the Roman law of wills, the social and economic conditions that brought down feudalism, the legal ideas motivating the American Revolution, the way that slave patrols kept the slave system in place, the legal regulation of business in the early 20th century, right up through the Black Power movement’s critique of the US criminal justice system.’

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OUP Blog, 12th April 2016

Source: http://blog.oup.com

Graham John Wheeler: When Should the Lords Reject Secondary Legislation? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted December 7th, 2015 in constitutional history, constitutional law, legal history, legislation, news, parliament, privilege, veto by sally

‘On 26 October 2015, the House of Lords debated the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015. The Regulations were approved, but subject to two riders. Critics claimed that these riders constituted “fatal” amendments, and that they were therefore tantamount to a rejection of the legislation. It was argued that it is constitutionally improper for the House of Lords to reject financial legislation in this way.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 7th December 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

The right to a fair trial: part one – OUP Blog

Posted November 3rd, 2015 in juries, legal history, news, trials by sally

‘Our legal history stretches back well over eight centuries, to long before Magna Carta (1215). But however long this history may be, it is not one of which we can be universally proud, and the freedoms which we enjoy today have had to be hard won over the centuries. These are now encapsulated in the Human Rights Act 1998, which came into force in 2000, and which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights. They include, amongst others: the right to life, freedom from torture or being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom from slavery, and the rights to a fair trial, free speech (freedom of expression) and respect for private and family life. But these freedoms have not suddenly emerged from a twentieth century statute. Our history is peopled by many remarkable characters, and includes the stories of very many fascinating cases, some of which have created and developed freedoms over the ages.’

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OUP Blog, 3rd November 2015

Source: www.blog.oup.com

Speech by President of the Queen’s Bench Division: Justice for the 21st Century – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted October 12th, 2015 in constitutional history, constitutional law, constitutional reform, courts, diversity, equality, internet, judges, judicial appointments commission, judiciary, legal history, news, parliament, statistics by tracey

‘Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division gave the Caroline Weatherill Lecture “Justice for the 21st Century” in the Isle of Man on 9 October 2015.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judicairy, 12th October 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Slavery: How women’s key role in abolition has yet to receive the attention it deserves – The Independent

Posted August 24th, 2015 in compensation, legal history, news, statistics, trafficking in human beings, women by sally

‘The journey of Mary Prince from the salt ponds of Bermuda to a cause célèbre in early 19th-century Britain came at unbearable personal cost. Torn from her family in a slave auction and routinely beaten while naked, she was brought to England by her owners after years of brutality on Caribbean plantations.’

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The Independent, 23rd August 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Speech by Lord Chief Justice: Dinner for Her Majesty’s Judges – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted July 10th, 2015 in criminal justice, fraud, judiciary, legal history, legal profession, magna carta, rule of law, speeches by tracey

‘Speech by The Right Hon. The Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 9th July 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Magna Carta: The troubled journey to an independent judiciary – The Independent

Posted June 8th, 2015 in constitutional history, judiciary, legal history, magna carta, news, rule of law by sally

‘In popular perception the Middle Ages was a time of lawlessness and cruelty. And to a degree, that characterisation holds true. Crusades abroad, ill-disciplined governance at home, England in the early thirteenth century was not exactly enlightened.’

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The Independent, 7th June 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Human Rights through the ages: Magna Carta and 7 key moments since 1215 – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted April 22nd, 2015 in constitutional history, human rights, legal history, magna carta, news by sally

‘2015 is the 800th anniversary of English law’s most momentous landmark – the signing of Magna Carta. For the first time, the king’s absolute rule was limited and the first step taken towards civil liberties and individual rights for all.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 21st April 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

“High-minded tosh” – the current brouhaha about the Magna Carta – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 17th, 2015 in constitutional history, legal history, magna carta, news, speeches by sally

‘Let’s apply some hard history to the 13th century charter governing the obligations flowing between King John and his barons, or at least read the thing. So says Lord Sumption in a fascinating address to Friends of the British Library on 9 March.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th March 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

The President, Mr Justice Holmes and the Life of the Law – Family Law Week

Posted February 10th, 2015 in female genital mutilation, judges, legal history, news by sally

‘Following Sir James Munby’s judgment in B and G (Children) (No 2), David Bedingfield, barrister of 4 Paper Buildings, considers the continuing relevance of the American jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes.’

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Family Law Week, 30th January 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Magna Carta 800 Years On – BBC Law in Action

Posted February 9th, 2015 in legal history, magna carta, news by sally

‘This year, 2015, marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, a legal document often seen as the cornerstone of British freedoms.’

Listen

BBC Law in Action, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The Magna Carta explained – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in human rights, legal history, magna carta, news, rule of law by sally

‘As the four original surviving copies of the Magna Carta are brought together under the same roof for the first time, here is a Q&A about the document.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Why Good Lawyers are such Bad Historians: the Case of Sir Edward Coke – The Inner Temple

Posted January 27th, 2015 in legal history, news, speeches by sally

Why Good Lawyers are such Bad Historians: the Case of Sir Edward Coke (PDF)

Dr George Garnett, University Oxford

The Inner Temple, 19th January 2015

Source: www.innertemple.org.uk

Magna Carta: The Medieval Context and the Part Played by William Marshal – Gresham College

Posted January 20th, 2015 in judges, legal history, magna carta, news, speeches by sally

‘Modern understanding of Magna Carta has begun to mythologize the creation and signing of the charter. Lord Igor Judge, Former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales places Magna Carta in its historical context as simply another Charter in an age when charters were “created like confetti”. As well as the byzantine politics and open warfare that led to the creation of Magna Carta, Lord Judge highlights the real hero of 1215, William Marshal, whose tireless campaigning and statecraft lead to the adoption of Magna Carta, ejected the French from British soil and secured the Plantagenet dynasty’s hold on the throne.’

Video

Gresham College, 14th January 2015

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Speech to the Bar Conference – Nicholas Lavender QC, Chairman of the Bar Council

Posted December 3rd, 2014 in advocacy, barristers, employment, families, family courts, foreign jurisdictions, housing, legal aid, legal history, legal profession, legal services, litigants in person, news, pro bono work, regulations, speeches, trials by sally

Speech to the Bar Conference (PDF)

Nicholas Lavender QC, Chairman of the Bar Council

The Bar Council, 8th November 2014

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Human Rights: Philosophy and History – Gresham College

Posted October 22nd, 2014 in human rights, legal history, magna carta, news, United Nations by sally

‘The philosophical and historical development of what may be regarded as essential human rights will be traced. It is essential to understand this development before criticising – or complaining about – modern Human Rights law.’

Transcript

Gresham College, 15th October 2014

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Whose Magna Carta is it anyway? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 17th, 2014 in constitutional history, human rights, legal education, legal history, news by sally

‘Yesterday was Magna Carta Day. It is now only 364 days until the 800th anniversary of the sealing of England’s oldest charter of rights, and one of the world’s most influential legal documents.’

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UK Human Rights Blog,

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com