Category: news

‘The law of homicide faces the most significant overhaul in generations, as the Law Commission today publishes a consultation paper proposing to replace the existing two-tier structure of homicide offences (murder and manslaughter) with a three-tier structure (first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter). The proposed reform constitutes the first strand of the homicide review, with two further strands of work, respectively on defences and the sentencing framework for murder, to follow.’

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Law Commission, 17th June 2026

Source: lawcom.gov.uk

‘The Law Commission today launches consultations on wide-ranging reforms of the law relating to commercial leases to benefit tenants and landlords in England and Wales.’

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Law Commission, 16th June 2026

Source: lawcom.gov.uk

‘The 2011 Family Justice Review issued a particularly sharp critique of the state of data in the family justice system. Having set out, according to its terms of reference, to assess how the system was operating, it found that a lack of data frequently stood in the way of insightful analysis.’

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Family Law, 17th June 2026

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

‘A Court of Appeal panel of five Judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, Lady Carr LCJ, the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), Edis LJ, and Lewis and Whipple LJJ has overturned the Divisional Court’s decision quashing the proscription of Palestine Action, holding that it erred in its approach both to the challenge brought under the Home Secretary’s relevant policy and to whether a fair balance had been struck with reference to the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

‘This article takes an extended look at the reasoning in this decision.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th June 2026

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

‘Paul Newman KC considers whether the proposed repeal of the DB surplus “members’ interests” test instead gives rise to a harder fiduciary question: why, as trustees, is it proper to pay scheme assets to the employer?’

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Pensions Barrister, 18th June 2026

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

‘The Court of Appeal has unanimously allowed the Home Secretary’s appeal against the Divisional Court’s conclusion that her decision to proscribe Palestine Action was unlawful on both policy and human rights grounds. The decision is Home Secretary v Ammori [2026] EWCA Civ 1721.’

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Administrative Court Blog, 16th June 2026

Source: administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com

‘Women in law frequently suffer from exhaustion but stay silent at work for fear their career will suffer, according to a new report on the challenges they face.’

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Law Society Gazette, 18th June 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Cross-examination can have a material impact on the court’s findings of fact and determination of issues. This article is written for the occasional cross-examiner, as an aide mémoire of the rules, as a guide to doing the job well.’

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Financial Remedies Journal, 18th June 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution.’

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Counsel, 15th June 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘Why every major sporting event needs an anti-corruption policy. By Louis Weston’

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Counsel, 15th June 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘There is a particular genre of article that appears at every technological inflection point. It announces the end of a profession with the confidence of a prophet and the drama of a tabloid headline. The most recent iteration assures us that artificial intelligence will ‘completely destroy’ the law as we know it – replacing barristers, emptying chambers and perhaps even rendering judges obsolete.

‘It is a seductive narrative. It is also incomplete.’

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Counsel, 15th June 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘Police who arrested an innocent Black teenager for the attempted murder of his mother, moments after she had attempted to take her own life, will now have to pay up to £130,000 in compensation.’

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The Independent, 18th June 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Two private members’ bills designed to crack down on strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as Slapps, have been introduced by Conservative members within 24 hours of each other, and are likely to attract cross-party support.’

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The Guardian, 17th June 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘A Buddhist temple operating inside a former pub has been ordered to close by a London council, which said its use as a place of worship was unauthorised.’

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The Independent, 16th June 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘A television advertisement for a direct cremation company has been prohibited from broadcast after regulators found it misleadingly suggested an attended funeral service was part of its standard plan. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) issued the ban against Pure Cremation following complaints that the ad implied a level of service not actually offered.’

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The Independent, 16th June 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Why did the judge in The King v Vickrum Singh Digwa (1/6/26) describe the assailant, Digwa, as “carrying a large Sikh dagger” in “a sheath attached to a belt over the outside,” which would go onto brutally kill young Henry Nowak? Why did he say “[i]t is a strict requirement of the Sikh faith to have a knife, called a kirpan, at all times” and that “[g]enerally, this will be a small knife, hidden from view, often on a length of cord and worn around the neck.” If it is a “kirpan” why not call it that? And does it matter that it was called a “knife” first and a “kirpan” only later? Is the Sikh “kirpan” a knife?’

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Law & Religion UK, 17th June 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘Section 12 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, the statute which made “closed material procedures” available in civil proceedings generally, requires the Secretary of State to prepare an annual report which provides details of (amongst other things) the number of applications made under that Act and the number of declarations by the courts that proceedings before it are “proceedings in which a closed material application may be made to the court”. These reports function in practice as a useful overview of the sorts of matters that are being litigated in the national security sphere.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 16th June 2026

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has upheld a complaint about a form used by a health and social care charity when a user of its services is at end of life, finding that the form caused “unnecessary confusion”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th June 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published interim guidance on key points from the Supreme Court’s recent judgment on what constitutes a deprivation of liberty, outlining the main implications for health and social care staff, local authorities and others.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th June 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Exactly half of female legal professionals believe their working patterns are not “sustainable for their health in the long term”, a large-scale study has found.’

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Legal Futures, 17th June 2026

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk