Category: parliament

Alexander Horne: Evidence under oath, perjury and parliamentary privilege – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted January 29th, 2015 in bills, contempt of court, human rights, news, parliament, parliamentary privilege, perjury, reports, select committees by sally

‘The issue of select committee powers has received renewed interest during the 2010-15 Parliament, culminating in a report from Liaison Committee on Select committee effectiveness, resources and powers (in October 2012); and, subsequently, a report by the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege in July 2013 (and a Government response later that year).’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 29th January 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Peers seek to limit law on assisted dying – The Independent

Posted January 12th, 2015 in assisted suicide, bills, news, parliament, time limits by sally

‘A coalition of cross-party peers has moved to water down proposed legislation that would let the terminally ill request and receive help to end their lives.’

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The Independent, 11th January 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

English votes for English laws plan ‘could end hunting ban’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 5th, 2015 in constitutional law, devolution, elections, hunting, news, parliament by sally

‘Constitutional shake-up would shift the balance at Westminster in favour of repealing the Hunting Act 2004, Countryside Alliance believes.’

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Daily Telegraph, 4th January 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘English votes for English laws’ plans unveiled – BBC News

Posted December 16th, 2014 in devolution issues, news, parliament by tracey

‘Commons Leader William Hague has said legislation affecting just England should only be passed “with the consent of the majority” of English MPs.’

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BBC News, 16th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Commons watchdog will publish names of MPs facing expenses investigation – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 16th, 2014 in disclosure, expenses, media, news, parliament, privacy, private hearings by tracey

‘IPSA will name MPs who face investigation into their expenses, but they will be able to have the hearings in private.’

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Daily Telegraph, 15th December 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Judicial reviews: a decision that’s best left to judges – The Guardian

Posted December 10th, 2014 in bills, costs, disclosure, human rights, intelligence services, interception, investigatory powers, judicial review, judiciary, news, parliament, public interest, telecommunications, tribunals by sally

‘The justice secretary wants to restrict access to judicial reviews, but judging the lawfulness of executive action should not be a matter for the executive.’

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The Guardian, 10th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

House of Lords rejects government plans to restrict judicial review access – The Guardian

Posted December 10th, 2014 in bills, judicial review, news, parliament by sally

‘A rebellion in the House of Lords has inflicted a second defeat on the government’s plans to restrict access to judicial review challenges.’

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The Guardian, 9th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Peers continue JR resistance as Grayling admits misinforming MPs about changes – Litigation Futures

Posted December 10th, 2014 in bills, costs, judicial review, judiciary, news, parliament by sally

‘The House of Lords yesterday reinstated two of the three amendments it previously passed on the government’s judicial review reforms as it emerged that Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling had given MPs incorrect information over a key aspect of them last week.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th December 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

MPs get go-ahead to challenge snooping law – The Guardian

Posted December 9th, 2014 in declarations of incompatibility, investigatory powers, news, parliament, telecommunications by sally

‘Two MPs have been given the green light to legally challenge the government over the introduction of legislation which gives police and security services access to people’s phone and internet records.’

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The Guardian, 8th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Judiciary, the Executive and Parliament: Relationships and the Rule of Law – Speech by Lord Chief Justice

Posted December 3rd, 2014 in assisted suicide, constitutional reform, criminal justice, devolution, disclosure, EC law, electronic mail, judicial appointments commission, judiciary, lord chancellor, parliament, rule of law, select committees, speeches, Supreme Court by sally

The Judiciary, the Executive and Parliament: Relationships and the Rule of Law (PDF)

Speech by Lord Chief Justice

Institute for Government, 1st December 2014

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Andrew Mitchell loses Plebgate libel trial – The Guardian

Posted November 28th, 2014 in closed circuit television, costs, defamation, news, parliament, police by sally

‘Andrew Mitchell, the Tory MP and former cabinet minister at the centre of the Plebgate row lost his high court libel trial on Thursday in a ruling which sees him facing a legal bill of millions of pounds and leaves his political career in tatters.’

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The Guardian, 27th November 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Alexander Horne and Richard Kelly: Prerogative Powers and the Fixed-term Parliaments Act – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted November 21st, 2014 in constitutional law, constitutional reform, news, parliament, prerogative powers, royal prerogative by tracey

‘The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 is a contentious and oft criticised piece of legislation, although it does have its supporters. The government and the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee have argued it has created a stable environment for longer-term government planning.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 19th November 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org/blog

R (Lord Carlile of Berriew QC and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Supreme Court

Posted November 18th, 2014 in appeals, law reports, ministers' powers and duties, parliament, proportionality, Supreme Court, terrorism, visas by sally

R (on the application of Lord Carlile of Berriew QC and others) (Appellants) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) [2014] UKSC 60 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 12th November 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Conor Gearty: On Fantasy Island: British politics, English judges and the European Convention on Human Rights – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted November 17th, 2014 in constitutional law, human rights, judges, judiciary, news, parliament, rule of law, Supreme Court by sally

‘My first encounter with the fantasies that underpin English public law came in the 1980s. I had just starting teaching constitutional law and was taking my first year students through Dicey: the independent rule of law; the availability of remedies to all, without fear or favour; the common law’s marvellous protection of civil liberties; how great we were, how terrible the continent; and all the rest of it. Outside the classroom, striking miners were being routinely beaten up by the police, their picketing disrupted by road blocks, their liberty eroded by mass bail conditions. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was having its marches banned and its protests inhibited by ‘no-go’ areas arbitrarily erected by the police around American bases into which it had been decided to move a new generation of nuclear weapons. Some of my students were even beaten up themselves, on a march against education cuts in London – much to their surprise given what I was teaching them.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 13th November 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘Wholly antiquated’: lord chief justice on court technology – LegalVoice

Posted November 17th, 2014 in courts, electronic filing, internet, judges, judiciary, legal representation, litigants in person, news, parliament by sally

‘Our “antiquated” courts faced “severe crisis” without significant investment, the lord chief justice said yesterday. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd offered journalists a judicial perspective on the financial pressures being imposed upon the courts at his annual press conference.’

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LegalVoice, 13th November 2014

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Regina (Lord Carlile of Berriew and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted November 13th, 2014 in appeals, freedom of expression, human rights, law reports, parliament, Supreme Court, visas by tracey

Regina (Lord Carlile of Berriew and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2014] UKSC 60; [2014] WLR (D) 479

‘The Home Secretary’s decision to maintain an order excluding the entry into the United Kingdom of a dissident Iranian politician, invited by members of the Houses of Parliament to meet them in London to discuss human rights and democratic issues in Iran, was not a disproportionate interference with their right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: the Home Secretary was entitled to accept the recommendation of the Foreign Secretary that to permit such entry would risk jeopardising the United Kingdom’s diplomatic and economic interests and might provoke a violent reaction in Iran resulting in damage to British property and endangering the safety of British and local personnel.’

WLR Daily, 12th November 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

English laws options ‘due soon’, says Hague – BBC News

Posted November 3rd, 2014 in devolution, news, parliament, referendums, Scotland by sally

‘Options to give English MPs more say over laws affecting England will be set out over the coming weeks, the House of Commons leader William Hague has said.’

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BBC News, 2nd November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Dinah Rose QC: “Give MPs a constitution crash course” – The Lawyer

Posted October 30th, 2014 in barristers, constitutional law, human rights, news, parliament, rule of law, speeches by sally

‘New Members of Parliament should be given training on the constitution and the rule of law, one of the UK’s most prominent barristers has suggested.’

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The Lawyer, 29th October 2014

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Patrick O’Brien: How active were pre-2009 judges as parliamentarians? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 28th, 2014 in constitutional reform, judges, judiciary, news, parliament by sally

‘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.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 28th October 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Three strikes and out? Major defeats for Government Judicial Review reform plans in the Lords – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 28th, 2014 in bills, judicial review, news, parliament by sally

‘Last night saw the important Report Stage consideration of Part 4 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill in the House of Lords. Angela Patrick, Director of Human Rights Policy at JUSTICE provides a summary.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 28th October 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com