‘Senior judges and lawyers on a panel chaired by former Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger have called for legal reforms to curb “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (SLAPPs).’
Legal Futures, 30th November 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Legal action against the attorney general and the Queen’s private lawyers has been initiated over a decision to ban media organisations from a court hearing about the Duke of Edinburgh’s will.’
The Guardian, 18th November 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘This is the second in a series of two posts on the remedial reforms proposed in the Judicial Review and Courts Bill (2021), which provide for courts in judicial review proceedings to grant suspended and prospective-only quashing orders.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 9th November 2021
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The brother, sister and mother of a woman whose mummified remains were found on a mattress will not face trial, a judge has ruled.’
The Guardian, 9th November 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The issue of how the protection of privacy rights should be balanced as against the fundamental public interest in achieving transparency and open justice within the family justice system has long vexed the family division of the High Court. On the one hand, ensuring the confidentiality of family law proceedings is crucial both in terms of protecting the fundamental privacy rights of those individuals who find themselves caught up in such proceedings and in terms of maximising their engagement in the process. On the other hand, a lack of meaningful transparency around the work of the family courts undermines public trust in the family justice system, increases the risk of miscarriages of justice and inhibits the public’s ability to press for reforms of the system on a properly informed basis. The family courts have for a number of years recognised that this balance was weighted too strongly in favour of preserving the confidentiality of family court proceedings, but that still left the fantastically difficult question of how the system should be reformed so as to increase the level of transparency. These are issues that were considered most recently by the courts in the case of Newman v Southampton City Council [2021] EWCA Civ 437. In that case, a journalist who had been unable to attend the first instance hearings of a particular high profile adoption case, was seeking access to the documents which had been placed before the first instance court. The Court of Appeal concluded that the High Court had been right to conclude that the balance of interests tipped in favour of preserving the confidentiality of the majority of relevant documents. However, it also observed that the case served to ‘underline the need for the Transparency Review’ (paragraph 92).’
Panopticon, 2nd November 2021
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘Police forces will be able to “strong-arm” NHS bodies into handing over confidential patient data under planned laws that have sparked fury from doctors’ groups and the UK’s medical watchdog.’
The Independent, 17th October 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A retired solicitor’s “abrasive” and “frequently puerile” blog posts are entitled to the same level of protection as mainstream journalism, a High Court judge has ruled, striking out a harassment claim brought by a local government officer.’
Law Society's Gazette, 19th July 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Queen (on the application of Leonard Gjini) [2021] EWHC 1677 (Admin). In an important decision handed down on 21 June 2021, Mr Justice Morris clarified the circumstances in which it is permissible for the Home Office to decline to issue British Passports to persons subject to deprivation proceedings under section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981 rejecting a contention by the Home Office that there was a public interest in refusing based on the fact of a past deception.’
EIN Blog, 2nd July 2021
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘On Friday 25 June 2021, British tabloid The Sun published pictures of the UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, kissing Gina Coladangelo in his office at the Department of Health. These pictures were, it seems, captured by a CCTV camera in the office and leaked by person(s) unknown to the newspaper. The pictures were soon joined on The Sun’s website by a video clip (seemingly from the same camera). The clip shows Hancock and Coladangelo in what might be described as a passionate embrace. The footage lasts just over one minute and remains online, including on The Sun’s Youtube channel.’
City Law Forum, 30th June 2021
Source: blogs.city.ac.uk
‘The government has lost a legal battle to prevent the release of documents about an “Orwellian” unit that is accused of obstructing the release of material requested by the public under the Freedom of Information Act.’
The Guardian, 8th June 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A mother plans to launch her own legal action if the decision not to prosecute the boy reportedly involved in her son’s death is not reversed.’
BBC News, 7th June 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has given her reasons for making a costs capping order of £250,000 in respect of both the claimants, the Good Law Project and EveryDoctor, and the defendant, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the procurement challenge over the award of contracts for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th May 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge brought by street traders over a council’s implementation of a regulatory framework that requires stall owners to sell products not readily available on the high street.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th May 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Ms Shamima Begum was born and raised in the UK. She was a British citizen at birth and at age 15 she travelled to Syria with two friends and soon afterwards she married an ISIS fighter and is currently detained in poor conditions in the Al-Roj camp run by the Syrian Democratic Forces. She now wishes to return home to the UK to have a fair and effective appeal. She was deprived of her British citizenship on 19 February 2019 because the SSHD believed that her return would present a risk to national security. She applied for leave to enter (LTE) the UK so that she could pursue an appeal against the deprivation decision. The Court of Appeal unanimously held that the only way Ms Begum, can have a fair and effective appeal is to be permitted to come into the UK to pursue her appeal. King, Flaux and Singh LJJ found that fairness and justice must – on the facts of her case – outweigh any national security concerns. But in a twist of fate, the Supreme Court unanimously held in favour of the SSHD and found that the right to a fair hearing does not trump everything else, such as the public’s safety. The court took the view that if a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard, then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it. Therefore, her deprivation appeal should be stayed until she can play an effective part in it without compromising the public’s safety.’
EIN Blog, 7th March 2021
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘This is a short blog to introduce the people and issues, and explain the lead up, ahead of the live-streamed appeal in M (A Child) tomorrow. It aims to give non lawyers a bit of orientation and some links when tuning in to the court of appeal proceedings.’
Transparency Project, 3rd March 2021
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘Last Friday Chamberlain J handed down judgment in a challenge concerning the government’s compliance with procurement law and its own transparency guidance in the awarding of goods and services contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. By reg. 50 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was obliged to send for publication a contract award notice (“CAN”) not later than 30 days after the award of a contract. By its transparency policy and principles it was obliged to publish details of any contract.’
39 Essex Chambers, 23rd February 2021
Source: www.39essex.com
‘This is the first in a series of procurement law judicial review (JR) cases relating to Covid-19 brought by the Good Law Project (GLP) to have reached the judgment stage. The case concerned the (non)publication of contract award notices (CANs) within 30 days under regulation 50 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) and of other contract notices and materials within 20 or 90 days under relevant transparency policies.’
Monckton Chambers, 19th February 2021
Source: www.monckton.com
‘The Court of Appeal has recently affirmed the proposition that a person can be liable under the misuse of private information tort for revealing that someone is the subject of a police investigation before they have been charged. This raises important questions about the relationship between the citizen and the state when the former has the latter under investigation. But so far that relationship has not been central to the courts’ decision-making on this issue. Rather, the basis for liability has been a broad-brush conclusion that a person will generally have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the fact that they “have simply come under suspicion” of the police or other state authority. This blog post will suggest there is a better way to resolve these tricky cases.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 18th February 2021
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The High Court has sounded a new warning about “Micawber tactics” in a summary judgment in the high-profile action brought by the Duchess of Sussex (Meghan Markle) against the Mail newspaper. Lord Justice Warby, sitting as a judge in the Chancery Division, found that the duchess had a reasonable expectation of privacy when she wrote a personal letter to her father, even though she feared it might be leaked to the press.’
Law Society's Gazette, 12th February 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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