‘A former British soldier who tried to join the so-called Islamic State has been jailed for 18 years for attempting to buy machine guns and pistols.’
BBC News, 12th July 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘More than 7 years after Gordon Brown first announced that a public Inquiry would be conducted to identify lessons that could be learned from the Iraq conflict, the Chilcot report was finally published on7 July 2016. However, it was worth the wait. This post does not seek to summarise the report: there are many other good overviews (such as the BBC’s ). The report’s executive summary, in particular the key findings section, is also well worth a read. The intention is to cover in this and subsequent posts some of the key legal issues raised by the report. This post considers the relevance of the Chilcot report’s findings to the broader issue of whether Britain’s intervention in Iraq was legal – an issue which was not itself within the remit of the inquiry.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 7th July 2016
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A robust and agreed framework should be followed by future cabinets before decisions on military action are taken.’
The Guardian, 6th July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A judge has thrown out an appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service against a decision to acquit protesters who tried to blockade the world’s biggest arms fair.’
The Independent, 24th May 2016
‘The legal case for using drone strikes outside of armed conflict needs “urgent clarification” from ministers, a cross-party parliamentary committee has said.’
BBC News, 10th May 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘British drone pilots, intelligence officers and ministers could face murder charges if the government does not clarify its policies on targeted killing, a parliamentary committee has warned.’
The Guardian, 10th May 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The British government’s claim that Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign in Yemen has not breached international humanitarian law is “deeply disappointing” and contributes to an “anything goes” attitude from the opposing sides in the conflict, the international development select committee has said.’
The Guardian, 4th May 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A judge has spared a teenage girl who stabbed the man who sexually abused her as a child from a prison sentence.’
BBC News, 20th April 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Anti-arms trade campaigners have put pressure on the Government to act after officials’ business-as-usual response to a court ruling warning that illegal arms could be changing hands at at London arms fair.’
The Independent, 16th April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Indiscriminate acts of violence by both sides in the civil war in Yemen, including Saudi bombing of medical centres, is so widespread that the Britain has declared sending asylum seekers back to most parts of the country would likely be a breach of the European convention on human rights.’
The Guardian, 14th April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The British government must challenge Saudi Arabia over whether it is using UK weapons to breach international humanitarian law by launching indiscriminate airstrikes in Yemen, a leading lawyer has told the UK arms export control select committee.’
The Guardian, 13th April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A teenage boy has been found guilty of stabbing 18-year-old Stefan Appleton to death with a 2 foot-long ‘Zombie Killer’ machete in a north London park.’
The Independent, 1st April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Regina v Nguyen, Attorney General’s Reference No 79 of 2015
‘The defendant pleaded guilty to attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm contrary to section 18 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and to having an offensive weapon contrary to section 1(1) of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953. He was sentenced to three years and four months’ imprisonment and 12 months’ imprisonment respectively. The Attorney General applied to the Court of Appeal under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 for leave to refer the sentence as unduly lenient. At the same time the prosecution applied to the Crown Court under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 for the sentence to be varied on the grounds that new material showed that, contrary to the way in which the case had been presented at the sentencing hearing, the complainant had been specifically targeted by the defendant. The time limit for making a variation order was subsequently extended by a Crown Court judge, and a variation order was later made by the sentencing judge. The defendant appealed against the varied sentence. On the hearing in the Court of Appeal it was common ground that there was no power to extend the time limit for the making of a variation order, so that the variation order had been invalid.’
WLR Daily, 23rd March 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘MPs have launched an investigation whether British-made arms are being used by Saudi Arabian forces in a widely-criticised military campaign in Yemen.’
The Independent, 10th March 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Police refused to respond to calls for help from staff at psychiatric units covering a large swath of east London and Essex on more than 125 occasions last year. The figures were released in response to a Guardian freedom of information request that sheds new light on how overstretched staff in mental health units are increasingly on the receiving end of violence.’
The Guardian, 7th March 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A district judge who is suing the Ministry of Justice after whistleblowing her complaints about courtroom dangers – death threats, violent claimants and hostage-taking – has spoken out for the first time about her experience of an under-resourced justice system.’
The Guardian, 23rd January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘More than £1bn worth of bombs, missiles and rockets were sold under government licence to Saudi Arabia over three months last summer, according to human rights groups.’
The Guardian, 19th January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The government is to introduce new rules to stop “politically-motivated” boycotts by local councils.’
BBC News, 3rd October 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Councils and local authorities are to be blocked from boycotting Israeli products or pursuing other foreign policy goals that conflict with the government.’
The Guardian, 3rd October 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A 50,000-volt police Taser was the “most likely” cause of a petrol-soaked man catching fire and dying, an inquest jury has ruled.’
The Independent, 1st October 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2024