Features

Dr Ann Brady argues that it is time to look again at local judge-directed court mediation schemes. The decision to abolish the Exeter Court Mediation Scheme and replace it with a national mediation scheme was premature, she believes 

Suffering from pains or aches? There are three key areas to focus on, advises Christopher Belderbos 

A starry audience matched by an equally eminent cast, writes David Wurtzel.  

On Sunday, 16 May the Great Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice was packed with people who normally appear there as counsel or sit there as judges. They had come for “The Dunsinane 2”, barrister-turned-writer Peter Moffat’s take on what a trial of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would have looked like, had it happened in 2010. 

Lesley Bates reports on the Criminal Bar Association’s Spring Conference 

David Wurtzel meets Lord Justice Laws, the 2010 Master Treasurer of Inner Temple, and finds philosophy, politics and the law are closely interrelated 

Anthony Paphiti argues that the decision in Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v UK could mean that armed forces engaged in nation building tasks are saddled with the responsibility of guarding prisoners on behalf of a non-ECHR host nation. This, he says, may hamper the conduct of operations.  

On 2 March 2010 the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”), 4th Section, handed down its opinion in Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v UK (App No 61498/08) (2010) Times, 10 March. The decision has hampered the conduct of operations for armed forces of Council of Europe States, especially those engaged on nation building tasks arising in the aftermath of conflict, which seek to restore the institutions of government and law and order. 

Are the criminal courts the best place for intellectual property owners to protect their rights, asks Alex Stein 

In January 2010 Alan Ellis was unanimously acquitted of a charge of conspiracy to defraud based on his activities as creator and supervisor of the peer-to–peer (“P2P”) file sharing website oink.cd. He was the first person to be prosecuted for such activities in the UK. The website which operated between 2004 and 2007 utilised BitTorrent technology allowing members to share files (mainly music but with some books) between themselves. The site was by far the most popular UK based file sharing site. It generated around £150,000 in donations, attracted in the region of 600,000 members and facilitated 21 million downloads. Ellis, who was only 21 when he started the site, ran it from his bedroom in shared student digs. 

Supermarkets now supply the bulk of wine bought for home consumption.  

Dominic Regan and Seán Jones highlight some of the best champagne and wine. 

William Hotham recently completed an internship in Ghana helping create a training programme to sensitise law enforcers to human trafficking. He assesses the UK’s record in this area.  

According to the International Labour Organisation about 12.3 million people worldwide are in forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour or sexual servitude at any given time. Anthony Steen MP recently reported that “more people are trafficked in the world every year than were ever in chains in the 350 years of the African slave trade.” 

Name: Ann Buxton
Position: CEO
Chambers: Hardwicke