Justice Matters

The proposed changes to legal aid funding will inhibit access to the  Family Justice System for the most vulnerable members of society –  the very people the reforms are dedicated to protect, believes Ian Bugg 

On 15 November 2010, the Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) published its Green Paper “Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales” and, with it, the Government has introduced possibly the most profound changes to the Family Justice System since the introduction of the Legal Aid Scheme in 1949. 

Counsel put the following questions to the inaugural Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.  

Your career has been unusual in that you have combined being a professor of law at UCL with work as a university administrator (Dean of Law and Vice Provost of UCL), with practice at the Bar (at Blackstone Chambers) and membership of various public bodies. Which of these activities is most relevant to your work for the new Centre? 

Siobhan Grey discusses the Tate Modern and Gray’s Inn symposium on voyeurism, privacy, censorship and surveillance 

The curtain has now fallen on “Exposed” the Tate Modern’s provocative photographic exhibition. It skilfully captured the political and cultural zeitgeist through an exploration of the themes of voyeurism, privacy and surveillance and raised important ethical questions about the taking of illicit or covert photographs. 

John Kampfner sums up the current arguments on libel law reform 

Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is what Tony Blair might have called a feral beast turned hunted prey. A former reporter, he opted for politics in 2001. Since then he has been a doughty human rights campaigner. It was his question to the Justice Secretary in October 2009 about the injunction obtained following publication of the Minton Report on the dumping by Trafigura of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast which brought home to Parliament the activities of claimant legal firms in getting “super-injunctions”. 

Tony Shaw QC and Clive Freedman discuss the draft Guidelines on Information Security and Government Work 

Jonathan Herring claims that it is a divorce lawyer’s world 

Stephen Hockman QC argues the case for a written constitution 

The Law Reform Committee wants to know which areas of law reform it should consider on behalf of the Bar, say Dan Stacey and Eleena Misra 

Is it possible to challenge extradition requests based on the right to family life following Norris, asks Abigail Bright 

Nobody has yet successfully challenged an extradition request made under a bilateral extradition treaty on the grounds that the extradition would breach the person’s right to respect for private and family life, as guaranteed by art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within the territory of the respondent state. In Norris v Government of the United States of America (No 2) [2010] UKSC 9 the Supreme Court – unanimously – rejected Ian Norris’ argument that extradition to the USA would be incompatible with his right to a private and family life in the UK. Nevertheless, Norris provides overdue guidance on when such a challenge may succeed.  

Later this year anyone who is arrested in Europe will be able to find out about their legal rights – in their own language – online. Amanda Pinto QC discusses what the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe project involves 

The European Commission has decided to provide a pan-European project enabling those who come into contact with the criminal justice system in another member state to find out about their rights in their own language.