Justice Matters

Ali Naseem Bajwa QC and Eva Niculiu examine the issues raised by use of the complainant’s sexual history in the Ched Evans rape retrial  

On the night of 29-30 May 2011, a professional footballer, Clayton McDonald, on a night out in Rhyl, North Wales, met a 19-year-old waitress who was heavily intoxicated. McDonald took her back to his hotel room.  

When does the state have the right to interfere in family life on the basis of radical views held by family members? Damian Woodward-Carlton reports on the inherent difficulties arising in the family courts  

Family lawyers and courts are currently grappling with the most fundamental of questions: when does the state have the right to interfere in family life on the basis of the views – however unpalatable – of some family members, or their interest in exploring, viewing and reading material which others might find abhorrent?  

Arguably the most serious miscarriage of justice of our times – lessons must be learned from the iconic Hillsborough proceedings, writes Pete Weatherby QC  

Hillsborough is arguably the most serious miscarriage of justice in our history.  

Is it ever too late to prosecute historic allegations? Richard Jory QC and Sam Jones consider whether it’s time for a rethink  

On 14 June 2016, the resident judge at Exeter Crown Court stayed all further proceedings against M, at 97 years old the oldest defendant so far to have stood trial in a Crown Court in England and Wales.  

With a string of historic sex abuse cases attracting unparalleled public scrutiny, it’s been a high-profile three years. Anthony Inglese meets DPP Alison Saunders to discuss decision-making, transparency and the Bar  

‘Deciding on so many difficult issues.’ Alison Saunders, heading towards her third anniversary as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), is talking about what she has enjoyed most about her CPS career. 

Forty-six years since the Equal Pay Act 1970, the gender pay gap persists despite years of litigation. The impending regulations have come at an important time, says Daphne Romney QC  

In August, figures published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested the overall gender pay gap (GPG) is now 18%, widening in the 12 years after having children (Gender Wage Gap, BN186).  

Rawdon Crozier considers what legislators and policy makers could learn from British cycling  

Politicians tend to favour big ideas, whether it’s a new piece of legislation or a state-of-the-art computer system, the bigger the better – and better still if they can be rolled out with a blaze of publicity and a snappy sound bite.  

Nick Barber, Tom Hickman and Jeff King argue that Parliament has an indispensable role in triggering withdrawal from the European Union  

As a matter of domestic constitutional law, we argue that the Prime Minister is unable to issue a declaration under Art 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – triggering withdrawal from the European Union – without having been authorised to do so by a statute.