All articles by Joshua Rozenberg – Page 15
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News
Politicians appreciate the value of investigative journalism
What future does investigative journalism have in an age when reporters face arrest and courts develop privacy laws? That was the question raised in a report published last week by the House of Lords communications committee. The select committee’s starting point was that ‘responsible investigative journalism ...
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Media is permeating the judicial process
The Supreme Court seems to have settled down well at its new home in Parliament Square. In the main courtroom, frosted glass has been installed on the doors behind the judicial bench so that spectators can no longer gaze into one of the judges’ rooms. The judges’ microphones are now ...
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UK courts have misunderstood a fundamental provision of the Human Rights Act
‘Cameron tells Euro judges to stop meddling in British justice,’ the Mail on Sunday headlined its well-sourced report at the weekend. Anticipating the prime minister’s speech to the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly on Wednesday afternoon, the newspaper said that David Cameron would demand major reforms to the European Court ...
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Proposed procedures are misguided
Government moves that would further undermine open justice have been attacked by the very lawyers on whom ministers rely to support the existing system of closed courts. It’s a major setback for the security service, which persuaded justice secretary Kenneth Clarke to endorse the reforms in a green paper on ...
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How safe is it to store confidential client data in the cloud?
As a freelance journalist, I like the idea of storing all my documents ‘in the cloud’ rather than on whichever of my computers I happen to be using at the time. If I need to check an item urgently, I can download it wherever I happen to be - borrowing ...
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Is the so-called ‘forum bar’ really the panacea claimed by campaigners?
Was the government’s recent extradition review one-sided? The highly experienced extradition solicitor Karen Todner complained in last week’s Gazette that the Scott Baker inquiry did not interview a single defence practitioner.
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European Court of Human Rights reform may be supported
On Monday, the UK took over the political leadership of the body that runs the European Court of Human Rights. Last Friday, the UK’s judge in Strasbourg, Sir Nicolas Bratza, became president of the court. Will the Brits make a difference?
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The Baker report on extradition law is something to build on
When Sir Michael Bichard was finalising his report on child protection measures after the Soham murders of 2002, he took some trouble to ensure the institutions he was about to criticise would give his recommendations a fair wind. On the BBC’s Law in Action this week, he told me how ...
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The politics of judicial independence
Did magistrates and judges help bring an end to the riots that ravaged English city centres in August? I suspect the prime minister’s decision to put additional police on the streets made more of an impact, but it seems reasonable to suppose that some unexpectedly tough sentences, reviewed by the ...
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Government’s replacement for control orders has come under critical scrutiny
What’s the difference between a control order and a terrorism prevention and investigation measure? The current equivalent of house arrest has a succinct but sinister-sounding title; its forthcoming replacement, though more explicit, is destined to become a near-acronym (TPIM, pronounced ‘T-pim’) and does not lend itself to the creation of ...
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Book offers many compelling insights into the use of legal terminology
It’s always a pleasure to find that a publisher has sent me a book for review. Sometimes the pleasure evaporates as soon as I open the packaging: polemics and monographs are not my favourite bedtime reading. My heart also tends to sink when I find ...
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Twitter popular among judges - but they need to master the medium
The judges have started tweeting. Even though reporters are still waiting for final guidance from the judiciary on the use of ‘live, text-based communication from court’, senior judges have jumped the gun and embraced Twitter with enthusiasm. Not that you’ll see judges telling us what ...
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Leveson a strong choice to lead phone-hacking inquiry
What’s so striking about the judicial inquiry into phone hacking is how high-powered it all is. I had initially thought that the lord chief justice would recommend a retired judge for appointment as its chairman. But Lord Judge recognised that the task was simply too important for someone nearing the ...
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Phone-hacking scandal has obscured other important stories
Last week was not a very good time to be a reporter - although it helped if you had never been employed by one of Rupert Murdoch’s diminishing stable of newspapers. It looks as if journalists, like solicitors, are about to lose the privilege of ...
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Human rights committee is making unrealistic demands on extradition
Is it easier for the United States to have a suspect extradited from the United Kingdom than it is for the UK to get someone handed over by the US? Ever since the US-UK extradition treaty was signed in 2003, there have been complaints that ...
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It makes sense to restrict arrests for crimes of universal jurisdiction
Government reforms designed to restrict arrests for crimes of universal jurisdiction survived new challenges in the House of Lords last week. If the proposals emerge unscathed after a further debate this month, there will be less risk that politicians visiting Britain from countries such as the US, China and Israel ...
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Alex Salmond is gunning for the Supreme Court
The last reported prosecution for ‘murmuring’ – or slandering – judges under Scottish law seems to have been in 1870 and the offence must now be obsolete. So there seems little chance of seeing the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, in the dock for ...
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Lord chief justice allowed himself to be labelled 'enemy of free speech'
Taking on the media is never a good idea if you happen to be a member of the judiciary. While judges are required to be fair, logical and impartial, reporters and commentators are often inaccurate, opinionated and driven more by commercial needs than by lofty ...
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Lady Justice Hallett could become the first woman lord chief justice
Lady Justice Hallett’s handling of the London bombing inquests has done her chances of becoming the next lord chief justice no harm at all. There isn’t a vacancy, of course, and Lord Judge, who celebrates his 70th birthday next week, is on excellent form. ...
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Privacy law, not injunctions, should be on press's agenda
The press worked itself up into a predictable lather of self-righteousness last week as editors saw their circulation figures threatened by privacy laws. Firmly in their sights were what they called ‘super-injunctions’ - although an injunction whose existence may be reported is no more a ...