All articles by Roger Smith – Page 4
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Ruling highlights ministerial passivity in the face of US aggression
Sometimes you just can’t win - particularly with the Daily Mail. ‘A glimpse of common sense from Strasbourg’ was its headline hailing the government’s victory at the European Court of Human Rights in the case involving both Babar Ahmad and Abu Hamza. The subsequent piece was the usual attack on ...
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Media distortion obscures human rights
Should you, for any bizarre reason, feel like a period of abuse from outraged members of the public, try defending the European Court of Human Rights’ decision in the Abu Qatada case. One outraged viewer of a TV slot three weeks distant is still calling daily to express his anger. ...
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Commitment to human rights should begin in UK
Governments in the UK have traditionally exhibited a somewhat divided attitude to the use of torture. The trial of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603 raised, in essence, the same issues as those in the more recent case of Abu Qatada, the cleric sought by Jordan. How fair can a trial ...
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The ECtHR and Supreme Court have shown shrewd judgement
Sometimes judges can be street-smart clever. The recent pas de deux between the top European human rights court and the UK Supreme Court in Al-Khawaja is a good example.
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Does Sumption appreciate the constraints of new role?
Herbert Smith hit the bull’s eye with its FA Mann lecture this year. So many turned out for lecturer Jonathan Sumption QC that there was no room at Lincoln’s Inn for a number of hopeful, but disappointed, potential members of his audience. Happily, the speech of the Supreme Court Justice-elect ...
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Regulation of surveillance remains unsatisfactory
Power does not always corrupt but it certainly complicates. Office brings a curious restraint to ministers once so principled in opposition. They must look back fondly to once glad, confident mornings. Then, David Cameron could wail that ‘the Labour Party has given up on civil liberties’. How bright still shone ...
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May’s gaffe illustrated the need for a debate about human rights
Theresa May produced a pretty controversial cat out of her speech to the Conservative Party conference. Maya the cat was intended as a metaphor in an attack on the Human Rights Act and a wayward judiciary. Alas, it all turned bad. The cat ended up as an illustration of the ...
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David Cameron’s comments on human rights were prejudiced
In the modern world, the domestic and the international become entwined. News of David Cameron’s assault on the Human Rights Act in the aftermath of the riots was noted around the globe. The Tehran Times quoted the prime minister as saying that ‘human rights and health and safety can interfere ...
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Advancing against the judicial ‘no-go area’ that has covered military action
'There shall be no Alsatia here’ is a traditional assertion of judicial jurisdiction over the objections of the Crown. The erudite Lord Justice Sedley was rather fond of the phrase. Historically, it alludes to the legal sanctuary derived from the presence of Whitefriars monastery, south of Fleet Street in London. ...
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The English were mute at the international legal aid conference
Every couple of years, legal aid administrators from around the world meet with concerned academics. In June, they gathered in Helsinki.
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The Civil Justice Review designed to take the poor out of public courts
Richard White was a civil servant in the Lord Chancellor’s Department who spanned the reigns of Hailsham, Havers and Mackay. He was a bit eccentric, liked beagling and could be severely irascible. But he was committed to access to justice, ...
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Ian Tomlinson inquest proves we have moved forwards
Thirty years ago, I was the researcher for an independent inquiry into the death of Blair Peach. It was run by a bright young secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties, Patricia Hewitt. The case of Ian Tomlinson brought ...
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Basis of ban on courtroom photographs is outdated in modern world
Lord Neuberger is bidding to become the thinking lawyer’s judge, a worthy successor to the late and lamented Lord Bingham. He is proceeding through lectures at a canter: the Robert Alexander memorial lecture this month, the Judicial Studies Board last. ...
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Politicians need to stop showboating over Europe
Sir Alex Ferguson should stop complaining about referees: David Cameron should shut up about judges. Attacking them rarely pays dividends in the long run. Look at the fate of David Blunkett. The populist politician who took on Lord Woolf is pretty much forgotten. His onetime ...
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Legal profession can exploit incoherent legal aid cuts
In the words of a blues anthem from my youth: ‘Don’t let me be misunderstood.’ Publicly, we cannot be defeatist about the government’s legal aid proposals. But we also need the quiet discussion which all lawyers have, at some time, with a client: ‘I understand ...
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Police practice of kettling protesters needs review
Most readers will never have been on a demonstration. Many may well feel that ‘kettling’ by the police of demonstrators is a perfectly reasonable tactic in the face of recent violence at education demonstrations. But, as we undoubtedly face more protests in what may well be a rather unhappy new ...
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WikiLeaks take us into a legal – and moral – maze
Cablegate has some way to run. It is far too soon to know the final consequences for all those involved, though few may find that the affair ends well for them. We may, however, be able to glimpse the wider implications of this episode. We could, after all, be in ...
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Why the legal profession needs an effective opposition
Politics is a brutal business. One day it is all red boxes, Newsnight, and Yes Minister. The next, no one recognises you. This may seem an odd time to consider the position of the Labour party, particularly as we gear up for a major debate on the future of legal ...
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The EU may have something to say about any coalition attempts to cut legal aid
Viviane Reding is a tough cookie. Now EU commissioner for justice, freedom and security, she previously saw off the mobile phone companies and reduced their charges. France is smarting under the lash of her comparison of its Roma policy with that of Hitler’s Germany. And now she threatens to get ...
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Government cuts must not undermine the constitution
Forget for a moment the row over legal aid tendering – that is nothing compared with what is to come. Judicial review may be an appropriate response to a contracting cock-up, but how do we, as individual solicitors and as a profession, respond to the cuts that are to come?