Northern Ireland Troubles Bill - a note

10 April will be the 28th anniversary of the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. There has been substantial peace in Northern Ireland since then but various "legacy issues" continue to cause problems. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 was an attempt to deal with those problems.

The Labour government (in power since July 2024) has brought forward the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill which, if enacted, will repeal Part 2 of the 2023 Act.  

Clause 1 of the Bill states -

Juries - government proposals - evidence to Justice Committee

' ....  trial by jury – an age-old and revered cornerstone of the criminal justice system ....

The controversial and misconceived government proposal to remove trial by jury from the majority of Crown Court trials was the subject of an earlier post - 27 November 2025.

His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin KC has given written evidence to the House of Commons Justice Committee. I urge all readers to look at his letter and to oppose these unnecessary government proposals. Judge Rivlin's evidence is persuasive and speaks for itself. There is no need for any blog to offer a summary. 

The backlog of Crown Court cases is NOT - repeat NOT - brought about by the need for juries. It arises because of serious under-funding of the court system over almost 20 years. Every day many of the available court rooms are not in use.

Written evidence to Justice Committee January 2026

Justice Committee

Find your MP 

Removal of Chief Constables ~ a brief note

Updated 16 January 2026.

Almost 11 years ago, ObiterJ wrote a number of posts about Police and Crime Commissioners - e.g. this post of August 2015 touched on the power of PCCs to either suspend or dismiss Chief Constables. The power is in section 38 of the  Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The power under section 38 is limited to Police Forces outside London and different arrangements apply to the Metropolitan Police.

Schedule 8 to the 2011 Act is important because, to suspend or remove a Chief Constable, PCCs are required to follow the process set out therein.

At the time of writing there is a row (involving the Home Secretary) over Craig Guildford the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police. The Home Secretary (Shabana Mahmood MP) has said that she has 'lost confidence' in him and there are calls from politicians and in the media for him to resign which would, of course, avoid the process set out in Schedule 8.  This Guardian article sets out more detail.

Police Forces are supposed to have operational independence from central government but it seems plain, at least to me, that the present government does not embrace this idea. I fully expect that Shabana Mahmood will seek to amend the law .....

Let's see how this plays out ..... 

Guildford resigned on 16 January 2026 - BBC News 

Law notes - The law and human sexuality

Sex and the law is a topic that is inevitably risque and, at times, controversial but it is one worth examining. The following are essentially notes and do not purport to be a comprehensive examination of this topic.

Criminal law: 

The criminal law contains a considerable number of sexual offences - e,g, see Crown Prosecution Service (Sexual Offences). 

Historically,it was generally understood that the criminal law presumed that a husband could not be guilty of raping his wife. This came to an end

Venezuela ~ action by the USA ~ a brief note

Updated 8 January 2026 / 9 January 2026

After apparent months of planning, the USA acted unilaterally to arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife. They have since appeared in a Manhattan court and have entered not guilty pleas to a number of charges including drug trafficking. 

Those events led to the UK Home Secretary (Yvette Cooper MP) making a statement in the House of Commons. Cooper noted that successive UK governments have refused to recognise the government of Venezuela and she stated -

Rights of prisoners - Fuad Awale

Fuad Awale (pictured) was convicted in January 2013 of the execution-style shooting of two teenagers and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years. Subsequently, he was sentenced to a further six years for threatening to kill a prison officer.

Media reports (e.g. HERE) around the Christmas period commented - 'Double murderer wins compensation payout over human rights breaches in prison.' 

To find out the details it is necessary to look at the actual High Court decision - actually back in 2024.

The King (on the application of Fuad Awale) v Secretary of State for Justice [2024] EWHC 2322 (Admin).

Awale described himself

Greetings of the Season 2025

To all readers - A Very Happy Christmas and New Year 2025.

I've taken a little break from blogging but will resume around New Year 2026