The section is a new statutory offence of "Intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance" and it has a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. The section also provides a defence of "reasonable excuse" - see section 78(3).
The 2022 Act was a further step
Module 1 Report - The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk) - 240 pp. (pdf)
The report has to be read in full and it speaks for itself. I am therefore avoiding either analysis or precis. In any event, this report is the first of several. Each "module" will be followed by its own report.
That said, Baroness Hallett notes
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The State Opening of Parliament took place on 17 July 2024 amid the usual pomp and circumstance. In the House of Lords, HM King Charles III read 'The King's Speech' setting out the new (Labour) government's legislative plans -
The King's Speech 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
King’s Speech 2024: Full list of bills - Politics.co.uk
King's Speech 2024: Research and reading lists - House of Lords Library (parliament.uk) - research briefings and reading lists by subject area
The history and ceremonial of the State Opening are described at - State Opening of Parliament -history and ceremonial
References to Liz Truss removed from King’s Speech papers after ex-PM complains (msn.com)
Swearing in of the new Lord Chancellor - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Joshua Rozenberg describes the occasion on his substack - Rule of law - by Joshua Rozenberg - A Lawyer Writes (substack.com).
The appointees
The appointees are Shabana Mahmood, Richard Hermer KC (as Attorney-General) and Sarah Sackman MP as Solicitor General.
Shabana Mahmood has
I use the word "unenviable" because it is bound to lead to accusations from political opponents that the government is putting the population in danger or that it has gone soft on crime. Because of this, I urge readers to look carefully at Mahmood's statement - Lord Chancellor sets out immediate action to defuse ticking prison ‘time-bomb’ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
It is now 30 years
In June 2022, the Court of Appeal (Asplin, Arnold, Nugee LJJ) said not - The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd v United Utilities Water Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 852 (27 June 2022) (bailii.org)
The Supreme Court has reversed that - The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd (Appellant) v United Utilities Water Ltd (Respondent) No 2 - The Supreme Court
See the Judgment (PDF) and the Press summary (PDF)
It was argued for United Utilities that such private law claims were excluded because of the statutory scheme for regulating sewerage established by the Water Industry Act 1991 (legislation.gov.uk)
As the summary notes - The implication of the Court of Appeal's judgment was that "no owner of a canal (or other watercourse or body of water) can bring a claim based on nuisance or trespass against a sewerage undertaker in respect of polluting discharges into the water, unless the sewerage undertaker is guilty of negligence or deliberate wrongdoing. A claim of this kind would be prevented even if the polluting discharges were frequent and had significant and damaging effects on the owner’s commercial or other interests, or on its ability to enjoy its property."
The Supreme Coutr held that the 1991 Act does not prevent the Canal Company from bringing a claim in nuisance or trespass when the canal is polluted by discharges of foul water from United Utilities’ outfalls, even if there has been no negligence or deliberate misconduct.
Discharge of sewage into watercourses is a major concern and
Following the conclusion of the Baby K case, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) published its reasons for rejecting appeals by Lucy Letby relating to previous convictions for murder and attempted murder.
Letby v Rex (Rev1) [2024] EWCA Crim 748 (02 July 2024) (bailii.org)
Please note the reporting restrictions set out at the start of the judgment.
Letby is now serving life imprisonment with a whole life term - Law and Lawyers: Letby sentenced to Whole Life Term (obiterj.blogspot.com)
The Thirlwall Inquiry - (named after the inquiry's chair - Lady Justice Thirlwall) - has been established to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and their implications following the trial, and subsequent convictions, of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby of murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital.
The Inquiry Terms of Reference are available via the Inquiry website.
There was a preliminary hearing on 16 May 2024 and for information about future hearings see -Hearings | The Thirlwall Inquiry
Addendum 9 July 2024
The live evidence is worth watching for the exchanges between Jason Beer KC (Counsel to the Inquiry) and Lord Grabiner KC who was first instructed by Post Office Ltd on 15 March 2019 and was asked to advise on whether Mr Justice Fraser should be requested to recuse himself (i.e. stand down) as Managing Judge of the Post Office Group litigation.
Lord Grabiner's witness statement is on the Inquiry website - All Evidence | Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk) and his live evidence session may be seen on the Inquiry's Youtube channel - Phases 5/6 - 11 June 2024 | Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk).
Fraser was appointed as Managing Judge
They petitioned the European Court of Human Rights and, in February 2023, it was decided that the case would be heard by the Grand Chamber - Relinquishment in favour of the Grand Chamber Nealon v. UK and Hallam v. UK (coe.int)
On 11 June 2024 the Grand Chamber gave judgment and, by a majority of 12 to 5, the court held that their applications failed.
The court’s judgment
A very interesting case has just been decided in the High Court's CHANCERY Division. The Division is the successor to the former Court of Chancery which, along with other courts (e.g. Queen's Bench), became part of the High Court under the reforms of 1873-75.
At the present time, there are
In law, the King acts under the Royal Prerogative but, by convention , he is advised by the government which, in this case, has formally acted through the Privy Council.
Following the 4 July general election, the new Parliament will meet on 9 July 2024.
Privy Council 30 May 2024 - Proclamation
The Proclamation reads:
More than 30,000 NHS patients were given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 80s in what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the health service. It is thought around 3,000 later died, after contracting HIV or hepatitis C from a treatment made from blood plasma or a blood transfusion.
In July 2017 the Prime Minister (then Theresa May) announced an inquiry to examine 'the circumstances in which men, women and children treated by national Health Services in the United Kingdom (collectively, the “NHS”) were given infected blood and infected blood products, in particular since 1970.'
Following consultation with interested parties, Terms of Reference were issued in September 2018. The Inquiry began its hearings in April 2019. The Inquiry operated under the Inquiries Act 2005.
Infected Blood Inquiry - Chair Sir Brian Langstaff.
On Monday 20 May 2024, the Inquiry published
On 23 May 2024, the Privy Council met at Buckingham Palace and ordered a Prorogation of Parliament - see the order at List of Business - 23rd May 2024 (independent.gov.uk). Prorogation differs from Dissolution in that the prorogation is to last from 24 May to Friday 31 May and will "be then holden for the despatch of divers urgent and important affairs."
In the House of Lords Chamber on 24 May a Commission for Royal Assent and Prorogation was
The government (mainly Home Secretary Suella Braverman) chose to use secondary legislation to define the statutory meaning of 'serious disruption' even though, the same change had recently been explicitly rejected by Parliament during the passage of a public order bill;. The Regulations came to define "serious disruption" as "more than minor."
There was contemporaneous criticism
Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip)
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and
Ismail HANIYEH ((Head of Hamas Political Bureau).
ALSO, warrants are sought for
Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and
Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel
The Prosecutor's (Mr Karim A. A. Khan KC)'s statement is available via the ICC website - Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine | International Criminal Court (icc-cpi.int)
Khan explains that the applications are 'the outcome of
On 28th November 2023, in the Crown Court at Nottingham, the offender pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter, and three counts of attempted murder.
On 24 January 2024, again at Nottingham Crown Court, the offender was sentenced by Turner J. The unanimous opinion of the medical experts retained by the prosecution and the defence was that the offender was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time when he committed these offences.
The judge sentenced the offender to
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Part 3 deals with Investigations, legal proceedings etc and release of prisoners. The Explanatory Notes explain the effect of the legislation.
Part 2 of the Act created an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) and defined its role and powers.
The effect of Part 3 is to bring into force a conditional immunity scheme, allowing those who cooperate with the ICRIR to receive immunity from prosecution for offences resulting in or connected with Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries. The Act also prevents new Troubles-related civil claims and inquests.
Acting on requests from
Flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors (amnesty.org).
The UK section of the report commences at page 390 and contains much that should be of considerable concern to anyone concerned with protection of human rights.
Will human rights in the UK continue to have the strong protection that currently exists? The UK is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and convention rights are woven into domestic law as a result of the Human Rights Act 1998.
There is sound reason
The passage of the Act was met with a brief statement from No 10 Downing Street - PM statement on Safety of Rwanda Bill: 23 April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
As a Bill it received considerable criticism both within Parliament (especially the House of Lords) and from international bodies - e.g.
UK: Rwanda Bill threatens to undermine independence of judiciary, UN experts say | OHCHR
Serious human rights concerns about United Kingdom’s Rwanda Bill - Portal (coe.int)
The legislation results from
Historically, Bushel's Case (1670) 124 ER 1006 has been thought to have decided that they may
BUT
Each juror either swears or affirms an oath to 'faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence."
Claiming to be protecting the public interest in the administration of justice, the Attorney-General is seeking to bring contempt of court proceedings against Trudi Warner because, outside a Crown Court venue, she held the sign shown above. The Attorney argues
