House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has passed through Parliament

All that remains for the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is the formality of Royal Assent and the bill then becomes an Act of Parliament. 

This is a Bill to - 'remove the remaining connection between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords; to make provision about resignation from the House of Lords; to abolish the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in relation to claims to hereditary peerages; and for connected purposes.'

Hence, hereditary peerages are NOT being abolished. 

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed most hereditary peers from the House of Lords but 90 were permitted to remain (see section 2). The Hereditary Peers Bill removes this exception.

The removal from the House of the remaining hereditary peers was included in the 2024 Labour Party manifesto. 

Whilst birth

Courts and Tribunals Bill passes House of Commons Second Reading

'Again and again, throughout our legal history, the wisdom and capacity of juries have been repeatedly vindicated every time they have been analysed, tested or sought to be examined by those who research these matters' - Sir Geoffrey Cox KC MP

Tuesday 10 March 2026 - House of Commons. The government's Courts and Tribunals Bill passed second reading in the House of Commons. The voting was 304 to 203.  Ten Labour MPs voted against the Bill.

The debate may be read at Hansard 10 March.

This previous post looked at the Bill in greater detail.

The Bill will now proceed to Committee Stage and opponents of the Bill (including some who chose to abstain at second reading) hope to secure amendments. 

In summary, the Bill 

The Sinews of Peace - Winston Churchill, Fulton, Missouri - 5 March 1946

On 5 March 1946 - at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri - Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech - The Sinews of Peace. 

Churchill spoke of a "special relationship" between the United States of America and, as he phrased it, "the British Commonwealth and Empire." 

He also spoke of an "Iron Curtain" which had descended across Europe from  "Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic."

Churchill urged adherence to the United Nations Charter which, at the time of the speech, had been in force less than 5 months. 

80 years later, the UN continues

Courts and Tribunals Bill - Legal Aid for Representation

With addition Wednesday 4 March 2026 

The government's Courts and Tribunals Bill contains provision enabling the Secretary of State to make a Statutory Instrument increasing the sentencing powers of Magistrates' Courts up to a maximum of 24 months - see the Bill Clause 6. 

The overall impact of the Bill will be to bring a considerable number of trials for either-way offences into the Magistrates' Courts.

In turn, that will remove legal aid (for representation) from such offences unless the defendant is able to meet BOTH the interests of justice test and the MEANS test.  

Inevitably, that will require many defendants on serious charges to have to either defend themselves or pay for legal representation. 

UK Government - Criteria for Criminal Legal Aid

Previous Post - Courts and Tribunals Bill 

Addition 4 March 2026 

Criminal Bar Association Monday Message 2 March 2026 and see their Nutshell Guide to the Courts and Tribunals Bill

Courts and Tribunals Bill (25 February 2026)

Amended 27 February 2026

 

House of Commons - 25 February 2026 - the government introduced the Courts and Tribunals Bill.

 

The Bill follows on from the Reports by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson -

• Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part 1 (pdf 388 pages)

• Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part 2 (pdf pages) - 2 Volumes. 

The Leveson Recommendations:

The most striking

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office

 With Updates

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office - BBC News 19 February 2026. 

Parliament is in the process of replacing this common law offence (but not retrospectively) - see previous post 4 February 2026.

Only HM The King has personal immunity from prosecution or civil action - (see note)

The elements of the offence were set out in Attorney General's Reference 3/2003 reported at [2004] EWCA Crim 868. At para 61 of the judgment, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) summarised the requirements:

Parliament - who is the Official Opposition

At the time of writing, His Majesty's Official Opposition is the Conservative Party. 

According to Erskine May - 'There are opposition parties but only one is regarded as the 'Official Opposition' and that is the largest minority party which is prepared, in the event of the resignation of the government, to assume office.'  (Erskine May para 4.6).

The Leader of the Opposition and some of the Leader's principal colleagues in both Houses form a group, known as ‘the Shadow Cabinet’, each member of which is given a particular range of activities on which it is their task to direct criticism of the Government's policy and administration and to outline alternative policies.