Human Rights - Background

15 April 1945 - The liberation by British Forces of Bergen-Belsen - (Imperial War Museum). Thousands of bodies lay unburied around the camp and some 60,000 starving and mortally ill people were packed together without food, water or basic sanitation. Many were suffering from typhus, dysentery and starvation.

Before the mid-20th century, international law was mainly concerned with States (or nations) and their relationships. Only minimal attention was paid to the relationship between States and the individual human being. 

The experience of modern war,

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) and contempt of court

In a judgment dated 28 October 2024, Mr Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment (less 3 days) for 10 breaches of an injunction issued by the High Court. The breaches were admitted - see judgment of Mr Justice Johnson dated 28 October 2024 - Solicitor-General v Yaxley-Lennon

On 16 April 2025, Mr Yaxley-Lennon lost his appeal against the sentence - Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - Stephen Yaxley-Lennon v Solicitor-General [2025] EWHC 2732 (KB). The court comprised Lady Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill (Lady Chief Justice), Lord Justice Edis and Lord Justice Warby.

The Court of Appeal found Johnson J's judgment to be "scrupulous and impeccable". "The judge’s application of the law and his reasoning on the appropriate sanction in this case both exhibit a meticulous approach, entirely in line with the authorities he had cited."

Yaxley-Lennon is currently due for unconditional release on 26 July 2025. Were he to purge his contempts, he would be due for release at the end of May 2025.

The judgments are worth-reading for their analysis of the law of contempt, a matter which the judiciary will always (and rightly) take seriously.

The Times - Crime and Justice Commission Report

The Times Crime and Justice Commission has published a 57 page report which is available at
A report into the state of the criminal justice system (pdf).

The Commission was set up in April 2024 to consider the future of policing, the courts,sentencing and prisons and to draw up proposals for reform.

The report begins by commenting that "the problems in the criminal justice system are clear for all to see. The police are struggling to retain public trust, the prisons are overflowing and the courts backlog is causing insufferable delays. Every part of the system is in crisis and a sense of lawlessness has taken hold in too many neighbourhoods and high streets. The commission’s job was to find solutions."

Human Rights and the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation was a member of the Council of Europe from 1996 to 2022. It was excluded on 16 March 2022 - see the Council of Europe's announcement.

The European Court of Human Rights has asked the Russian Federation to respond to allegations that it was responsible for 24 political assassinations (or attempted assassinations) between 2003 and 2020.

The story is covered in an excellent post by Joshua Rozenberg - HERE. 

As Mr Rozenberg notes - "Article 58 of the convention makes it clear that leaving the Council of Europe — and therefore the human rights convention — does not release a state from its existing obligations."

We hope

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.6 ... Sources of Law

 "The laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy" - John Quincy Adams (1767-1848).

Can "Law" be defined?

The familiar notion of "law" escapes precise definition even though, over centuries, numerous thinkers and writers have attempted to explain it and also to describe the scope and content of law.  Connected to the idea of law are other elusive concepts such as "justice", "morality", "rights" and "obligations."

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.5 ... Magistrates in England and Wales (Updated post)

Background

According to the Courts and Tribunals website - Magistrates - some 12,000 people in England and Wales have volunteered their time to be a magistrate or Justice of the Peace (JP). They can be appointed from the age of 18 and retire at 75. The overall number has been much reduced in recent years and is now about 50% lower than about 15 years ago. They deliver summary justice in the Magistrates' Courts of England and Wales.   

In 2010 there were 320 Magistrates' Court locations in England and Wales but the number has been reduced markedly and is now in the region of 160. The closures have been deliberate government policy and Magistrates' Court locations are now to be found mainly in the cities or larger towns.

JPs do not have to hold any legal qualifications and, to conduct their duties, they are advised on law and procedure by legally-qualified "legal advisers," Their work is done voluntarily though some expenses can be claimed. The Magistrates Association supports and represents them but membership of the association is voluntary.

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.4 ... Juries (Updated post)

Involvement of the people in the law:

 

The English legal system is notable for the involvement of individual citizens as either Jurors or Magistrates (Justices of the Peace).

 

The idea of the jury trying a fellow citizen for criminal offences dates back at least to the reign of Henry II (1154 - 1189). The office of Justice of the Peace (JP) is traceable back to 1361.

 

In modern times, juries are to be found mainly in the Crown Court of England and Wales where, along with a judge, they try criminal cases in a process known as trial on indictment. Juries are also used in a limited number of civil cases and at certain inquests in the Coroners Court (see the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 section 7).

Trial of criminal cases

Criminal offences are divided into three types.

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.3 ... Judges (Updated post)

 

"Let the judges also remember, that Solomon's throne was supported by lions on both sides: let them be lions, but yet lions under the throne; ..." (Francis Bacon' - 1561-1626 - Of Judicature ).

This post is an overview of the professional judiciary of England and Wales. A further post will look at Justices of the Peace who are regarded as part of the overall judiciary but they are not part of the professional - legally-qualified - judiciary.

Overview of the judiciary - 

Supreme Court of the UK - At the pinnacle of the legal world are the twelve Justices of the Supreme Court.  This court came into being on 1st October 2009 and was created by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 - (CRA 2005) and replaced the House of Lords as the final appellate court.  

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.2 ... Courts and Tribunals (Updated post)

Courts and tribunals are the places where the legal system decides the outcome of disputes. This post is concerned with the courts and tribunals of England and Wales.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. It is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts in England and Wales, as well as the reserved unified tribunals across the United Kingdom. HMCTS works, but does not control, the independent judiciary.

Courts range from those with international authority (jurisdiction) ruling on legal matters with international impact to national courts determining disputes between either government (whether central or local) and "persons" or simply disputes between "persons."  

Explaining our Law and Legal System ... No.1 ... Legal Personnel (Updated post)

One aspect of legal blogging is the need for the law to be explained explained to as wide an audience as possible.  In that spirit, this post is one of a series aimed at explaining some aspects of our legal system and law.  The post is, of necessity, an overview.  For those who wish to dig deeper, the various "links" should assist.  

This post is an update of a post written in June 2011 during the early days of this blog. There was a previous update in June 2020.

The legal profession 

So, where to begin?  When the law is mentioned in general conversation, people will think of "lawyers" and "courts."  So let's start with "lawyers" or "the legal profession."