The Queen's Speech 8th May 2013 and the State Opening of Parliament

In a 92 page pdf document  the government has published details of the Queen's Speech 2013.  The document sets out not only the speech itself but contains background details to the various Bills and policies referred to in the speech.  The document merits a full reading by those seeking greater detail about what is planned.

A much shorter overview is at The Guardian 8th May - The Queen's Speech: the key points explained.

An Offender Rehabilitation Bill will extend statutory supervision after release at all those sentenced to short custodial sentences.  This Bill will also give 'Probation Providers' greater flexibility to develop new interventions with a view to reducing re-offending.  The Anti-Social Behaviour Bill will amend the existing law relating to anti-social behaviour with some 19 powers being condensed to 6; make forced marriage a criminal offence; amend the Dangerous Dogs legislation and take further action on illegal firearms. The law on extradition will be amended as recommendations of Sir Scott Baker's review are implemented.   A DRAFT Consumer Rights Bill is to be introduced and this will allow parliamentary examination of how the law might be altered to modernise and improve consumer rights.  This is an area where there is a great deal of existing legislation and clarification is welcome.  In response to the Hargreaves Review, an Intellectual Property Bill will reform the intellectual property framework for designs.  The Unified Patents Court will be implemented.

An excellent analysis of the Bills is at Politics.co.uk - Queen's Speech 2013: All the Bills in full.

The State Opening used to be held in October but,

Domestic law and the European Convention on Human Rights - Part 2

The previous post of 5th May looked at a list prepared for the House of Commons of human rights cases involving the UK since 1975 and explained the basic scheme of the Human Rights Act 1998 (the HRA) - Human Rights cases since 1975.   Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (the E Ct HR) and the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 (the HRA) have enabled significant and beneficial changes to our domestic law. Some examples follow.

THE most important human right is of course the right to life itself (ECHR Article 2). 

Regulation of the media ~ Alternative draft for a Royal Charter

In a post of 25th March the plans for media regulation were considered.  At the time it looked as though the proposed Royal Charter would be approved by the Privy Council on 15th May.  It is now reported that this will be delayed whilst an alternative draft Royal Charter is considered.  The alternative document has been drawn up by News International, Telegraph Media Group, Associated Newspapers, Trinity Mirror and Express Newspapers  - see The Guardian Draft alternative royal charter on press regulation.

A key concern is that the original draft charter placed amendment fully in the hands of politicians and therefore was seen as eroding media independence.  

Art. 9.2 of the original reads:

Domestic law and the European Convention on Human Rights - Part 1

The relationship between domestic law in the United Kingdom and the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) is illustrated by a useful list of cases made available by Parliament this week. - Human Rights cases since 1975.  The list commences with Golder v UK (Prisoner's correspondence) back in 1975 and ends with the Animal Defenders International case in April this year.

The list is divided into two parts - (1) cases up to the end of 2000 and (2) cases from 2001 to 2013.  Part 1 takes us back to the time before the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) which came into force on 1st October 2000.   Interestingly, Part 1 (covering 26 years) lists 130 cases.  Part 2 (covering just over 12 years) lists 272 cases.

The idea underlying the HRA was  to 'bring rights home' by making 'Convention rights' enforceable in our domestic courts and to reduce the need for cases to go to the European Court of Human Rights (E Ct HR) at Strasbourg.

Naming of suspects ~ a topical debate

Should arrested persons (suspects) be named by the Police?  Public knowledge of who is under investigation can sometimes assist either the police or the suspect.  Witnesses may come forward or individuals may provide useful information to the police. However, the automatic naming of those under investigation - especially in cases of very serious criminality or where the offence is of a type attracting particular condemnation in the community - could cause irreparable damage to reputation where, for example, the arrest turns out to be unfounded.  At the heart of the matter are the rights to a fair trial (Article 6);  respect for private and family life (Article 8) and freedom of expression (Article 10).

A Thursday miscellany

The veteran broadcaster Mr Stuart Hall (pictured) has pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault committed in the period 1967-85.  A count of rape will 'lie on the file' and not be tried since (a) the complainant does not wish it to proceed given the guilty pleas entered and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service do not consider it in the public interest to require her to give evidence - CPS announcement and  BBC 2nd May 2013.  Mr Hall will be sentenced on 17th June.

Historic sexual abuse:

Barrister Felicity Gerry writes on the subject of historic sex abuse cases on her blog - Justice for historic sexual abuse.  Gerry highlights some of the difficulties inherent in criminal prosecutions and goes on to look at the possibility of civil actions against institutions which employed abusers.  Earlier posts - Jimmy Savile (4/10/12) and Vicarious Liability in Tort (21/11/12).

Parliamentary Papers of interest:

A couple of Parliamentary papers are of interest.  One paper looks at Human Rights cases since 1975.  The other deals with the continuing issue of voting rights for serving prisoners.

Children and Car Seat Belts

At the outset of reading this, please jot down the height (in centimetres) and the weight (in kilograms) of each of your young children or grandchildren.  If you use either child seats or booster seats in your car then answer honestly these questions: "Did you read thoroughly the instructions supplied when you bought the seat?"  "Did you definitely comply with the instructions the last time your child was in the car?"

There are many types of child car seats designed for children of certain age ranges, weights and heights:  rearward facing baby seats; forward facing child seats; booster seats and cushions.  Reading the manufacturer's instructions is essential and, for safety reasons, so is compliance with them.

The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - Arden, Elias and Black LJJ has just given judgment in Louise Emma Williams v The Estate of Dayne Joshua Williams [2013] EWCA Civ 455.