A glance at the Labour Party Manifesto

Here are some of the "justice highlights" in the Labour Party Manifesto for the 2015 General Election.  The full manifesto is here and is summarised at Election 2015: Labour Manifesto at-a-glance

The EU and Human Rights:

Labour would work to reform the European Union, and would retain our membership of it.  The Human Rights Act 1998 would be protected and the European Court of Human Rights would be reformed rather than the UK walking away from it.  The precise "reforms" that would be sought are not mentioned.   Also, reform of the European Convention system is not a matter within the gift of the British government alone and the Council of Europe would have to be persuaded to introduce reforms.

Men are not eligible to apply ....

The Judiciary has announced a new initiative aimed at improving diversity in the role of Deputy High Court Judge. This new route to the High Court is explained by Lady Justice Hallett in this video.  Places on the programme are limited to women, BAME candidates and those from a less advantaged background, because these are the areas where the judiciary is said to be significantly less representative of society.  Taking part in the programme will not guarantee appointment by the Judicial Appointments Commission as a Deputy High Court judge or success in a subsequent High Court exercise.

See also Legal Business 8th April 2015.

Coroners

Coroners perform an important and very long-established role.  In recent times there have been a number of important reforms brought about by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.  His Honour Judge Peter Thornton QC has recently been re-appointed as Chief Coroner of England and Wales - (an office specifically created by the 2009 Act).  His new appointment is until 1st October 2016.

The Judiciary website has published a considerable amount of guidance relating to Coroners.

Criminal Court Charges

On 13th April, the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Criminal Courts Charge) Regulations 2015 enter into force.

They are well explained in this article in the Law Society Gazette 27th March.  Suspects pleading not guilty in the Crown court will risk paying a court fee of £1,200 if convicted under guidelines slipped into legislation without debate in the final days of the last parliament.  Law Society president Andrew Caplen described the new charges as ‘outrageous’ and a threat to fair trials.

The Magistrates' Blog describes the fees as "Callous and Destructive."  

Human Rights and the Battlefield

Policy Exchange has produced an interesting report - Clearing the fog of war: saving our armed forces from defeat by judicial diktat

The report, authored by Professor Richard Ekins (University of Oxford), Dr Jonathan Morgan (University of Cambridge) and Tom Tugendhat (a former Military Assistant to the Chief of the Defence, Staff General Sir David Richards), reaffirms that armed forces on the battlefield should not be above the law but that the rules governing conflict must fall under the Geneva Conventions rather than the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It argues that a blanket derogation from the ECHR is essential in all future conflicts involving British military personnel.

The report makes the following recommendations:

Parliament dissolved ~ the fight for power at Westminster commences

Today (30th March), Parliament was dissolved.  The coalition government remains in place pending the outcome of the General Election on 7th May and it may remain in place for some time beyond the election (see later).  At present, the opinion polls suggest that no political party will gain an overall majority over all other parties in the House of Commons.  Hence, one possible outcome is another coalition between the party with the largest number of seats and one or more of the other parties.  There being no such thing as free lunch, the other parties will make demands as a price for their support.  An alternative to a formal coalition is a supply arrangement with the largest party but that would lead to constant haggling over the conditions for support.

R v Jogee ~ Supreme Court to hear joint enterprise appeal

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in the case of R v Ameen Hassan Jogee.  The Court of Appeal Criminal Division judgment is at [2013] EWCA Crim 1433.   Here is an appeal which is potentially of major importance in the controversial area of "joint enterprise" liability in criminal law.  Please read the Court of Appeal's judgment .... more will undoubtedly follow.  In the Supreme Court the case number is UKSC 2015/0015.