Additional Public Health Regulations for England

The law is stated as at 18 July 2020. Amendment is likely.
 
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020 - (SI 2020/750) - are now in force and apply to England only.

The No.3 Regulations are in addition to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/684) which were amended by the The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/719).

Regulations

Intelligence and Security Committee ~ Chair, Members, Russia Report

Updated 22 July 2020

ISC Chair and Membership:

Dr Julian Lewis MP (New Forest East) has been appointed Chair of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). The committee has nine members including the former Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Mr Chris Grayling.

The committee had to be reappointed following the General Election held on 12 December 2019. After seven months, the membership has been finalised- see Hansard House of Commons 13 July 2020 and House of Lords 14 July 2020.

It was widely reported that

Sutherland v HM Advocate ~ Supreme Court judgment ~ Paedophile Hunters

The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in Sutherland v Her Majesty's Advocate [2020] UKSC 32.

The legal issue was whether prosecutions based on the covert sting operations of "paedophile hunters" are compatible with the right to private life and correspondence - Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

According to the court's website - "Paedophile hunters" are "self-appointed vigilantes who impersonate children in order to expose people who they consider to be sexual predators. Some of these groups

Coronavirus: the mix of Law and Guidance

The government's response to the coronavirus pandemic has included making law and issuing guidance but what is the relationship between the two? Are they distinct so that law is that which must be obeyed and guidance is only mere recommendation? These are interesting, and far from easy-to-answer, questions.

Law:

The relevant law includes The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 (as amended) where legal restrictions are set out. These apply to

Amendment of the Coronavirus Restrictions legislation

The law is stated as at 10 July 2020. Amendment is likely.

The government has made The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/719) which amend The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/684) - (see previous post of 3 July 2020).

An Explanatory Memorandum accompanies the Amendment.

Yet again, the powers in the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 are the basis for this secondary legislation.

The amending legislation will

The "lockdown" Regulations ~ judicial review ~ permission hearing

Simon Dolan and Lauren Monks have been refused permission for a judicial review of the "lockdown" regulations in England - (previous post 27 May).

Judgment of Mr Justice Lewis - Dolan and Monks v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Secretary of State for Education [2020] EWHC 1786 (Admin. The applicants sought permission to bring proceedings to challenge the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 as amended ("the Regulations") and what was described as a decision to close schools and educational establishments.

Lewis J noted

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020

The law is stated as at 3 July 2020. Amendment is likely.
 
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force at 00.01 am on 4 July 2020. They replace the previous Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) legislation.

The No.2 Regulations are made using the powers in the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. (The same powers were used to make the previous "lockdown" regulations). The Secretary of State considers that the restrictions and requirements imposed by the new Regulations are proportionate to what they seek to achieve, which is a public health response to the coronavirus threat. In accordance with section 45R of the 1984 Act the Secretary of State is of the opinion that, by reason of urgency, it is necessary to make the new regulations without a draft having been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

Leicester is in a somewhat different legal position because specific Regulations have been made for a "protected area" defined mainly by postcodes in the Leicester area (see below).