What if ~ as seems likely ~ it is a hung Parliament ?

The General Election for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is rapidly approaching.  The latest opinion polls are analysed by UKPollingReport and they continue to suggest a "hung parliament" - that is, no party having an overall majority of seats.  

What is the legal position in the event of such a Parliament ?  Under our Parliamentary system, the test for whether a Prime Minister can govern or not is whether he (or she) commands a majority in the House of Commons.  The situation is expertly considered by Carl Gardner on his Head of Legal Blog - Ed can enter No. 10 without Nicola's keys - and I recommend reading of his post.

The fact

Who may stand for election to Parliament?

In a recent conversation, someone asked whether a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) could stand for an ENGLISH seat in Parliament. As a matter of law, the answer is Yes.  This is because it is individuals who stand for Parliament and not political parties.  Of course, it is doubtful whether anyone standing for the SNP in an English constituency would ever be elected but that would be a matter for the electorate in that constituency.

For that reason, from time-to-time, there will be a Member of Parliament who is an Independent - that is, independent from any political party and in no way beholden to the Party Whip systems.  Independent MPs are quite rare these days but, in the 20th century, there were quite a few - see the lists in this Wikipedia entry and also see The Guardian - Other Famous Independent Parliamentary Candidates.  One notable recent independent MP was the broadcaster Martin Bell - elected as an Independent MP for Tatton (in Cheshire) from 1997 to 2001 having stood on an anti-corruption platform against the sitting Tory MP, Neil Hamilton.

Some categories of individual are disqualified under

A brilliant new website - RIGHTS INFORMATION

At a time when "human rights" are under attack from certain politicians and elements in the popular media, a superb new website has arrived - Human Rights Information to Share (or Rights.info.org).  Many congratulations to barrister Adam Wagner and those behind this initiative.  The need to help people understand their rights and to value those hard-fought rights has never been greater and Rights Information goes a long way to help.

Here you can see Everything you need to know about rights, find out what human rights do for us, get information on 50 cases where human rights have improved the law, sign up for a daily newsletter and there is much more!

Please share the link to Rights Information with your friends and work colleagues.

Writing on his Head of Legal blog, Carl Gardner says of Rights Information

The DPP under the microscope over Janner

Criminal Law Blog 24th April - Lord Janner prosecution - comment

Law and Lawyers 18th April - Lord Greville Janner - the decision not to prosecute

The decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (Alison Saunders) not to institute criminal proceedings against Lord Greville Janner (see previous post where the decision is explained) has resulted in outrage in certain quarters.

Questions have been raised about Janner's dementia despite the point that four medical practitioners (two from each "side") had advised that he was not fit to stand trial - see, for example, The Guardian 20th April - Further questions raised about whether or not Lord Janner is fit to stand trial.

A considerable number of politicians have lined up to criticise the decision.

A letter to The Times by various politicians urged reversal of the DPP's decision - see The Independent 22nd April. 

The DPP

The Conservative Party manifesto and human rights

The Conservative Party manifesto states that the terms of British EU membership will be renegotiated and an in/out referendum held.  The Human Rights Act will be "scrapped" and replaced by a British Bill of Rights.  As for legal aid, the document merely informs us that they would continue to review our legal aid systems, so they can continue to promote access to justice in an efficient way.

The statement about legal aid continuing to promote access to justice is questionable since legal aid has been removed from many areas of civil law, considerably curtailed in Magistrates' Courts and means tested in the Crown Court so that many will end up paying a contribution to their legal fees.  Just what the manifesto means by review is debatable but it seems unlikely that they would be proposing any reinstatement of legal aid into areas where it was withdrawn under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Human Rights - a few thoughts:

Lord Greville Janner ~ the decision not to prosecute

Lord Janner of Braunstone (aged 86) who suffers from dementia is not to be prosecuted for 22 alleged serious sexual offences.  The reasons for this decision are set out in a statement issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions.  Please read the statement in full.

The two-stage test:

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) applies a well-known two-stage test in deciding whether to prosecute: (1) the evidential test and (2) the public interest test.  The CPS considered the evidential test to be met in relation to all the allegations.  However, the CPS decided that the public interest test was not met.
The statement notes:

'At the outset, it is emphasised that but for medical considerations, it would undoubtedly have been in the public interest to prosecute. Public interest factors in favour of a prosecution include that the allegations are of very serious offending; the complainants were young, vulnerable children and the allegations involve the alleged abuse of power and position.  The CPS equally has no doubt that, if the correct decisions had been taken about the evidential test in relation to the previous investigations, the public interest test would have been passed and prosecution should have followed.'


It then continues:

The fight for access to Justice

A poll conducted for the Criminal Law Solicitor's Association has concluded that the British public believes that legal aid should be a right and not a benefit see Solicitors Journal. The CLSA plans to hold a rally in Westminster on 23rd April to seek to make the governmental attack on legal aid more of an election issue.

A Guardian animation - Superheroes battling for legal aid - also highlights the parlous state of legal aid provision following the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 ( LASPO). 

Cuts to legal aid have been implemented under the mantra of the need to save money in times of austerity. Whilst access to justice - at reasonable cost - ought to be a fundamental democratic right, it is a great sadness that there seems to be no Party with a chance of being in government that is willing to return to anything like the pre-LASPO arrangements.

The lack of legal aid is compounded by the recent imposition of considerable court fees - see Court fee increases approved (6th March) and Criminal Court Charges (4th April).

"EUROPE" is one of the election issues and, in the area of criminal law, there are many "Euro-myths".  In a video, Professor John R Spencer of Cambridge University tackles some of the myths - Is EU criminal law a threat to British justice?