It's time, once again, to crack open the mailbag and see what listeners have made of episodes over the past few months. In this mailbag edition, Charlie Falconer, Helena Kennedy and Nicholas Mostyn look back on episodes such as the chinwag with Lord Sumption on the ECHR, the questions raised by the prosecution of rioters in the summer, and the NDA agreements foisted upon the alleged victims of Mohamed Al-Fayed. We'll cover all that, and more, on this episode – and don't forget to send more...

This week, we can't help but tackle the news story on everyone's lips: the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. For an emergency episode, Nicholas Mostyn convenes with Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy to look at the implications for the rule of law and America's position as a beacon of the free world. If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via [email protected]! Law and Disorder is a Podot...

The proceedings of the Court of Protection are not widely known or understood, but could, one day, prove of vital importance to you and your family. On this episode of Law and Disorder, Nicholas Mostyn introduces Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy to Vikram Sachdeva KC, a specialist in healthcare law with long experience of the Court of Protection, to discuss how the tricky issues of mental capacity, mental health and the intervention of the state can be handled. If you have questions,...

This week, a jury found Sergeant Martyn Blake, a Metropolitan police armed officer, not guilty of the murder of Chris Kaba. Kaba had been shot after police pulled over the car he was driving, which had been linked to a shooting incident. After the verdict, information has been released about Kaba's criminal record and suspected involvement in a gun crime in Hackney. The fallout has asked severe questions of our legal system. Do police officers require more legal protection to do their jobs...

Jonathan Sumption – one of Britain's foremost legal voices – joins Law & Disorder again, this time for a good ding dong. Should the UK withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (and its associated court)? Sumption goes head-to-head with a trio of critics – Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy, and Charlie Falconer – on this week's episode the gets to the heart of the balance between sovereignty and accountability, legislation versus the law, and what a 'human right' truly is. If...

Over the past few weeks, new investigations have turned up a range of serious allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrods and Fulham FC. How does a man like Al-Fayed – about whom rumours were never far away – manage to go unchecked within his lifetime? What recompense can the law offer his victims? And is there more that the system can, and should, do in order to ensure perpetrators of abuse are brought to justice while they can still be held, personally, to account?...

Our guest today – Jonathan Sumption – sat, until June of this year, as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He left that role – "in high dudgeon" – as a critique of the creeping totalitarianism of pro-Beijing influences in the east Asian territory. In this wide-ranging discussion with Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer, Lord Sumption discusses how he came to that decision and looks at how the remaining British judges ought to handle their continued...

Caroline Norton was a sensation of 19th century London. A writer and social reformer, she hit the headlines in 1836 when she accused her husband, George Norton, of coercive behaviour. What proceeded was a legal case that embroiled the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and, in some ways, changed women's place in the law. But how much did Norton really achieve? And has the dust really settled on women's equality in marriage? For a special dive into the past, join Helena Kennedy, Nicholas Mostyn...

James Pratt and John Smith: the last two men to be executed in Britain for the crime of homosexuality. It is a story recounted by politician and historian Chris Bryant in his book James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder. But how far has the law come since the 19th century? Was the image that Charles Dickens painted the truth? And how did feminist historian Naomi Wolf come to misunderstand the term "death recorded"? These, and many more, issues will be tackled in this episode of...

Britain's prisons are in crisis. In the past week, we've seen the early release of some 1,500 prisoners in order to free up space in our nation's jails. But how did we get here? On this week's Law & Disorder, Charlie Falconer, Helena Kennedy and Nicholas Mostyn are joined by Ian Burnett, who served as Lord Chief Justice from 2017 to 2023. They have a candid and critical discussion about the state of our prisons, the nature of sentencing (and sentence inflation), and whether there are any...

The streets of the UK have been gripped by disorder. Fuelled by racist rhetoric, rioters have taken to the streets from Southport to Bristol and the criminal justice system is now facing the huge task of processing these criminals and re-establishing order. Can quick sentencing decisions offer a deterrent to further unrest? How are prosecution decisions being made? And can anything be done about the large social media institutions that foment so much of this violence? Charlie Falconer leads...

Extradition goes back a long way, in principle, but the modern application is complex. What are the grounds for refusing extradition? How has Brexit changed our relationship with European countries? And why is our relationship with America so asymmetrical? This week on Law & Disorder, Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer romp through the history extradition via three case studies. Firstly, the failed attempt to send Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to face trial in Spain....

On the 17th July, the new Labour government enjoyed their first King's Speech. In it, they put forward dozens of bills for consideration in this parliamentary session. But do those commitments get to grips with the necessary constitutional changes in our system? And do they address the years of decay and debasement of the Rule of Law, experienced under the previous governments? Charlie Falconer, Helena Kennedy and Nicholas Mostyn discuss. For inclusion in our next mailbag edition, do send...

Divorce is a complex business, especially when the participants are part of the mega-rich elites who spend millions quibbling over the balance and share of assets and proceedings. Our guide, this week, through the maze of monied marital misery is Tim Bishop KC, one of the UK's leading specialists in top-level financial cases on divorce. Alongside Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer, he talks us through the evolution of British marriage law, what protections there are for...

It's time for us to open up the mailbag and see what Law & Disorder listeners have made of the first six months of the show's existence. From the right to protest to the right to die, Liz Truss to Amber Heard, your questions run the gamut of the topics covered in the podcast. Should we televise courts? How badly did Charlie screw the pooch on his Lord Chancellor reforms? And are we all really just a bunch of whinging lefties? Listen to our mailbag and find out more! For inclusion in our...

Libor: a little known, or understood, mechanism by which banks set an interest rate average. It became headline news when, in the crucible of the financial crisis, the practitioners were accused of rigging the rate to inflate public perceptions of their banks' health. But was all as it seemed? And were the traders – men like Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo – who carried the can for Libor rigging, really just scapegoats? In this joint podcast with A Long Time in Finance, Nicholas Mostyn and Helena...

With the UK heading to the polls next week, the Law & Disorder trio – Helena Kennedy, Charlie Falconer and Nicholas Mostyn – gather to discuss the long and difficult history of the franchise. From votes for renters to the struggles of minorities to gain recognition in the UK and abroad, the journey to our current electorate was a long and winding one. Do you know your rotten boroughs from your potwallopers? Tune in to this instalment of Law & Disorder to find out! This podcast is...

Britain has a long and complex history with slavery. From medieval villeinage through to the African slaves brought to the colonies, has the country truly reckoned with its role in perpetrating one of the great evils in humanity's history? In this episode of Law & Disorder, Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer run through our fraught history with the slave trade, and ask whether the abolition movement was quite as pure as the history books say. Then they tackle the thorny...

A landmark ruling in the European Court of Human Rights has allowed a claim from a Swiss activist group who asserted that their country's government had been inadequate in its attempt to reduce carbon emissions. They told the court that their age and gender (they are a group of older women) made them more susceptible to the impacts of climate-induced heatwaves, and the ECHR agreed. Does this open a big can of worms? Or are we witnessing a flexible interpretation of the law that could help the...

The right to protest is fundamental to any democracy, and yet, in recent years, it feels as though the Conservative government is strangling that ability. For this episode of Law & Disorder, the gang – Helena Kennedy, Charlie Falconer and Nicholas Mostyn – are joined by a very special guest, Raj Chada, in order to look at the evolving picture of protest in our courts. From the Colston Four to Trudi Warner, some of the biggest cases of recent years are scrutinised by the team. This podcast...

In an historic decision, a court in New York has convicted former President (and current Presidential candidate) Donald Trump on 34 counts in a so-called "hush money" case. What exactly was the court's decision? Does it hold up, to the legal eye, and will it survive appeal? And what does it mean for the course of the Rule of Law? As ever, Charlie Falconer, Nicholas Mostyn and Helena Kennedy gather round their computers to give the legal breakdown on this landmark ruling. Do send your own...

This week, we're convening an emergency pod to look at the publication of Sir Brian Langstaff's report into the infected blood scandal, in which thousands of Brits were given contaminated blood containing the HIV or Hepatitis C viruses. How was this allowed to happen? Does the report come close to capturing the scale of the problem? And is there a course for reparations, or criminal penalties, or has the ship sailed on this? As ever, Helena Kennedy, Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer gather...

On this week's Law and Disorder, Helena, Nicholas and Charlie gather to discuss the recent decision of a New York court to overturn the conviction of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. How did this decision – which has shaken faith in the legal system's ability to handle the gravity of the MeToo movement's concerns – come about? And could the same thing happen in UK courts? As ever, the conversation slaloms through the history of courts dealing with sexual assault and rape...

This week, Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer set the sights on the UK's legal migration rules. Are we making it too hard for low-wage (or low-skilled) workers to move to the UK with their families? And how does this fit in with the complex political puzzle that is the 'stop the boats' campaign? Is this truly a question for the law, or really one of policy? Join us, listen along, and decide! This podcast is generously sponsored by Tideway Wealth. Do send your own thoughts to...