Is the UK on a collision course with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg? So far the UK's relationship with the ECHR has been a good one, and the UK has proportionately fewer cases before the court than the other 45 member states. But might Justice Secretary Dominic Raab's Bill of Rights bill change that? Former judge Robert Spano, the president of the ECHR until last month, speaks to Joshua Rozenberg. Is it time to improve the legal protection of the UK's 3.6 million...

Climate change activists have caused a lot of disruption over the past year, and recently also made headlines with stunts like throwing tomato soup at a Van Gogh painting in the National Gallery. The government's response has been to tighten up protest law; first in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and now in the Public Order bill currently going through Parliament. What is and isn't illegal now? What could become illegal soon? And how are the police interpreting new laws...

The government is currently committed to a bonfire of laws which were inherited from the EU after Brexit - including things like the right to four weeks' paid annual leave. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 requires government departments to check over 2400 laws; then decide which ones to keep, which ones to amend, and which ones to let disappear from the statute books. Those chosen to be kept or amended will have to get through parliament by the end of next year, if they...

How can a court decide that a young woman is to have medical treatment without her knowledge or that of her mother or guardian? The Court of Protection - which rules on cases involving 'protected' persons who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves - sometimes holds 'closed hearings' that are secret to one or more of the parties, and to the public. Why are those hearings used, and can it ever be justified for the secrecy to lead to public misinformation? The law now...

Prison education is “chaotic”, says the House of Commons Education Select Committee, and often “inadequate” says Ofsted. Yet, if done right, it can help reduce offending, and the number of victims, by giving prisoners the skills they need to get a job upon release. It’s no small task. Over half of prisoners have reading ages below 11. A large proportion have special educational needs. Many were expelled from school and have no qualifications. Yet education doesn’t seem to have been a...

Can the proposed British Bill of Rights be compatible with international law? Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Mark Elliott, Professor of Public Law and Chair of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. How can law firms become more welcoming to people with disabilities? Law in Action's Octavia Woodward tests the wheelchair access at Barristers' Chambers 7 Bedford Row. Plus barristers Holly Girven and Disability's Not a Bar co-host Haleemah Sadia Farooq share their experiences of...

Explaining the barriers to conviction at every stage of the criminal justice system. Prosecutions for the crime have declined by 40% over the last four years in England and Wales, although they have gone up in Scotland and Northern Ireland. And yet the number of cases reported to the police is higher than ever. What is going wrong? And what needs to change so that more survivors get justice - and to reduce the threat from rapists? Joshua Rozenberg is joined by a specialist panel drawn from...

"We can't conduct effective, timely investigations by remote control in The Hague." International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan QC speaks about the efforts and challenges facing investigators on the ground in Ukraine. Why lawyers in Scotland are boycotting some domestic abuse cases in a dispute about legal aid. Plus, if you place a bet on a winning horse, does the bookmaker have to pay out if they make a mistake? Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg Producers: Diane Richardson and...

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab speaks to Joshua Rozenberg about the UK's support for the International Criminal Court's efforts to prosecute any Russians who may have committed war crimes in Ukraine. He outlines plans to boost the legal aid budget, and thus the incomes of criminal barristers - but when will they actually get any of the money? Mr Raab also explains why he is replacing the Human Rights Act with a new Bill of Rights. The vast majority of senior judges are former barristers, and...

Has silencing journalists with libel claims now become harder? The High Court dismissed a suit by a Kazakhstan company against journalist Tom Burgis, author of 'Kleptopia'. The phenomenon of foreign individuals or companies using the favourable libel laws and high financial risks of the system in England and Wales is sometimes called "libel tourism" or even "lawfare". Some fear it has allowed Russian oligarchs in particular to stifle criticism. Joshua Rozenberg asks if this case could signal...

Is Scotland's Gender Recognition bill a progressive step forward, or a threat to women? Joshua Rozenberg investigates the legislation, which removes the need for medical evidence when changing gender and reduces the age at which this can be done. Lawyers in the City of London bring in billions of pounds to the UK economy. English law is popular overseas for its predictability and for the independence of its judges. But is this reputation as a beacon for the rule of law being eroded by a lack...

How does international criminal law regard Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Professor Philippe Sands QC, whose grandfather was forced to flee the Ukrainian city of Lviv over a century ago . Is our democracy being eroded by the government, by reducing parliament’s opportunities for scrutiny? Two reports from the House of Lords Select Committees, titled "Government by Diktat" and "Democracy Denied", say there is an urgent need to return power to parliament. They worry...

Joshua Rozenberg places under the microscope a controversial lawsuit aimed at the governing bodies of rugby. Players diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries, believed to be the result of repeated concussions, claim the sport neglected their duty of care. Did they? He also hears polar opposite views on whether or not thousands more civilian magistrates should be recruited to our courts: Justice Haddon Cave, the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, is in favour of the drive, whilst...

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to a former jailhouse lawyer about his time behind bars and the cases he tackled on behalf of his fellow inmates. He also hears from well-known broadcaster, Stephen Nolan, about the extraordinary steps he took in tracking down, and launching a libel action against, a social media troll. And Lord Pannick QC, one of the most successful barristers of his generation, discusses the lasting value of courtroom advocacy. Producer: Paul Connolly Researcher: Louise Byrne Sound:...

Joshua Rozenberg examines the phenomenon of false memories and the impact they can have on courtroom testimony. Can our recollections ever be trusted fully? And, if not, how profound are the implications for the criminal justice system? He speaks to Sir Andrew McFarlane, the senior family judge in England and Wales, about his plans to open up the family courts to reporting by accredited journalists and specialist bloggers. And Derek Sweeting QC, chair of the Bar Council of England and...

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to women judges whose lives have been at risk since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Forced to leave their high-profile careers behind, many are faced with an impossible dilemma: do they choose a potential escape to freedom? Or do they stay with their families, in hiding and on the run? Ahead of Cop26, Joshua wades into a burning debate on whether or not fossil fuel companies are entitled to compensation from governments which make the switch to cleaner,...

Fighting knife crime before it happens; Scotland's "not proven" verdicts; and the law on automated cars. Knife crime in England and Wales is at its highest in ten years. Some young people can find it hard to resist gangs or knives for what they see as self-protection. Often they end up in the criminal justice system. Some argue the law is not the answer. But what is the alternative? We hear from a youth worker at the successful youth centre Youth Futures, and from a retired senior criminal...

It’s illegal to ride a private e-scooter on public roads or pavements – but the rules for the new, council approved e-scooter rental schemes are different. We navigate the maze of laws and regulations to ask what’s allowed, required or illegal. Billionaires are about to fly into space, but what is the legal framework for this? What if your rocket hits my satellite? We boldly go into space law. Why coal tip laws brought in following the Aberfan disaster do not protect the public and need...

Thousands of people have received fixed penalty notices for breaching Covid-19 restrictions, even though no offence had actually been committed in their cases. Yet there is no appeals procedure, and not paying the fines risks a criminal record. So what should happen with them? Sir Geoffrey Vos, the master of the rolls and head of civil justice, reveals how new online systems are increasingly doing away with the need to go to court. The legal profession used to be dominated by...

Traumatic brain injury can cause neurological changes that make people more impulsive, less able to control their reactions, and less able to understand others. Therefore it's associated with violent crime. An estimated 60% of those in prison have a history of brain injury. But is prison the best place for them, and their rehabilitation? The criminal justice system is taking an ever greater interest in how to deal with traumatic brain injury. We hear about a Thames Valley Police pilot...

Judicial Review is a mechanism to check the legality of decisions or actions by public bodies such as the government or parliament. But has this turned into "politics by another means"? The government commissioned Lord Faulks and a panel of experts to examine this question, and to make recommendations for reform. The report was published last week. But does the government now want to go much further than the recommendations in the report? Should there be legal aid for bereaved families...

Around the world environmentalists are taking governments and companies to court to fight climate change. Joshua Rozenberg explores how the law is evolving into a powerful activists' tool. In the first case of its kind, in a ruling that was upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court, the Netherlands were found to have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% compared to 1990, and this by December of last year. What happened? Apart from governments, companies are being sued by individuals or...

Amy Jeffress, the US lawyer of Anne Sacoolas, speaks exclusively to Joshua Rozenberg, about the accident that led to the death of Northamptonshire teenager Harry Dunn, and its aftermath. Scotland needs the agreement of the Westminster-based UK government to hold a referendum about independence legally. So far Downing Street has indicated that the UK would not agree to a second referendum in the short term. But could there be legal options around the need for Westminster's approval? And...

A civil claim has been launched in the state of Virginia by the parents of Harry Dunn, who was killed in Northamptonshire in 2019 when his motorcycle was in collision with a car driven on the wrong side of the road by Anne Sacoolas. What are Harry's parents hoping to get out of it? Joshua Rozenberg speaks to their American lawyer. Picture Credit: Justice4Harry19 The number of cases waiting to be tried at Crown Courts in England and Wales is now over 56,000. We examine the backlog viewed from...

Remembering Jack Merritt, who was murdered in the attack at London Bridge in November 2019. He and Saskia Jones, who was also killed, were associated with an offender rehabilitation programme at Cambridge University called Learning Together. The murderer was a former prisoner attending a conference at Fishmongers Hall to mark its fifth anniversary. Earlier in 2019, Law in Action had interviewed Jack Merritt and some of the prisoners he was supporting at Warren Hill Prison in Suffolk. A year...