Bill of Rights Bill
Law Society President Lubna Shuja spoke to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (from 3:24:32), BBC Radio West Midlands (from 3:17:50), BBC Radio Leeds (from 3:08:32) and Times Radio (from 21:45) about the Bill of Rights Bill after the Joint Committee on Human Rights said it should not go ahead in its current form.
Legal aid crisis
The Times (£) speaks to a former legal aid firm partner who has quit in favour of private practice.
The piece mentions our legal challenge to Dominic Raab’s criminal legal aid funding decision, as well as our warning to firms about the financial viability of criminal legal aid work.
Criminal court delays
Daventry Express, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Northamptonshire Telegraph, Hucknall & Bulwell Dispatch, the Telegraph and Argus and other regional media outlets continue coverage of our reaction to the criminal court backlog and delays.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “The latest figures show huge backlogs in our criminal courts and unacceptably long delays for victims and defendants to access justice.
New Law Journal also covers our reaction to unprecedented levels of outstanding Crown Court cases.
Crown Court improvement work
The Gazette looks at the work that the Crown Courts Improvement Group (CCIG) is doing to help reduce Crown Court delays and backlogs, with one piece by Law Society Deputy Vice President Richard Atkinson and another by Senior Presiding Judge, Lord Justice Edis.
“There is much still to be done before we have restored and improved an ailing, dysfunctional criminal justice system,” wrote Richard Atkinson.
“Further investment across the whole system is needed. However, this ongoing work shows how involving representatives from across the system can create real opportunities to find solutions.”
High Court appointees
The Gazette Ireland covers our reaction to the announcement that only two solicitors were appointed to the High Court.
We said: “The fact that fewer than one in ten judicial appointments came from a non-barrister background serves as a reminder that the selection process needs to be reformed to remove barriers that continue to hold back people from underrepresented groups.”
“If the judiciary is to truly reflect our modern and diverse society, outdated practices such as statutory consultation need to be scrapped and the selection process needs to appropriately weigh the experience, skills and qualifications of solicitors.”
Day of the Endangered Lawyer
New Law Journal reports on Day of the Endangered Lawyer.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “Many lawyers and judges cannot carry out their profession anymore, nor can any prosecutors or female lawyers. Those who were the beating heart of the previous justice system now find themselves at terrible risk, receiving death threats and having to move around or stay in hiding, without any means to support themselves and their families.”
The Gazette also covers the Day of the Endangered Lawyer in a piece on how an Afghan judge and women’s rights defender has been denied permission to enter the UK.
Nationality and Borders Act
Liberal Democrat Voice mentions our concerns about the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 in a comment piece about civil and human rights being under attack.
In the frame
The Gazette covers our policy adviser, Alice Mutasa, scooping third-place in the Next Hundred Years photo exhibition ‘The Way We Are’.
Also worth a read:
- NDA ban considered – Legal Futures
- Compulsory racial bias training for judges backed – Gazette
- English law and digital transactions – Times (£)
- Knotweed court ruling – Standard