22 results
16 Mar 2021 10:23
MA Briefing - Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillThe MA has produced a briefing on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill coming before Parliament this week. The briefing includes our members' views on: Increased maximum sentence for assaults against emergeny workers Serious violence duty Pre-charge Bail Prisoner custody officers Aggravated more...
9 Mar 2021 12:20
Magistrates' retirement age to increase to 75The government has announced that the retirement age for magistrates will be raised to 75. This has been a key priority for the MA and we have been working hard influending the senior judiciary, civil servants, ministers and Members of Parliament to make this happen. While this change will not more...
4 Mar 2021 12:18
Legal news flash: The 2021 BudgetThe Government delivered its 2021 Budget yesterday, which included a range of extended support for the self-employed and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. With an announcement that the economy has shrunk by 10%, which is the largest fall in over 300 years, the Chancellor stated that the more...
Human Rights in the Time of Coronavirus
(The following article originally appeared in the CCBE Handbook for European Lawyers' Day on 25th October, 2020). The 17th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, posits a primitive society in which men pursue their selfish aims and life is “nasty, brutish and short”. He explains that society becomes more...
6 Oct 2020 14:49
MA response to magistrates’ retirement age consultationThe MA has finalised its response to the government consultation on raising the mandatory retirement age for judicial office holders, including magistrates. Our response calls for the mandatory retirement age for magistrates to be raised to 75. The consultation identifies a number of factors that more...
18 Sep 2020 14:37
2020 judicial diversity statisticsThe 2020 Judicial Diversity Statistics have been published, revealing that 56% of magistrates in England and Wales are female (the same as last year), 13% are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (up from 12% last year) and 49% are aged 60 or over (compared to 52% last year). Commenting more...
6 Mar 2020 15:27
New Sentencing Code unveiled in ParliamentA new Bill that aims to simplify sentencing laws has been unveiled in Parliament. The new Sentencing Code is part of efforts to restore public confidence in sentencing and aims to make sentencing simpler, quicker and more transparent as well as reducing the number of errors made and improving the more...
1 Nov 2019 10:21
Justice Committee publishes report into Court and Tribunal Reform: MA ResponseThe Justice Select Committee have carried out an enquiry into ‘Court and Tribunal Reforms’ and published a report highlighting concerns around the Reform Programme and relevant proposals. Commenting on the Justice Select Committee’s report ‘Court and Tribunal reforms’, John Bache JP, National Chair more...
25 Sep 2019 09:40
The Round-Up: Prorogation Declared ‘Unlawful’The verdict is in. The Supreme Court has unanimously held that Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament until October 14 was ‘unlawful, void and of no effect’, since it had the effect of frustrating Parliament. As such, the prorogation was itself void. The full judgment and more...
13 Sep 2019 09:08
MA response to National Audit Office report on the court reform programmeThe National Audit has published Transforming courts and tribunals: a progress update, an update on HM Courts and Tribunals Service's court reform programme. Their report examines the progress made in the second stage of the reform programme, which ended in January 2019, and takes a closer look at more...
12 Sep 2019 09:13
A Tale of Two Judgments: Scottish Court of Session rules prorogation of Parliament unlawful, but High Court of England and Wales begs to differThe Scottish Court of Session (Inner House) today ruled that the Prime Minister’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament was unlawful. The High Court of England and Wales today handed down its judgment on the same issue – and came to the opposite conclusion. How can these two conflicting more...
29 Aug 2019 08:58
Judicial review against prorogation of Parliament launchedThe day began with the news that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson had asked the Queen to prorogue (suspend) Parliament in order to table a Queen’s Speech — with the effect that the number of days that MPs would sit between now and Brexit Day on Halloween being significantly reduced. Tonight, Gina more...
12 Jul 2019 09:53
MA response to the Judicial Diversity StatisticsThe latest Judicial Diversity Statistics have been published, revealing that 56% of magistrates in England and Wales are female (up from 55% last year), 12% are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (which is the same as last year) and 52% are aged 60 or over (compared to 55% last year). more...
24 Jun 2019 10:51
Justice Select Committee Report: The Role of the Magistracy: Follow-UpThe Justice Committee have published their report into the role of the magistracy - follow up inquiry. The MA contributed to this inquiry with a written response as well as oral evidence given by our Chair, John Bache. We welcome this timely and vital report that highlights many of the important more...
18 Dec 2018 14:24
The Government in a bind?Once again, the holding of a referendum is being discussed as the potential solution to a Party and Parliamentary impasse. Theresa May’s dilemma is that she has reached an agreement with the European Union about the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union but it is reported that even more...
5 Nov 2018 13:45
Blasphemy in Pakistan, Arron Banks investigated by the NCA and immigration cases dominate…After the flurry of excitement we were treated to earlier in October, last week afforded observers of the Supreme Court and legal news an opportunity to relax and catch their breath. However, the Court of Appeal proved to be a bountiful source of judgements, and reliable as always, Brexit continued more...
22 Oct 2018 07:59
HMCTS Reform Update: Autumn 2018We have started a very ambitious programme of court reform, which aims to bring new technology and modern ways of working to what is – and will remain – the best justice system in the world. The principles that underpin the system are enduring. But our systems and processes have not kept pace with more...
THE DUP, ITS DODGY DONOR, AND HOW THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION LET THEM BOTH OFF THE HOOK.
This content is posted with permission of Jolyon Maugham QC and was originally posted on Waitingfortax.com. This should shock you – but it won’t. The DUP’s Treasurer, Gregory Campbell, gave an on-the-record interview to SourceMaterial. That interview was recorded and, assuming he told the truth, the more...
12 Sep 2018 09:07
HMCTS reform roadshow events 2018 to 2019Information for legal professionals and court users to participate in events about our courts and tribunals reform programme. From September 2018 to the end of March 2019, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) will continue to engage with practising legal professionals and professional court users more...
11 Sep 2018 12:58
Court is a delicate ecosystem in which human contact is essentialIt is research, but not as we know it. After months of bugging HMCTS to publish their user research on the digital court reform programme, a summary of findings was released to me as a result of a freedom of information request. It is an intriguing document which begs as many questions as it answers more...
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