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2022—what lies ahead?

21 January 2022 / David Greene
Issue: 7963 / Categories: Opinion , Constitutional law , Human rights , Profession
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A rash game? David Greene reflects on recent events & predicts the legal highs & lows in the year ahead

The young year has already thrown some off course. As we’ve heard often this week...let’s await the outcome of Sue Gray’s report before we see how off course they have gone. The world of politics can be difficult to predict, save perhaps in broad principles that governments generally seek to accrue power often at the expense of the rule of law, and no doubt the rule of law and human rights face continued challenge in 2022.

One does not need to look too far to see those challenges that will develop close to our shores during 2022. The European Commission remains in a standoff with the government of Poland on its stance in relation to the political control and independence of the judiciary. The Polish ruling party—ironically the Law and Justice Party—has run a campaign for five years seeking to control the judiciary and remove judges deemed to be opposed to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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