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29 April 2022 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 7976 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law , Human rights
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A British Bill of Rights: going nowhere?

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Is Dominic Raab’s project doomed? Michael Zander reports on criticism from across the legal spectrum
  • With the next steps on the government’s proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 cautiously awaited, key figures including retired Lord Justice Sir Peter Gross, former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, and the Law Society have already made their criticisms known.

The government’s consultation on the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) closed on 8 March 2022. We are in the waiting stage while Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, decides which, if any, of his proposals in the consultation document to put forward in legislation.

The consultation document was published on 14 December 2021, together with the report of the Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR) chaired by retired Lord Justice, Sir Peter Gross (see ‘The assault on liberty updated’, NLJ, 7 & 14 January 2022, p7).

On 30 March, Sir Peter Gross spoke at University College London (UCL) about the independent review (available to watch here).

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Jonathan Askin

Hugh James—Jonathan Askin

London corporate and commercial team announces partner appointment

Michelman Robinson—Daniel Burbeary

Michelman Robinson—Daniel Burbeary

Firm names partner as London office managing partner

Kingsley Napley—Jonathan Grimes

Kingsley Napley—Jonathan Grimes

Firm appoints new head of criminal litigation team

NEWS
Personal injury lawyers have welcomed a government U-turn on a ‘substantial prejudice’ defence that risked enabling defendants in child sexual abuse civil cases to have proceedings against them dropped
Children can claim for ‘lost years’ damages in personal injury cases, the Supreme Court has held in a landmark judgment
Holiday lets may promise easy returns, but restrictive covenants can swiftly scupper plans. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Francis of Serle Court recounts how covenants limiting use to a ‘private dwelling house’ or ‘private residence’ have repeatedly defeated short-term letting schemes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already embedded in the civil courts, but regulation lags behind practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ben Roe of Baker McKenzie charts a landscape where AI assists with transcription, case management and document handling, yet raises acute concerns over evidence, advocacy and even judgment-writing
The cab-rank rule remains a bulwark of the rule of law, yet lawyers are increasingly judged by their clients’ causes. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, warns that conflating representation with endorsement is a ‘clear and present danger’
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