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17 July 2015 / Alec Samuels
Issue: 7661 / Categories: Features , Human rights
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Back to the future

Alec Samuels puts the case for the reform of European human rights law

The English legal system served us fairly well before the advent of European human rights. European human rights law has created a vast body of jurisprudence, an extra tier in litigation, and has produced a number of problems and anomalies and even abuses.

National security

Nothing can be more important in national life than public safety and national security. Is it not for the UK Parliament to determine the degree of infringement of personal liberty, eg control orders against suspected terrorists, telephone tapping, retention of criminal records, with the appropriate judicial safeguards?

Deportation

A convicted foreign national was ordered to be deported. Anticipating conviction and deportation he married a UK citizen and pleaded family hardship (Art 8). A criminal conviction often inflicts hardship upon the family, a regrettable consequence.

Sex offender

A foreign national was convicted of sexual offences and ordered to be deported. Because sexual offences were not well regarded in his own state he pleaded threat to life

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sackers—Zak Ullah

Sackers—Zak Ullah

Sackers welcomes new associate

Christy Davies—Birmingham Law Society

Christy Davies—Birmingham Law Society

Ward Hadaway lawyer joins Birmingham Law Society Council

Ellisons—Stephanie Westwood & Anisa Khan

Ellisons—Stephanie Westwood & Anisa Khan

Ellisons expands Chelmsford commercial litigation team with two appointments

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A formidable reputation cannot protect a law firm when partner departures, fragile finances and client uncertainty begin feeding each other
Businesses incorporating open-source software into commercial products could face obligations to disclose valuable source code, with AI-assisted development making licensing risks harder to track
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