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The bigger picture

31 May 2007
Issue: 7275 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights
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Adam Clemens looks at the courts’ approach to balancing a person’s right to demonstrate with the powers of the police to stop them

It’s a pretty safe bet that public demonstrations—from animal rights to Iraq—will increase. Policing of demonstrations will, inevitably, come in for closer scrutiny because Art 10 and 11 rights (freedom of expression and peaceful assembly) under the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) now have proper recognition. Any failure by police forces to realise the strengths and the implications of those rights—and their obligation to facilitate lawful protest—will lead to ineffective planning, and tortured arguments being taken on appeal when plans break down and civil actions or judicial reviews rain down. In April, the police failed on an Art 2 (right to life) Convention point in Van Colle v Chief Constable of the Hertfordshire Police [2007] EWCA Civ 325, [2007] All ER (D) 190 (Apr) in which the defendant in criminal allegations carried out his threat to kill Giles Van Colle, the main prosecution witness against him. Damages were reduced from £50,000

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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