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10 November 2023 / Athelstane Aamodt
Issue: 8048 / Categories: Opinion , Constitutional law , International
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Can Donald Trump stand again?

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Athelstane Aamodt considers whether the US Constitution can put the brakes on the Trump campaign

Although it remains a deeply impressive and important document, there are some undeniable defects with the Constitution of the United States. One of its most glaring errors is that while it sets out various qualifications to be President (he or she must be 35 years or older, must be born in the US, etc), it does not prevent a person convicted of a felony from being eligible to hold that office. This is a strange omission when one considers that the Constitution even makes it clear that there is no religious test for holding public office in the US (Article VI, Clause 3). Why then did a ‘criminal test’ not enter James Madison’s mind when he was drafting the Constitution between 1787 and 1789?

Trump’s second term?

This omission is now being much-discussed given all of the impending criminal trials that Donald Trump faces. Even if he was convicted and imprisoned, he would, if elected,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Partner and Manchester office lead appointed head of family

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

DWF insurance services director appointed to Civil Justice Council

R3—Jodie Wildridge

R3—Jodie Wildridge

Kings Chambers barrister appointed chair of R3 Yorkshire

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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