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13 April 2020 / David Greene
Issue: 7882 / Categories: Opinion , Covid-19 , Constitutional law
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COVID-19: Justice matters

18925
Extraordinary time. Extraordinary human endeavour. Extraordinary consequences. David Greene reports

Coronavirus has caused huge suffering across the world. Governments have reacted in differing ways to deal with the crisis with the overriding purpose of ensuring the spread of it is kept to a minimum. Citizens have generally accepted with fortitude draconian statutory restrictions on their freedoms. We hope they will be short-lived. It will, indeed, be vital that when we return to a degree of normality these restrictions are repealed or fall under sunset clauses.

The restrictions have affected the profession as much as any sector. The Law Society and the Bar Council have been working hard with Government to meet the very new problems the profession faces. There are daily meetings with the Ministry of Justice and minsters. The Law Society is issuing daily bulletins to practitioners and has its advice and guidance updated daily on https://bit.ly/2xVd5Fw.

The immediate problems have been acute in, for instance, criminal justice. The workings of the criminal justice process from arrest to trial

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers to be joined by leading family law set, 4 Brick Court, this summer

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Real estate and construction energy offering boosted by partner hire

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Firm bolsters real estate team with partner hire in Birmingham

NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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