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Democracy under threat

23 October 2019
Issue: 7861 / Categories: Legal News , Human rights , Technology , Constitutional law
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MPs are restricting advice surgeries with constituents and many are increasingly reluctant to use public transport alone in response to threats and abuse, according to an alarming Human Rights Committee report published last week. 

The Committee has called for a Speaker’s Conference―a parliamentary commission convened by the Speaker―to tackle the problem and is urging social media companies to do more to keep their platforms safe, take down harmful content and respect the laws of the land. Commons Chair of the Committee, Harriet Harman MP, said the issue was ‘a threat to our democracy’. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—Michael Conway

Birketts—Michael Conway

IP partner joins team in Bristol to lead branding and trade marks practice

Blake Morgan—Daniel Church

Blake Morgan—Daniel Church

Succession and tax team welcomes partner inLondon

Maguire Family Law—Jennifer Hudec

Maguire Family Law—Jennifer Hudec

Firm appoints senior associate to lead Manchester city centre team

NEWS
Ministers’ proposals to raise funds by seizing interest on lawyers’ client account schemes could ‘cause firms to close’, solicitors have warned
Pension sharing orders (PSOs) have quietly reached their 25th anniversary, yet remain stubbornly underused. Writing in NLJ this week, Joanna Newton of Stowe Family Law argues that this neglect risks long-term financial harm, particularly for women
A school ski trip, a confiscated phone and an unauthorised hotel-room entry culminated in a pupil’s permanent exclusion. In this week's issue of NLJ, Nicholas Dobson charts how the Court of Appeal upheld the decision despite acknowledged procedural flaws
Is a suspect’s state of mind a ‘fact’ capable of triggering adverse inferences? Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Smith of Corker Binning examines how R v Leslie reshapes the debate
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
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