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19 July 2024 / David Greene
Issue: 8080 / Categories: Opinion , Criminal , In Court , Profession , Legal aid focus
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It’s the hope that kills you…

182217
Can the new government turn commitments to the justice process into serious change? David Greene digs deep

A new government, new people and new themes and priorities. We lose Alex Chalk KC as Lord Chancellor, Victoria Prentis KC (Attorney General (AG)) and the aptly named Robert Courts KC (Solicitor General (SG)), as does Parliament because they all lost their seats at the election. The Bar will, no doubt, welcome them back to practice. The new Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, is also a barrister and has been shadow Lord Chancellor for a short time, so steps easily into the role.

The full ministerial team in the Ministry have also been appointed. They are career politicians save for the Prisons Minister who is James Timpson of Timpson shoe repair fame. We have a new AG in the form of Richard Hermer KC. A full-time practitioner at Matrix Chambers, until a few weeks ago, Richard is a well-known practitioner in human rights. He follows

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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