header-logo header-logo

26 February 2009 / Dr Jon Robins
Categories: Opinion , Local government , Public , Employment
printer mail-detail

The justice gap

The government should act to resolve iniquities at the heart of the inquest system, says Jon Robins

Only 7% of the families of service personnel killed in Afghanistan or Iraq have received legal aid to pay for representation at their inquests into their deaths

Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done—whether or not it raises awkward questions about, say, the Met’s response to the terrorist threat in our capital. Over the last week there has rightly been alarm in the press around the potential iniquity of inquests being run behind closed doors, away from families, jurors and members of the media. One hopes that the prospect of an inquest such as the one into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes is self-evidently appalling.
Following a question by the Tory MP Roger Gale, the Ministry of Justice provided a startling statistic last week revealing an iniquity that is already exists at the heart of the inquest system. It is an issue that the Coroners and Justice Bill

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Joelson—Jennifer Mansoor

Joelson—Jennifer Mansoor

West End firm strengthens employment and immigration team with partner hire

JMW—Belinda Brooke

JMW—Belinda Brooke

Employment and people solutions offering boosted by partner hire

NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
back-to-top-scroll