header-logo header-logo

Keeping British democracy alive

21 October 2022 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 7999 / Categories: Features , Rule of law , Human rights
printer mail-detail
98005
Are we still committed to the rule of law? Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC considers recent government moves & some concerning historical parallels

A government which denigrates and abandons human rights safeguards needs to be reminded of the struggles and achievements of the last two centuries in developing a justice system which seeks to protect all on equal terms. It is easy to overlook the progress that has been made, and we must not throw it away.

The long road here

Consider the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, when 17 peaceful citizens, gathered in the centre of Manchester to hear a speech by the leading radical Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt, were killed by soldiers on horseback who attacked them with sabres. Instead of prosecuting the killers, the government prosecuted the organisers of the meeting for conspiracy and unlawful assembly. They were tried, convicted, and imprisoned (see my article ‘Peterloo remembered’, NLJ, 7 December 2018, p22).

After the French Revolution in 1789, pressure for democracy had grown in Britain.

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

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll