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NLJ this week: ‘Isolationist mindset’ on display in government’s approach to human rights

21 January 2022
Issue: 7963 / Categories: Legal News , Constitutional law , Human rights
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Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC laments the direction of travel of the UK government when it comes to human rights and turns his attention to the current Lord Chancellor’s stated views, in this week’s NLJ

In an excoriating piece, Bindman notes the government’s proposals for reforming the Human Rights Act 1998 ignores the advice of the Gross review, in fact ‘flatly contradicting Gross’s recommendations’.

He warns that, rather than wanting to remove weaknesses in the law, the government appears motivated by an ‘isolationist mindset at the very time when international commerce, climate change, the spread of disease, and even the very survival of life on the planet demand maximal commitment to international coordination and jurisdiction’.

Bindman writes: ‘The government must not throw away Britain’s long-established role as champion of the rule of law and human rights worldwide. The government’s retreat in the opposite direction is paradoxical. It betrays a proud tradition. It is inward-looking and isolationist.’ 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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