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NLJ this week: The dangers of suspicionless stop & search

17 March 2023
Issue: 8017 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Procedure & practice , Public
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‘Suspicionless’ stop and search is one of many controversial provisions in the Public Order Bill. Public and media attention has also focused on its restrictions on protest. Writing in this week’s NLJ, Neil Parpworth, of Leicester De Montfort Law School, looks in more detail at clauses 10 and 11, which sought to extend the powers of stop and search.

Parpworth traces the journey of the Bill, and the arguments put forward for and against its provisions, including Lord Paddick’s comments on the racially disproportionate use of stop and search, and its damaging impact.

He writes: ‘The Lords’ act of excising clause 11 from the Public Order Bill at the report stage thus represents a tangible manifestation of justifiable concerns relating to the very existence of suspicionless stop and search powers… Thus far, however, the government has acted unwisely in this matter. Accordingly, while it is hoped that the Home Office will take heed of the Lords’ opposition to a new suspicionless stop and search power and refrain from reintroducing clause 11 when the Bill returns to the Commons, the likelihood is that it will.’ 

Read the full article here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Firm promotes London international arbitration specialist to partnership

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Firm bolsters restructuring practice with senior London hires

HFW—Guy Marrison

HFW—Guy Marrison

Global aviation disputes practice boosted by London partner hire

NEWS
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
A construction defect claim in the Court of Appeal offers a sharp lesson in pleading discipline. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains how a catastrophically drafted schedule of loss derailed otherwise viable claims. Across the areas explored in this week's column, the message is consistent: clarity, economy and proper pleading matter more than ever
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