The use of children as spies will be challenged in the High Court in a hearing scheduled for June. Just for Kids Law has been granted permission to bring a judicial review against the Home Office about the controversial practice. The use of children as ‘covert human intelligence sources’ by the police and other investigative agencies was revealed in a House of Lords debate in July 2018. Just for Kids Law says it wants the Home Office to tighten its guidance on child welfare, assessment of risk change, safeguards and circumstances in which child spies would be used.
27 February 2019
Push for clampdown on child spies
MOVERS & SHAKERS
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Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond
Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands
Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell
Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert
Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green
Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge
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
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
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’
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