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22 October 2021 / John Cooper KC
Issue: 7953 / Categories: Features , Profession
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John Cooper QC casts a legal eye over this year’s BFI London Film Festival

The BFI London Film Festival returned this month in full throttle after last year’s COVID-19 affected event. Once again it will accurately predict the films which will make the headlines in the next 12 months and I was intrigued to be invited to reflect on the festival’s offerings this time around, with particular reference for NLJ to legal related subjects. Of course, the depiction of crime and how the criminal justice system works has always provided rich pickings for filmmakers and dishes out no end of opportunities for suspense and drama.

Hinterland

Hinterland left an indelible effect upon my senses. Not only was it a truly suspenseful story, it was filmed as if every frame was a sumptuously crafted portrait. Based around the serial killing of German soldiers returning from the First World War after two years in a Russian POW camp, two characters stand out who could probably demand a TV series of their own. Perg,

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Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
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
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
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
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
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
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
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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