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28 November 2019 / David Greene
Issue: 7866 / Categories: Opinion , Public , Constitutional law , Human rights
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Standing up for the Rule of Law

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An independent profession & judiciary are by no means a given in many parts of the world, says David Greene

 

The rule of law and the protected status of those who uphold it is, sadly, not a given thing, in 2019. The global political developments of the past few years seem to indicate that we are witnessing a widespread collapse in public confidence in institutions, politicians and experts. The latest Rule of Law Index shows that since 2016, a majority of the 113 countries, including mature democracies, saw their scores decline in the areas of human rights, checks on government powers, and civil and criminal justice.

The rule of law is fundamental to peace, security and political stability. It is fundamental in promoting economic and social progress, and in protecting the rights of the individual. It is the rule of law in the Bingham form that ensures access to public services, that curbs corruption, that prevents the abuse of power and that forms part of the social

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NEWS
Children can claim for ‘lost years’ damages in personal injury cases, the Supreme Court has held in a landmark judgment
Holiday lets may promise easy returns, but restrictive covenants can swiftly scupper plans. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Francis of Serle Court recounts how covenants limiting use to a ‘private dwelling house’ or ‘private residence’ have repeatedly defeated short-term letting schemes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already embedded in the civil courts, but regulation lags behind practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ben Roe of Baker McKenzie charts a landscape where AI assists with transcription, case management and document handling, yet raises acute concerns over evidence, advocacy and even judgment-writing
The cab-rank rule remains a bulwark of the rule of law, yet lawyers are increasingly judged by their clients’ causes. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, warns that conflating representation with endorsement is a ‘clear and present danger’
The Supreme Court has drawn a firm line under branding creativity in regulated markets. In Dairy UK Ltd v Oatly AB, it ruled that Oatly’s ‘post-milk generation’ trade mark unlawfully deployed a protected dairy designation. In NLJ this week, Asima Rana of DWF explains that the court prioritised ‘regulatory clarity over creative branding choices’, holding that ‘designation’ extends beyond product names to marketing slogans
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