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03 September 2021 / Alec Samuels
Issue: 7946 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights , Criminal
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Protestors & the highway: striking a balance?

Alec Samuels discusses the pressing need for compromise between protesters & the public

We live in a free society under the rule of law. We understand that the exercise of a right may conflict with the exercise of another person’s right, and balance and resolution must be found. Every right carries a corresponding duty or responsibility to respect the rights of others.

Protesters appear and cause obstruction and interference to others. They may be protesting about any number of things. The arms trade. Nuclear weapons. Government policy overseas. A party political issue. Climate change and pollution. COVID regulations. Hunting. Grouse shooting. Low prices for farm produce. A proposed new road or railway. A proposed new speed limit. Religious persecution. Immigration.

Other people may agree with them, or not. But the inescapable fact is that the highway is obstructed, the conduct of normal business is prevented or impeded, access to and egress from private property is prevented or impeded, and indeed private property may be trespassed upon

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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