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02 April 2020 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 7883 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
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Trump card: oral hearing postponed

Michael Zander asks, is President Trump above the law?

The US Supreme Court, for the first time in its history, because of the coronavirus cancelled last month’s oral hearing to hear three cases brought by President Trump. In each case the president is seeking to stop presumably damaging information from being handed over.

Trump v Vance is to block the district attorney of New York City’s subpoena of Trump’s personal financial records including his tax returns for a grand jury investigation into whether several people committed crimes by paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, to stop her from talking about her sexual relations with Trump in 2006. Trump v Mazars and Trump v Deutsche Bank are to block respectively his accountancy firm and the bank from handing congressional committees similar records in connection with hearings as to whether the President misstated his assets to avoid tax liabilities or violated financial disclosure obligations. All the matters being investigated occurred before Trump became President.

The issues raised are laid out in

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NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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