THIS ISSUE
Three decades ago, Professor Michael Zander conducted a large-scale study on the way the criminal justice system works. In the concluding part of this series, he examines the findings on wasted time, weak cases & other matters
Fred Philpott shares his reflections on the High Court decision in Mazur
Niall Hearty on why private prosecutions have become increasingly popular
Masood Ahmed & Raghad Hamed examine fraud as a serious irregularity under the Arbitration Act 1996
Rachel Davenport, Co-founder and Director at AlphaBiolabs, reflects on how the company’s Giving Back ethos continues to make a difference to communities across the UK.
David Rawson, eCOS Head of Product, InfoTrack UK
Dr Jon Robins reports on a murder conviction that was quashed—twice
The High Court’s decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys has thrown the careers of experienced CILEX litigators into jeopardy, warns Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers in NLJ this week
Sir Brian Leveson’s claim that
there is ‘no right to jury trial’
erects a constitutional straw
man, argues Professor Graham
Zellick KC in NLJ this week. He argues that Leveson dismantles a position almost no-one truly holds, and thereby obscures the deeper issue: the jury’s place within the UK’s constitutional tradition
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach
Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office
Farrer & Co—Richard Lane
Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner
Bird & Bird—Sue McLean
Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner
NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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