Six people are on trial at the moment at Maidstone Crown Court for criminal damage, having painted slogans on Kingsnorth power station last year in protest against climate change, and will be defending themselves on the basis of “lawful […]

I’m back from Berlin now, but thought you might want to catch up with part two of this summer’s German constitutional litigation over the smoking bans introduced by various Länder. You may recall that the bans in […]

I know I’m always on holiday, but it’s well deserved. I’ll be in Berlin for a few days, from where you may get a post with a German theme. But no promises.

Gary Glitter is I expect on his way back to Britain having served time for child sex offences in Vietnam. Some commenters at the Sun’s website have expressed the view that disgraced Glitter, as he’s now known, shouldn’t […]

This is another of the judgments the Lords gave on super-Wednesday at the end of July, and is worth a look because of the way their Lordships deal with the question of religious discrimination. It’s another stark contrast […]

Today’s story about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority being caught out cutting awards to rape victims who’d been drinking before they were attacked reminds me of the days when I used to take on criminal injuries compensation appeals. Here’s […]

I’m taking another of those (I’m sure you’ll agree) well-deserved blawg breaks, this time in Glasgow. You may hear a bit from me… but probably not an awful lot for the next ten days.

It’s a good story, and I agree with Simon Jenkins about the connected problems of police ineffectiveness and lack of traditional social restraints in Britain. No doubt the story is true, and perhaps things are better in France. But […]

As the lawyer responsible for Part VII of the Care Standards Act, I’m glad that this attempt has failed to limit the misconduct that can be taken into account by the Care Standards Tribunal on an appeal by a […]

It sounds like good news on the face of it, that Pakistan’s governing parties are considering starting impeachment proceedings in Parliament against President Musharraf. I’m not against it. But much more important is the issue of reinstating judges sacked […]