I recently posted that the new UK Supreme Court is poised to commence operation on 1 October 2009.The prelude to that occurred last week, when the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords delivered its last judgments, closing a chapter on 600 years of English legal history.Peter A Clarke posted a useful summary of the …
Tag: House of Lords
UK Supreme Court to start on time
Jack Shaw, the UK's Justice Secretary, announced the new Supreme Court that will replace the House of Lords, is on schedule to commence work on 1 October 2009.The builders encountered problems during the restoration of the Middlesex Guildhall where the new Court will sit. Water had seeped in to the structural steelwork, which then rusted. …
Freedom of expression triumphs over anonymity
The House of Lords yesterday delivered its decision in Attorney-General's Reference No 3 of 1999 [2009] UKHL 34.The case dealt with an application by the BBC to broadcast a programme identifying an accused person acquitted of criminal charges that might be subject to re-trial. (The UK introduced provisions a few years ago in Part 10 …
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Doli incapax abolished in the UK
The House of Lords last week held in R v JTB [2009] UKHL 20 that s 34 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished the defence as well as the presumption of doli incapax.Doli incapax (Latin for 'incapable of deceit') is the legal doctrine that children can't commit a crime because they don't know …
House of Lords to become a retirement home?
The Poms do things a little differently to us. (No offence JS.)Their upper house of Parliament also doubles as the ultimate appeals court in the land.But only the twelve Law Lords perform the judicial business of the Lords.All that is about to change.The date for this change is now set. Come October 2009, the Supreme …
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