In 2015, JUSTICE launched a Working Party of our membership looking at What is a Court?, challenging long-held notions of what is required of a court or tribunal, and intended to inform the HMCTS Reform Programme as it is designed and implemented. The Working Party was chaired by Alexandra Marks. The report of the Working […]
What is a Court?: A JUSTICE Working Party proposes a radical new approach
May 17, 2016
A JUSTICE Working Party tonight (17th May 2016) recommended a fresh, principled and research-driven approach to the configuration of the court and tribunal estate in England and Wales. Its report calls for a radical rethinking of what our court buildings should look like in order to respond to the demands of modern-day justice, with an emphasis […]
Are Human Rights Really Universal? Asks Helena Kennedy QC, Chair of JUSTICE Council on BBC Radio 4 tonight
April 18, 2016
You can now listen to the first instalment on the BBC Radio 4 website. Listen now. Tonight (Monday 18 April) at 8pm on BBC Radio 4, in the first instalment of a two-part series, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC, Chair of JUSTICE Council, will be exploring the question ‘Are Human Rights Really Universal?’ In […]
Complex and lengthy criminal trials – a JUSTICE working party report offers solutions
March 4, 2016
Over the course of 2015 a JUSTICE working party of members and invited experts chaired by Sir David Calvert-Smith was tasked with reviewing the current processes that lead to complex and lengthy criminal trials. This was in order to present a series of recommendations designed to deliver increased efficiency and effectiveness within the criminal justice […]
Complex and lengthy criminal trials
A JUSTICE Working Party provides solutions A JUSTICE Working Party last night (3rd March 2016) recommended three key changes to the current system to reduce the impact of big cases on our criminal justice processes – early engagement of experts; case management by all parties and wholesale adoption of technology. These changes, says the Working […]
Complex and lengthy criminal trials
March 3, 2016
Over the course of 2015 a JUSTICE working party of members and invited experts chaired by Sir David Calvert-Smith was tasked with reviewing the current processes that lead to complex and lengthy criminal trials. This was in order to present a series of recommendations designed to deliver increased efficiency and effectiveness within the criminal justice […]
Time to think again – Draft Investigatory Powers Bill
February 12, 2016
JUSTICE welcomes the overwhelming Parliamentary consensus that the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill must be substantially redrafted to remove or revise overbroad, imprecise or vague powers and to strengthen crucial protections for individual privacy. Since 2011, JUSTICE has called for a coherent, holistic rewrite of surveillance law to increase accountability and transparency, to provide clear powers […]
Immigration Bill briefing for House of Lords Committee Stage
January 14, 2016
JUSTICE has produced a new briefing to inform the consideration of the Immigration Bill 2015-16 in the House of Lords Committee Stage, which is due to begin on Monday 18 January. JUSTICE’s previous briefings on this Bill have been quoted extensively during debates in both the House of Commons and the Lords, not least by Andy […]
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill
December 18, 2015
The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill was published on 4 November 2015 for consultation. A Joint Committee appointed to report on the Draft Bill published its report on 11 February 2016. In 2011, JUSTICE recommended that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) be repealed and replaced by a modern legal framework for surveillance more […]
JUSTICE & others call on Prime Minister to rethink Ministerial commitment to the rule of law
November 27, 2015
JUSTICE today (26 November 2015) joined a group of leading UK law reform and human rights organisations in urging the Prime Minister to reverse changes to the Ministerial Code which remove an unambiguous obligation for Ministers to respect international law in all that they do. On 15 October 2015, amendments were made to the Code, […]