Justice Matters

The Supreme Court’s treatment of the devolution issues in Miller is troubling, argues Aidan O’Neill QC, who examines the UK’s complex multi-national constitutional history and potential impact on the devolved political constitution  

Miller reveals the malleability of the parliamentary sovereignty doctrine, argues Professor Mark Elliott in his examination of the many tensions which lie at the heart of the majority judgment  

There are few aspects of the modern British constitution that the Supreme Court’s judgment in Miller does not at least engage (R (on the application of Miller and Dos Santos) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and associated references  [2017] UKSC 5).  

Damian Hickman offers an insight into the challenges of running a busy international arbitration centre –from debugging services, extra-large entourages and last-minute visa requests  

Writing in the Global Arbitration Review in May 2016, J William Rowley QC emphasised that ‘the importance of excellent, purpose-built arbitration hearing facilities cannot be over-estimated in the choice of… seat’.  

From ‘smart’ sanctions to judicial review, closed hearings to the Brexit/Trump effect, Maya Lester QC briefs readers on the varied legal issues surrounding the foreign policy tool of choice: economic sanctions  

Economic sanctions have been a foreign policy tool of choice for some time.  

With a disturbing rise in deaths due to poor care, abuse or neglect in hospitals and care homes, Zia Akhtar examines the impact of the new criminal offence of wilful neglect. Will it improve or undermine the safety of vulnerable patients?  

The offence of ‘wilful neglect’ is a new offence under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA 2015) under which there is criminal liability where a person has been placed under the care of a medical professional in a hospital or care home (s 20), or under private home care (s21).  

Family arbitration is hitting its stride: the IFLA scheme successfully resolving financial disputes and keeping families out of court has now been extended to children cases. Janet Bazley QC and Gavin Smith explain how it works  

Contrast two very different scenarios. In the first, you turn up at court for a family hearing to find that you are listed in front of a non-specialist judge.  

Last year, a local issue awoke the Bar’s interest in the City of London. Gregory Jones QC urges barristers to dust off their voting rights and reclaim their voice in the City – on the doorstep of the Inns of Court  

Barrister politicians are nothing new. Lincoln’s Inn alone has produced 16 British prime ministers.  

‘Shifting powers’ and an ‘unfair, hostile and resource-driven’ climate are sidelining the needs of vulnerable defendants and witnesses, the ICCA’s ambitious inaugural conference heard. David Wurtzel reports  

The first annual conference of the Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) on 29 October 2016, organised by Bernard Richmond QC, chose as its theme the vulnerable client.  

A call for views: Justin Fenwick QC explains how a properly thought-out contingency legal aid fund on a not-for-profit basis could fit into the new landscape of litigation funding  

The idea of a contingency legal aid fund (known for short as ‘CLAF’) has been around for a long time, with the first preliminary feasibility study having been issued by the Bar Council as long ago as January 1998.  

Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC asks whether the Lord Chancellor should have acted to stem the misleading and inflammatory media allegations which continue in the wake of the Miller case  

Visitors from abroad have always been mystified by our uncodified constitution.