Law in Practice

In the wake of the recent Court of Appeal interlocutory judgment giving the green light for the first trial on indictment by a judge alone, David Wolchover and Anthony Heaton-Armstrong propose some convenient and inexpensive jury tampering countermeasures 

The Northern Ireland judge-only Diplock courts for the trial of cases involving a terrorist dimension linger on, though nowadays with a much reduced throughput. But while the risk of jury intimidation and religious bias may have waned in Ulster the perceived problem of jury tampering—or “nobbling”—had supposedly increased in England and Wales to such an extent that provision was finally enacted in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“CJA 2003”), s 44 for trials on indictment to be conducted where appropriate without a jury. 

In the wake of the recent Court of Appeal interlocutory judgment giving the green light for the first trial on indictment by a judge alone, David Wolchover and Anthony Heaton-Armstrong propose some convenient and inexpensive jury tampering countermeasures 

The Qatar Law Forum in May 2009 brought together global leaders in law to mark a shared commitment to the rule of law, reports Khadija Ali.  

The Qatar Law Forum took place in Doha from 29 to 31 May 2009 under the patronage of His Highness the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. 

Sentencing judges are obliged to make their own enquiries before sentencing a defendant with special needs to prison. John Cooper analyses the recent case law 

The involvement of the private sector in the government’s fight against fraud is welcome, but significant dangers—for both victims and the criminal justice system—lurk below the surface, warns Jonathan Fisher QC 

Lara Maroof looks at the misuse of expert virological evidence in HIV prosecutions 

The recent reforms in the area of fraud and financial crime amount to little more than re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, writes Jonathan Fisher QC. More radical reform to the statutory framework is required 

Jodie Blackstock explores the issues raised by the European Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia and argues that tangible curtailments to freedom of speech could follow 

The family justice system will fast unravel if funding cuts force publicly funded barristers to take flight, writes Lucy Theis QC 

Post-nups are valid and enforceable, but pre-nups are not—yet.Philip Perrins examines the impact of MacLeod