Fighting knife crime before it happens; Scotland's "not proven" verdicts; and the law on automated cars. Knife crime in England and Wales is at its highest in ten years. Some young people can find it hard to resist gangs or knives for what they see as self-protection. Often they end up in the criminal justice system. Some argue the law is not the answer. But what is the alternative? We hear from a youth worker at the successful youth centre Youth Futures, and from a retired senior criminal barri...
Jul 08, 2021•28 min
It’s illegal to ride a private e-scooter on public roads or pavements – but the rules for the new, council approved e-scooter rental schemes are different. We navigate the maze of laws and regulations to ask what’s allowed, required or illegal. Billionaires are about to fly into space, but what is the legal framework for this? What if your rocket hits my satellite? We boldly go into space law. Why coal tip laws brought in following the Aberfan disaster do not protect the public and need to be re...
Jun 22, 2021•28 min
Thousands of people have received fixed penalty notices for breaching Covid-19 restrictions, even though no offence had actually been committed in their cases. Yet there is no appeals procedure, and not paying the fines risks a criminal record. So what should happen with them? Sir Geoffrey Vos, the master of the rolls and head of civil justice, reveals how new online systems are increasingly doing away with the need to go to court. The legal profession used to be dominated by middle-aged, middle...
Jun 15, 2021•29 min
Traumatic brain injury can cause neurological changes that make people more impulsive, less able to control their reactions, and less able to understand others. Therefore it's associated with violent crime. An estimated 60% of those in prison have a history of brain injury. But is prison the best place for them, and their rehabilitation? The criminal justice system is taking an ever greater interest in how to deal with traumatic brain injury. We hear about a Thames Valley Police pilot project to...
Jun 08, 2021•28 min
Judicial Review is a mechanism to check the legality of decisions or actions by public bodies such as the government or parliament. But has this turned into "politics by another means"? The government commissioned Lord Faulks and a panel of experts to examine this question, and to make recommendations for reform. The report was published last week. But does the government now want to go much further than the recommendations in the report? Should there be legal aid for bereaved families whose rel...
Apr 23, 2021•29 min
Around the world environmentalists are taking governments and companies to court to fight climate change. Joshua Rozenberg explores how the law is evolving into a powerful activists' tool. In the first case of its kind, in a ruling that was upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court, the Netherlands were found to have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% compared to 1990, and this by December of last year. What happened? Apart from governments, companies are being sued by individuals or share...
Mar 16, 2021•28 min
Amy Jeffress, the US lawyer of Anne Sacoolas, speaks exclusively to Joshua Rozenberg, about the accident that led to the death of Northamptonshire teenager Harry Dunn, and its aftermath. Scotland needs the agreement of the Westminster-based UK government to hold a referendum about independence legally. So far Downing Street has indicated that the UK would not agree to a second referendum in the short term. But could there be legal options around the need for Westminster's approval? And jabs for ...
Mar 09, 2021•29 min
A civil claim has been launched in the state of Virginia by the parents of Harry Dunn, who was killed in Northamptonshire in 2019 when his motorcycle was in collision with a car driven on the wrong side of the road by Anne Sacoolas. What are Harry's parents hoping to get out of it? Joshua Rozenberg speaks to their American lawyer. Picture Credit: Justice4Harry19 The number of cases waiting to be tried at Crown Courts in England and Wales is now over 56,000. We examine the backlog viewed from the...
Mar 02, 2021•29 min
Remembering Jack Merritt, who was murdered in the attack at London Bridge in November 2019. He and Saskia Jones, who was also killed, were associated with an offender rehabilitation programme at Cambridge University called Learning Together. The murderer was a former prisoner attending a conference at Fishmongers Hall to mark its fifth anniversary. Earlier in 2019, Law in Action had interviewed Jack Merritt and some of the prisoners he was supporting at Warren Hill Prison in Suffolk. A year on, ...
Nov 17, 2020•28 min
How has the North Kensington Law Centre managed to keep going for 50 years when other social legal advice providers have run out of money? One reason must be the vision of Peter Kandler, 85, who set up the UK’s first law centre in a former butcher’s shop and is still closely involved in running it today. He tells Joshua Rozenberg that, half a century on, the centre is now coping with housing and immigration problems that he thought were a thing of the past. Picture: Peter Kandler, founder of Nor...
Nov 10, 2020•28 min
The lessons of history: what the Great Fire of London can teach us about dealing with a modern plague. And, as the lord chief justice tells his judges to keep calm and carry on — despite the lockdown to be introduced in England on Thursday — we ask whether the Nightingale courts of England and Wales could learn a thing or two from the Odeon courts of Scotland. Joshua Rozenberg reports. Researcher: Diane Richardson Producer: Neil Koenig
Nov 03, 2020•28 min
An independent investigation into the International Criminal Court has revealed examples of bullying, sexual harassment and judicial incompetence. Victims of war crimes are having to wait a lifetime for reparations. But, as Joshua Rozenberg has been hearing, those same victims are hugely grateful to a court that has given them a voice. And with a week to go before the presidential election, courts across the United States have already been dealing with voting-related challenges. Will the next US...
Oct 27, 2020•28 min
How can the courts cope with the constraints of Coronavirus? That’s the challenge facing Lord Burnett of Maldon, head of the judiciary in England and Wales. Joshua Rozenberg asks the Lord Chief Justice whether new ways of working can deliver justice at a time of crisis. Among those innovations is mediation, Law in Action speaks to a court-based mediator and a court user whose case was resolved without leaving home. And we find out how lockdown is changing the civil courts. Can remote hearings wo...
Jun 16, 2020•28 min
A poker player who used a Victorian conjuring trick to win £7.7 million from a London casino left court empty-handed in 2017 after a court found he “took positive steps to fix the deck”. But now judges have decided that the ruling in Phil Ivey’s case should be the test for dishonesty. Joshua Rozenberg explains how it works, while a gambler tells us that the courts have got it wrong. Also this week, how do you ensure social distancing in a crowded detention centre? And how is lockdown affecting t...
Jun 09, 2020•28 min
Can virtual courts deliver justice? We speak to participants of a mock jury trial held by law reform group Justice, with legal teams and jurors replacing the courtroom with the sitting room. Scotland's second most senior judge, Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, outlines how socially distanced jury trials can resume safely in July. And Joshua Rozenberg asks Director of Service Prosecutions Andrew Cayley QC if the Service Prosecuting Authority is prosecuting cases of rape and sexual assault effecti...
Jun 02, 2020•28 min
Recent high-profile discrimination claims have cast a media spotlight on the employment tribunals of England, Wales and Scotland. But how good are they are at resolving disputes between employers and staff? How independent are they of the government? And how well have they recovered from fee increases that meant some employment judges had to move jobs? Why an autistic man’s experiments with explosives were lawful. Joshua speaks to Jonathan Hall QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation a...
May 27, 2020•28 min
Earlier this year, Airbus was ordered to pay nearly €1bn by a criminal court in London. The penalty, for failure to prevent bribery, was more than twice the fines paid by defendants in England and Wales for the whole of 2018. In addition, the global aerospace company was required to pay fines totalling €2.6bn in France and the United States. But Airbus has not been convicted of any crimes and nobody has gone to prison. Joshua Rozenberg Investigates deferred prosecution agreements. Contributors: ...
May 27, 2020•28 min
Tucked away in the City of London is one of the UK’s most successful invisible exports. But is the Commercial Court threatened by international developments? Joshua Rozenberg investigates. Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has ordered people to stay at home. Lawyer Mariella Melandri tells Law In Action how this is affecting her legal practice and clients. The government is planning emergency legislation allowing people who are forced to self-...
Mar 11, 2020•28 min
Imagine what it must be like to be a child with autism. Your school won’t give you the support you need. But challenging that decision involves giving evidence at a tribunal where the lighting seems dazzling and the air-conditioning sounds deafening. Joshua Rozenberg reports from a tribunal in Glasgow designed by children for children. He visits a unique sensory room designed to put children with autism at their ease and help them speak for themselves. Also, could Manchester City FC overturn the...
Mar 03, 2020•28 min
The Parole Board will soon have to decide whether it’s safe to release prisoners convicted of low-level terrorist offences. But how effective is it at predicting whether a criminal will reoffend? Joshua Rozenberg visits the Parole Board for England and Wales to find out. Also new legal powers to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Joshua speaks to David Lawson, Barrister at Serjeants' Inn Chambers and Catharine Arnold, author of Pandemic 1918. Producer: Neil Koenig Researcher: Diane Richardson...
Feb 25, 2020•28 min
The secrets of life behind bars, revealed in a new podcast series. Joshua Rozenberg meets the ex-prisoners and others behind the project from The Prison Radio Association and The Prison Reform Trust. The bedroom tax and why the Court of Appeal got it wrong, plus online courts and the future of justice. Photo: Joshua Rozenberg with The Secret Life of Prisons presenters and contributors: Paula Harriott, Head of Prisoner Engagement at Prison Reform Trust. Brenda Birungi, Poet and Founder of Unchain...
Nov 19, 2019•31 min
Should parents with a history of domestic abuse be allowed to see their children? How can the family courts protect children from further abuse? Joshua Rozenberg asks where the law should draw the line. And he discovers some of the innovative programmes being run in Altcourse Prison near Liverpool - including keeping birds of prey. Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg Producer: Neil Koenig Researcher: Diane Richardson
Nov 12, 2019•28 min
Joshua Rozenberg visits a busy Crown Court where vulnerable or intimidated witnesses can give pre-recorded evidence and face cross-examination before the defendant stands trial. Researcher: Diane Richardson Producer: Neil Koenig
Nov 05, 2019•28 min
In holding the government to account over Brexit, our judges have added new pages to the UK's uncodified constitution. Joshua Rozenberg finds the law more active today than at any time since he launched this programme 35 years ago, and in the first episode of the new series he asks what legal lessons we can learn from the tumult caused by Brexit. Researcher: Diane Richardson Producer: Neil Koenig
Oct 29, 2019•28 min
Do jurors believe in rape myths? A coalition campaigning to end violence against women said a third of people questioned in an opinion poll thought that sex without consent was not rape if there was no physical violence involved. Professor Cheryl Thomas at University College London has interviewed more than 50 real juries about their views. Ahead of publication, she outlines her findings to Joshua Rozenberg. Also this week, the court that can close your business down in a few seconds; and whethe...
Jun 25, 2019•28 min
Prosecutors in the United States want Julian Assange extradited to face charges of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defence documents. What chance does he have of defeating the US extradition request at a hearing planned for next February? Also on Law in Action: if you’ve been turned down for social security payments, how easy is it to take the government to a tribunal? And the Australian defence lawyer who shopped her gangster clients to the police. Producers: Bob Howard and Neil Ko...
Jun 18, 2019•28 min
Should a non-traditional background be a bar to joining the Bar? Barristers want the best recruits. But many law students waste time and money training for a profession they will never succeed in joining. Leading lawyers tell Joshua Rozenberg how they plan to reduce training fees and increase diversity. Also this week: threats and transparency in the Court of Protection. And the law behind the failed attempt to launch a private prosecution against Boris Johnson. Producers: Neil Koenig and Nina R...
Jun 11, 2019•28 min
What will happen to the European Union judiciary after Brexit? Eleanor Sharpston QC is a British member of the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg. She argues it’s in the interests of both the UK and the EU for British judges to remain at the EU Court after Brexit - at least during a transitional period - because the UK will still be affected by its rulings. Also this week: transparency in the courts. When judges make decisions on sensitive personal and family issues, should their courts be open t...
Jun 04, 2019•28 min
Joshua Rozenberg reports from a prison where inmates study legal issues alongside law students from Cambridge University. The academics who launched this ground-breaking project have found that both groups of students benefit by learning together. Plus, why four doctors have launched a Judicial Review of the Royal College of Physician’s assisted dying poll. Producers: Neil Koenig and Diane Richardson.
May 24, 2019•28 min
Joshua Rozenberg asks whether new laws are needed to protect online and social media users from abuse? Plus, in our latest look behind the scenes of courts large and small, we visit an immigration tribunal in central London. Joshua Rozenberg meets applicants who want to stay in Britain and judges who need an encyclopaedic knowledge of world affairs to decide whether they can remain.
Mar 19, 2019•28 min
