NEW POST: Prof. Christopher McCrudden discusses the Windsor Framework aspects of today's Supreme Court’s Judgment in the Dillon matter [2026] UKSC 15@
https://t.co/NLB2iH4dF5
New banning power: as Crime & Policing Bill returns to the House of Commons, my analysis of whether new power to ban Extreme Criminal Protest Groups is desirable or not from a terrorism perspective. In short:
· The new power overlaps with terrorism proscription but the relationship is unclear.
· The existence of the new power will be used to undermine terrorism proscription.
· It is doubtful that the range of new precursor offences, and the use of intelligence as a basis for designation, are suitable for groups operating below the national security threshold.
Note here: https://t.co/cmxN9X31nx
Extraordinary: I’ve just posted a piece on the latest Court of Appeal case on proscription - it’s just disappeared (is this automated content moderation, because I began with a reference to the name of the organisation?). If anyone else has had this experience I would be interested to know…/1
Following the publication of the Independent Sentencing Review's interim report last week, our Director of External Relations @EllieCumbo considers the challenges ahead: https://t.co/13VDh0s1Yp
This volume celebrates 40 years of scholarship by Julian V. Roberts KC (Hon) to mark his extraordinary influence on sentencing and criminal justice.
Dive into this collection of essays in his honour edited by @MarieManikis & Gabrielle Watson: https://t.co/d1mx5cG8um
@LewisGrahamLaw @SeethingMead@__RichardMartin Upcoming judgment in Bodson and Others v. Belgium (https://t.co/01zz2GOua8), concerning "criminal convictions for maliciously obstructing road traffic by blocking the Brussels-Aachen section of the A3/E40 motorway, in both directions, at the Cheratte bridge near Liège", in the context of "a general protest led by the FGTB, one of Belgium’s two largest trade unions".
Join us on Friday 10 January for a free day-long event - 'Perspectives on Sentencing' - held in conjunction with @SentencingCCL and @CityLawSchool.
Topics include the Government's Sentencing Review and the issue of sentence inflation.
Sign up here: https://t.co/w2DuCAQ9It
Re Brown [2024] NIKB 109
https://t.co/yznvJ35kTt
JR of SofS decisions not to hold public inquiry into 1997 murder of Sean Brown - s1 Inquiries Act 2005 - Ongoing breach A2 ECHR - ICRIR not fit for A2 requirements - Order made to compel SofS to hold public inquiry
Ultimately, the success of the HS appeal in today's Liberty JR turns on convincing the CA that "more than minor" is simply an explanation of what serious disruption is, or means...rather than an expansion that changes the meaning. I cannot see that being made good
Yes, obviously as I've pointed out before, while Perinçek did include the word "normally", there are no actual examples of Strasbourg departing from that general position that an individualised assessment is required. And there are plenty of examples like Elvira Dmitriyeva v. Russia (2019) (https://t.co/JGZo3BR9HO), §§ 84, 87, and 89, which have not only reiterated the Sunday Times/Perinçek rule in strong terms, but also positively deduced from it that "the need to punish unlawful conduct ... is not sufficient to justify the applicant’s conviction for making calls to participate in an event on a topical issue of public interest". But the very fact that Sunday Times was a UK case illustrates how this is really a tension between fundamental principles of the domestic and Convention systems per se - the common law and UK legislative practice have always held that general rules are required because individualised assessment would apparently give rise to "unacceptable uncertainty" (the phrase infamously used by the House of Lords in Distillers v Sunday Times), and so the transition to a modern 'culture of justification' was always going to be found difficult by a conservative judiciary wedded to the above principle.
@LewisGrahamLaw @SeethingMead@__RichardMartin A further indication that for "national courts [to] interpret the relevant provisions ... very broadly without considering the individual situation" is incompatible with Arts 10 and 11, in the topical context of online encouragement to participate in peaceful protests. "Orders to stop" acts protected by those Articles "require strong justification", with the emphasis being on whether the protests were violent or not. ... 1/
Final CfP for this great conference @NorthumbriaLaw on Nov 26th on
Human Rights in the UK under the Conservative Govt
Organised by @ramshaw & @ConallMallory @qubschooloflaw, funded by @legalscholars. Keynotes by @RogerMasterman and … me!
Timely topic. Deadline Aug 16th.
Great article referenced here @Geoff_Pearson
A theme I’ve also discussed here in chpt 8,
https://t.co/kIQOh6ttfP
Important to note though is also how broadly the courts have interpreted necessity - discussed in chapters 8-9.
We need to acknowledge that there is a fundamental misunderstanding amongst many frontline officers about what arrest necessity is and that, consequently, vast numbers of arrests are (usually unintentionally) unlawful.
https://t.co/25AJ9EAltq