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Clause and Effect: a Legal Nightmare Before Christmas
Read more: Clause and Effect: a Legal Nightmare Before ChristmasLast week, one of the authors of this blog was watching The Santa Clause – a hit Christmas film from 1994 in which Tim Allen plays a businessman who becomes Father Christmas due to the operation of the ‘Santa Clause’ contained within a magical contract. WhatsApp exchanges with colleagues incited the remaining authors of this blog to also watch the film, and what ensued was an extensive exchange identifying the…
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Pitcairn revisited: The Pitcairn Trials and the Privy Council
Read more: Pitcairn revisited: The Pitcairn Trials and the Privy CouncilLast week I found myself hooked to a new podcast: The Pitcairn Trials. Produced in 2024 and released on BBC Sounds last month, the series spotlights a legal saga which coincided with my own time as an undergraduate law student. Although the trial and subsequent appeal to the Privy Council took place two decades ago, it remains a fascinating example of the challenges of colonial governance and the jurisdiction of…
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Herbert Smith Freehills fine and the long shadow of the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Read more: Herbert Smith Freehills fine and the long shadow of the Common Foreign and Security PolicyThis week, one of the UK’s leading law firms – Herbert Smith Freehills – was fined almost half a million pounds for breaching sanctions against Russian banks. The reason for the fine was ‘making funds available for the benefit of a designated person without a licence’ – the designated persons in this case being three banks: Alfa-Bank JSC, PJSC Sovcombank, and PJSC Sberbank. The payments arose as a consequence of…
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Why do some returning officers wear silly hats?
Read more: Why do some returning officers wear silly hats?I have been attending election counts, lately as an election agent, for over 20 years. One thing I’m often asked at these counts (as one of the lawyers there) is why some English declarations involve returning officers in chains, gowns, and silly hats; but not in some other constituencies; and never in Scotland. The answer can be found in the Representation of the People Act 1983 (ROTPA). s24 ROTPA provides…
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Is Frontex and Dublin III the solution to the Channel migrant crisis?
Read more: Is Frontex and Dublin III the solution to the Channel migrant crisis?Irregular migration – principally the stream of migrants seeking to enter the UK on small boats – looks set to be a key focal point in the forthcoming general election. The Prime Minister has made ‘stopping the boats’ a key pledge for 2023 – and one of the Government’s proposed solutions is the enactment of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. Labour has also pledged to tackle the issue of irregular…
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How I Changed the Law
Read more: How I Changed the LawDr Stuart MacLennan describes how a chance conversation with a former councillor led to him proposing changes to the law.
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Smack Mack, don’t sack, give the man a bone! Belligerent councillors, free speech and the right to stand for election
Read more: Smack Mack, don’t sack, give the man a bone! Belligerent councillors, free speech and the right to stand for electionDr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan report on a recent decision of the Court of Session that upholds the regulation of political misconduct, but insists on proportionality.
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Spanish Anti-avoidance Tax Law Violates EU Treaties
Read more: Spanish Anti-avoidance Tax Law Violates EU TreatiesDr Stuart MacLennan discusses a recent decision of the Court of Justice of the EU on Spanish rules designed to combat tax avoidance.
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The Legal Basis for EU Sanctions on Russia
Read more: The Legal Basis for EU Sanctions on RussiaDr Stuart MacLennan explains the legal basis and decision-making process for coordinated EU sanctions against the Russian Federation.
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Legal Landmarks in the Life of the Coventry Law Journal
Read more: Legal Landmarks in the Life of the Coventry Law JournalThis year, Coventry Law School is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Coventry Law Journal. To mark the occasion, the Journal’s editors organised a special conference – ‘Legal Landmarks in the Life of the Coventry Law Journal’ – on 30 September and 1 October. The premise of the conference was for authors to revisit their past contributions to the journal, reflect on why they wrote about it at the time,…