5 February 2018
Has Brexit undermined the UK’s ability to extradite its fugitives?
Whilst the uncertainty over Brexit and the painfully slow progress of political talks continues, the Supreme Court of Ireland has taken matters into its own hands and decided that the Irish state cannot surrender an individual who is the subject of an European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to the UK because of the risk that his rights as an EU citizen will not be enforceable in the UK post-Brexit. This has raised concerns that other countries could follow suit and leave the UK unable to rely on the EAW system whilst the terms of Brexit are being agreed.
1 February 2018
Judicial Review and the Creep of Closed Material Procedures - R (on the application of Haralambous) v Crown Court at St Albans and another
Closed material procedures, which allow one party (usually the state) to produce evidence which their opponents are not permitted to see, have been the subject of sustained criticism since their inception. Their availability in judicial review proceedings was previously very limited; the withholding of evidence from a party was permitted in a few narrow scenarios to protect the rights of children. The Supreme Court in R (on the application of Haralambous) v Crown Court at St Albans and another has however expanded the opportunities to use such procedures in judicial review and, controversially, this expansion has not been expressly legislated for by Parliament.
1 February 2018
Legal Update: Revisiting trial in the absence of a defendant
Smith v Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [2017] (Unreported)
25 January 2018
The High Court’s decision is (sometimes) final: the Court of Appeal confirms the decision of a coroner in relation to witnesses and the risk of harm caused by giving evidence
The husband and children of the school teacher, Ann Maguire, who was murdered by a pupil, William Cornick, in her classroom in April 2014 have been unsuccessful in their attempt to appeal against the decision of the High Court to dismiss their claim for judicial review of a decision of the Assistant District Coroner for West Yorkshire.
24 January 2018
Legal Update: Judicial review of decisions in the Crown Court
The recent decision in Farhia Ali v Crown Court at Kingston [2017] EWHC 2706 (Admin) provides a reminder of the narrow availability of judicial review in relation to decisions of the Crown Court. In Farhia, a decision to refuse bail following the jury’s verdict was found not to be capable of being judicially reviewed as it was not within the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court.