20 November 2017
Legal update: When an inquest is still necessary after criminal proceedings in order to comply with Article 2
In the recently reported case of R (Silvera) v HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire [2017] EWHC 2499 (Admin), the Divisional Court looked at the investigative duties placed on the state by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the importance of the coronial process in ensuring that those duties have been met.
23 October 2017
The EU-US Privacy Shield – One Year On and Still Going Strong
The EU-US Privacy Shield was established by the EU Commission in August 2016 to replace the previous ‘Safe Harbour’ system, which was ruled unlawful by the European Court of Justice (to read the ECJ’s decision, see here).
30 August 2017
Block chain: Is the GDPR out of date already?
The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) amounts to a significant overhaul of existing data protection regulation and is designed to be ‘technology neutral’. However, how the GDPR will cope with emerging block chain technology and a move towards the decentralisation of data storage remains to be seen.
29 August 2017
The Coroner’s decision is (almost always) final: the Court’s approach to judicial review of inquest proceedings
The recent decision of Mr Justice Holroyde in R oao Donald Maguire and ors v The Assistant Coroner for West Yorkshire (Eastern Area) [2017] EWHC 2039 provides a salutary reminder of just how difficult it is successfully to judicially review the ‘case management’ decisions of a coroner – in this case a decision as to which witnesses to call at an inquest – and of the costs risks of bringing such a challenge.
7 August 2017
The special constitutional importance of judicial review may demand a distinctive approach to the recovery of litigation costs, but will the latest recommendations be taken forward?
Lord Justice Jackson’s ‘Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Supplemental Report – Fixed Recoverable Costs’ was published at the end of July. Recognising that an effectively functioning system of judicial review is central to the rule of law, the Supplemental Report makes recommendations that may increase access to this important specialist area of litigation. Past proposals have, however, been left unimplemented.