John Hemming's Web Log

A wealthy financier involved in a family dispute has made British legal history by winning anonymity in a libel case. This latest court attempt to censor internet material has led to claims that free speech is being further eroded in Britain. I am unsure how this really helps. The interests of confidence in justice are not being served. The fact that someone went to court to stop people repeating lies about them is not a fact that needs to be hidden even if it is best that people don't repeat the lies.

I am pleased with the progress being made on the replacement for EMA. Additional funds have been found to ensure that sixth formers have assistance with travel. This is one of the issues that I have been pressing for change on.

The Mail on Sunday reported, yesterday, about another secret court proceeding. It is probably not a hyper injunction. This one is a criminal proceeding. Let us make reference to ECHR: In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interest of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice. In particular we don't know which of the exemptions are being used. A judgment has been given for a secret injunction, but the judgment i...

The link is to a post about UK Constitutional law. If you are interested in these issues it is really worth reading. And yes Lord Denning was a very good judge.

This link is to Swiss TV in french. There was a programme last night (27th March) which included a piece about the system in England. This appears at about 24 minutes in the programme.

I quote from the linked post. First, I will take the elements of the rule of law as sketched by the late Law Lord, Tom Bingham, in his final book The Rule of Law (Allen Lane, 2010): The law must be accessible, and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable (p37 Questions of legal right and liability should ordinarily be resolved by application of the law and not by the exercise of discretion (p48) The laws of the land should apply equally to all, save to the extent that objective differences justify differentiation (p55) Ministers and public officers at all levels must exercise the powers conferred on them in good faith, fairly, for the purpose for which the powers were conferred, without exceeding the limits of such powers[,] and not unreasonably (p60) The law must afford adequate protection of fundamental rights (p66) Means must be provided for resolving, without prohibitive cost or inordinate delay, bona fide civil disputes which the parties themselves are unable to reso...

The link is to Yesterday's bill of rights debates. There is no sense me copying the whole of the debate here. You can simply click on the link The issues looked at are: 1. Freedom of speech 2. Super and hyper-injunctions 3. People's right to talk to MPs 4. The lack of accountability of the official solicitor 5. Problems with secret courts This will give the video.

This map is a map produced by Big Think.com It is worth looking at the original post which explains in more detail. What the Map does is to demonstrate the different groupings in Europe. This includes the Vatican that mints Euros, but is not part of either the EU or Council of Europe.

Although I didn't get to bed until 2am following the Glee Club at the Lib Dem Conference I did manage to attend the St Patrick's day parade (mainly because I packed everything away before going to bed). The parade was bigger and better than last year, but I will take a while to put up photos. I will also link to other photo sets, but not immediately. On this parade "A long way to Tipperary" was played in Bb. My set is available on flickr as well. The BBC have a limited number of photos. Here are from photos from Alabama - just to show how much better the real Birmingham parade is. Kaz Keily also has a set. This is the official facebook page. This is a facebook photo album. Another Flickr set with a good photo of the Tipperary group. This links to another photographer's images on flickr This is his set. Jamie Christie's set in Black and White Elaine Parker has taken some photos, but doesn't have a set. You will need to browse her photos which can ...

I have been contacted about my comments in parliament today. My response is: "It is a legally complex situation and I am not saying anything outside parliamentary proceedings". On the wider question, however. I would say: "I am concerned about two things. Firstly the development of a law of privacy without the proper statutory underpinning or public support. Secondly, the lack of accountability for super injunctions." It is parliament's role to deal with both of these issues. Hansard has now published the exchange: John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): In a secret hearing, Fred Goodwin has obtained a super-injunction preventing him from being identified as a banker. Will the Government hold a debate, or make a statement, on freedom of speech, and whether there is one law for the rich, such as Fred Goodwin, and another for the poor, such as Lee Gilliland who has had his mental capacity removed on the basis of a report from his GP that he is not allowed to ...

The link is to a story (in the telegraph) about another case where someone's mental capacity has been removed without any real fair trial.

There was a by-election in Hamilton South in 1999 in which the Lib Dems came 6th behind an independent with 3.3% of the vote. Compared against that Barnsley Central where we came 6th with 4.2% of the vote (also behind an independent) is a better result. However, neither were in any way significant by-elections.

I am pleased that more towns in the City Region based around Birmingham are recognising the merit of working together. Sadly it appears that the Black Country do not want to work with Birmingham, Solihull, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Tamworth, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest. However, the other towns should be congratulated on being willing to work together to promote the local economy.

There are two more family court stories in The Telegraph. This one strikes me as one where the children were taken moreso because of conflicts between the mother and the authorities than for any other reason. Banning her from having any contact is an extreme outcome which can only really be read as some form of punishment for the mother - not what the system is supposed to be about. This one is moreso about how the Family Courts swallow almost any rubbish as expert opinion, but don't normally allow parents a right to a second opinion.

The link is to the story on French TV about the Family Courts in England.

A number of issues have been missed from the debate about whether or not convicted prisoners (as opposed to those imprisoned for default, contempt or on remand) should have the right to vote. Firstly, the European Court of Human Rights did not offer any compensation. Secondly, the court looked at the third article of the first protocol to the European Convention, not the original convention. Thirdly, the UK is not alone in not allowing convicted prisoners the vote. It is entirely possible for the Council of Europe to clarify this particular issue. Hence a lot of the hot air relating to the issue arises from a misunderstanding as to the details of the issue. The details are important.

What I have tried to do is to identify where the parties stand on AV. For example the Tory Party is mainly against it, but there are some tories that support it. The Labour Party are split, but probably more support it than oppose it etc. I have then put the party logos onto a chart indicating where I think they stand. If anyone thinks I need to adjust the location of any particular political party (or add another) can they please either add a comment or email me at parliament. If it is a party I don't already have then can I please also have a link to the logo.

I am pleased that the government have decided to have a rethink about the policy in respect of the Forests. I did not support the government (ie was a rebel) when the policy was voted on in the House. I do think think that there are some good ideas in the middle of this. For example the RSPB do a good job of managing public space. There can be merit in extending this approach. However, there was too much of a rush and what ever is done in respect of England's Forests we need to do with the support of the country as a whole. Hence I think it is a good idea to have a panel to look at the issue and to pull it from the Public Bodies Bill.

The NUS have circulated a memo which is on their website here . That includes the following: "the vastly increased numbers of graduates that will never pay the loan off are in fact what makes the system relatively progressive" and "Much has been made of the Government’s 80% cuts to teaching budgets; of course, whilst thats true, there has not been an 80% cut to the overall Universities budget- in fact the subsidy has been moved into this state backed, loan based voucher scheme. Overall the Government will put in about 40% less, with the rest assumed to be being made up by larger contributions from richer graduates." In other words the subsidy is being moved from a general one into one which benefits the less well off graduates. What is what I said.