December 15th
This week, The Justice Beat focuses on the lawyers leading the Tory rebellion, online abuse and the optics of justice
The Tory Rebellion – and lawyers
1. As Dominic Grieve MP turned up to a warm ovation at the Human Rights Lawyers Association annual meeting last night, it is worth observing that the Tory rebels who affirmed parliamentary sovereignty in the House of Commons this week are mostly lawyers. An incisive piece from Schona Jolly QC in the Guardian notes that: “[t]he precise wording of [the EU withdrawal Bill] matters because the implications affect us all, and the rule of law is threatened by uncertain laws...Consumer groups, human rights groups, trade unions and, yes, many lawyers are concerned about the effect on our social, economic and legal rights as a result of the language in this bill.”
But no good deed goes unpunished, and the Guardian reports that Grieve has received death threats following the Tory rebellion.
Online abuse
2. Online threats to MPs have recently been under scrutiny in any event, with the Prime Minister’s ethics watchdog suggesting that social media companies should be liable for online abuse. This could signal a turning of the tide of the role of “platforms” as not merely content providers - but will it make MPs, and others who face online abuse, safer?
3. Judges also have come out to say they are facing serious online abuse with real-world consequences. Lord Burnett, Lord Chief Justice, said to Legal Cheek that “Some [abuse] is calculated to intimidate judges individually or collectively. Such abuse is capable of undermining the rule of law. Judicial independence and impartiality is at the heart of the rule of law.”
4. Meanwhile in France, people have been sent to prison for their use of emojis– in one case, the court held that a gun emoji amounted to a death threat in the form of an image.
Appearances are everything
5. The truism that “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done” (as first stated by Lord Hewart CJ in R v Sussex Justices, ex parte McCarthy [1924]) holds true now more than ever. This is the issue at the core of the public’s lack of confidence in the Grenfell Tower inquiry, reports the Times. As lawyers representing the victims began to give evidence this week, Leslie Thomas QC said: “Confidence , or lack of it , affects participation. And a lack of participation from the people that matter will affect justice. And a lack of justice is injustice.” The group BMELawyers4Grenfell talk about their experience in trying to ensure diverse participation in the public inquiry in our blog.
6. Diversity is not just pertinent for inquiries; and indeed, the announcement of vacancies in the Supreme Court have led to hopes of greater diversity on the bench, writes the Guardian. Lady Hale, the first female president of the Supreme Court, observes that Supreme Court cases need “an appreciation of the social context in which [important legal] issues arise and the communities which the law is there to serve.”
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This week on CrowdJustice, a NHS whistleblower takes an employment case forward, a charity seeks to prosecute those responsible for war crimes in Yemen, a group of residents fight to save a local landmark and teenager challenges a holiday resort for not allowing her on rides because she was wearing a headscarf.
Meanwhile a local law centre won its crowdfunded legal challenge to the Home Office with the Court ruling that removing homeless individuals from EEA countries is contrary to EU law and discriminatory.