Blog
Direct access Barrister | Criminal, Motoring & Regulatory Law
Constitutional Law for the Perplexed: Equal Protection and Marriage
I like to deal with common misunderstandings on Day One of Public law, and, being a bit of a pedant, I like to clarify that the UK is a constitutional monarchy and the US is not a "democracy": It's a constitutional republic. Democracies, as far as I'm concerned, are...
Saudi Lady Advocates
Breaking news from Al Jazeera: Saudi Arabia could soon allow women lawyers to appear in court to argue cases for the first time. I was excited - and then slightly underwhelmed to read, as the article goes on to note: "The female lawyers would be able to represent...
Revision v Re-learning: One Day, One Week, One Month
The best revision advice I'd ever received came, not from a law tutor, but from a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Police's training school in Hendon. It's the, "One day, one week, one month" approach to memory and study. Here's how it works - if you learn about...
s18 OAPA, Self-Defence & an Englishman’s Home
It's hard not to feel sorry for Munir Hussain and his brother Tokeer. But put your emotions to one side and see if you can find Munir and Tokeer a defence in law. "Mr Hussain's nightmare began on September 3 last year when he, his wife, 18-year-old daughter and two...
Ireland’s Equal Opportunity Blasphemy Law
Ahhh, the memories. Blasphemy used to be a English law exam and essay topic favourite. It had everything. Blasphemy was especially fun to research and write about as you could chart English legal history from canon to common law, all the way down and through to Mary...
US Constitution: Originalism v Stare decisis
As an Anglo-American lecturer in English Criminal and Public (constitutional and administrative) law, I am bemused by the myriad of approaches to US Constitutional interpretation. So here's a question: Is Miranda v Arizona "unconstitutional"? How do you approach the...
The No Intent Crimes of Strict Liability and Paul Clarke
As explained in my previous post on answering problem questions, there are generally two elements to be proved in order to convict someone for the commission of a crime - the actus reus and mens rea. Criminal liability generally attaches where the Defendant has the...
What Law Examiners Are Looking For
Does the feedback you receive from your lecturer and/or tutor on your problem question assignments and practice questions help you understand where you could improve? My convenor recently called a meeting of all law lecturers at our university. To gauge whether we...
Civil Partnerships & Marriage: Sauce For The Goose?
It's all happening in Islington (our neighbouring borough) these days. First, there was the case of the Christian registrar, Lillian Ladele, who refused to conduct [gay] civil ceremonies against her beliefs. Then came the long expected, but hitherto never tested,...
s2 Fraud Act, Balloon Boy & School Places
Ever since Harrow Council dropped their s2 Fraud Act proceedings against Mrinal Patel , the Government has been looking for ways to prosecute parents who lie about their child's address to get them into the school of their choice. Harrow's case collapsed, I suspect,...
