Courts, Tribunals & Judiciary

Deprivation of liberty safeguards are 'deeply flawed'

Law Commission proposes overhaul of protection system for those in need of care

Prest continues: Multi-millionaire businessman loses latest stage in divorce battle

Court of Appeal upholds High Court's suspended jail sentence for husband who failed to pay ex-wife divorce settlement

Lewis Silkin partner found to have 'reconstructed' his memory in negligence claim

Seven-figure damages sum awarded to former client after firm failed to advise on exclusive jurisdiction clause in employment contract

Judicial ignorance

It is fair to say the US Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) recent groundbreaking decision to afford same-sex couples the right to marry has not been universally welcomed by our American cousins. For those of you who thought that Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's scathing dissent in the #loverules judgment would be the last intolerant or hypocritical word on the subject, you would have been wrong. Alabama has seen what was thought to be the beginning of a judicial resistance movement against the SCOTUS ruling after the chief justice of the state's Supreme Court ordered probate judges to deny issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples. Judge Roy Moore argued that same-sex marriage was 'invalid' in the Yellowhammer State after lawmakers passed a ban on such marriage, despite a federal judge striking down the state's prohibition on gay marriage in January. Now the same jurist, US District Judge Callie Granade, has ordered that all probate judges in the state must issue licences to gay couples. The order is the latest in a battle of wills between state and federal courts and is intended to resolve the protracted dispute over what probate judges are legally required to do. A number of Alabama counties, however, are continuing to ignore the SCOTUS and Granade rulings. One judge has even gone to the extraordinary measure of denying marriage licences to all couples, regardless of sexual orientation. Geneva County probate judge Fred Hamic told NBC News: 'It's against my religion to marry homosexuals,' before adding that Alabama law only says marriage licences 'may be issued' by probate judges. It remains to be seen how long judges such as Hamic and Moore can continue to stick their heads in the sand in a vain attempt to hold off the inevitable. Sweet home Alabama indeed.

Re K and H: Cross-examination and impartiality

Could a judge be expected to fairly cross-examine a witness in place of a party unable to afford legal representation, asks District Judge Julie Exton

Citizens Advice agrees with Gove that victims should be empowered in courts

Charity applauds Gove's initiatives to make justice system victim and witness responsive

If Gove gets his way the public will have to rely on the kindness of lawyers

The Lord Chancellor has astutely turned the tables on the public debate over legal aid

Supreme Court will decide whether government loan scheme is discriminatory

Young people to peacefully demonstrate against student loans policy while they await judges' decision

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