Paul Rogerson

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Paul Rogerson

The chancellor’s Spending Review pledged more cash for the criminal courts, the CPS and the probation service. Justice has been a ‘cinderella’ department for years, so is this finally changing? Justice spending peaked in 2007-08 and then crashed after Lehman Brothers folded and austerity took hold in the subsequent decade. So context is everything when analysing chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review. The purse strings have loosened at the Ministry of Justice in recent years.

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Paul Rogerson

Chancellor Rachel Reeves today committed an extra £450m a year to the courts system by 2028-29. This will ‘increase Crown court sitting days to record levels’ and help implement the forthcoming recommendations of Sir Brian Leveson’s review of the criminal courts, she said. The pledge appears in HM Treasury papers issued alongside the chancellor’s Spending Review.

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Paul Rogerson

The Civil Justice Council has created a working group to examine the use of artificial intelligence in preparing court documents and consider amendments to procedure rules. Terms of reference should be published within the next few weeks, a spokesperson told the Gazette. Lord Justice Birss, deputy head of civil justice, alluded to the group’s establishment at last week's London International Disputes Week during a debate on global innovation in the courts.

3 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Paul Rogerson

‘What does a legal victory mean if compliance is optional?’ That was a question posed by Cherie Blair CBE KC today in a plenary session at London International Disputes Week on the impact of geopolitical instability. ‘We are at a moment of legal reckoning, because what we are witnessing is a slow fraying of the rules-based order that has underpinned global stability and cooperation since the end of WW2,’ she told an audience of litigators at Westminster’s QE11 centre.

1 month ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Paul Rogerson

Barristers will be compelled to tell their regulator about complaints alleging poor service, under reform proposals announced today. Failure to comply could lead to disciplinary action. The plan is outlined in a consultation from the Bar Standards Board on so-called first-tier complaints – complaints handled directly by barristers or chambers, rather than the legal ombudsman.