Practice in Hong Kong

In her wonderful book Hong Kong, Jan Morris wrote about finding there "judges of a truly awful Englishness, the very embodiment of the common law...fluent in the circumlocutions of their trade". By 1997, when Hong Kong became the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, those judges (well, most of them) had gone. But practice in the Hong Kong courts retains its colonial flavour: wigs and gowns, bowing to the judge, and "may it please your Lordship" remain customary. Read on

Human Rights & Care Homes

How far does the duty to act compatibly with human rights reach into the private sector, to bodies that are not inherently public but exercise "functions of a public nature"? In YL v Birmingham City Council, Southern Cross & Others [2007] UKHL 27, the House of Lords held by a bare majority that a privately-run care home, providing services under contract with a local authority, is not a person exercising "functions of a public nature" and therefore is not bound by section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 ("the HRA"). Read on

R (Al-Skeini) v SSD: Extra-territorial application of human rights

In summer 2004, the families of Iraqi civilians killed by British armed forces near Basra, Iraq, began judicial review proceedings in England. They claimed that the Secretary of State for Defence ("SSD") had violated Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 prohibition of torture), both substantively and by failing to satisfy the investigative duty inherent in these Articles. Six test cases (C1-6) were taken through the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal (others were stayed)... Read on

Case Note: Parole Board does not satisfy the requirement of objective independence

The High Court has ruled in R (Brooke & others) v Parole Board [2007] EWHC 2036,2037, 2038 (Admin) that the Parole Board,which makes decisions whether to release prisoners on licence and after recall from licence, does not satisfy the requirement of objective independence from the Executive or the parties before it. Sitting in the Administrative Court, Lord Justice Hughes and Mr Justice Treacy held that the relationship of 'sponsorship' between the Secretary of State for Justice and the Board created an objective appearance of lack of independence. The Secretary of State has been granted permission to appeal. Michael Fordham QC, Gemma White and Ben Jaffey appeared for the Parole Board. Monica Carss-Frisk QC and Mark Vinall acted for the Secretary of State.

Regulation Conference

Members of Blackstone Chambers will be presenting a one day Regulation Conference on 14th March 2008. The conference will look at the relationship between regulators and those they regulate. The speakers will include Tom Beazley QC, David Pannick QC, Charles Flint QC and Dinah Rose QC, as well as leading figures from regulators and regulated sectors.

New Tenants

Chambers is pleased to welcome two new tenants to Blackstone. Tom Richards and Tristan Jones commenced practice last month after the successful completion of their pupillages. Please contact the clerks for further details or view their CVs at www.blackstonechambers.com