Feed: Charon QC - AggScore: 59.9

With the news today that BPP Law school’s owners, Apollo Global (who now call the tune) are being investigated for a second time by the United States SEC – this time for accounting issues on revenue recognition – I feel the time has come to push for BPP Law School to be subject to the [...]

College of Law Inside Track Podcast: Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions I talk to Keir Starmer QC the Director of Public Prosecutions about  the role of the DPP, the recently issued guidelines on assisted suicide, the future of the Public Prosecution Service, the relationship with the independent Bar and opportunities for students and qualified lawyers [...]

BPP parent Apollo Group in SEC accounting probe The Lawyer reports: For-profit educator’s business model under scrutiny. BPP Law School’s long-term goal of transforming itself into a full-blown university could be in jeopardy thanks to its US parent Apollo Group being ­investigated by the SEC in connection with accounting irregularities. The probe, which Apollo claimed is an “informal inquiry”, is [...]

Readers who have seen The Godfather, a truly classic film, will be familiar with the scene at the end when Michael Corleone, the new Godfather, attends a christening.  While The Don is at the christening, those who crossed him meet their destiny with the after life.  I couldn’t help but make the connection when I [...]

“When another country introduces laws to protect its citizens from your courts, you have a problem. When that country happens to be your closest ally in times of war and peace, you have a crisis. That is the state of English libel law.” John Kampfner is chief executive of Index on Censorship and [...]

Dear Reader, I can’t quite believe it is that time again… the weekend, postcard time.  I may have been watching too many programmes on quantum physics, but there does seem to be an inexorable law of physics which states that as one gets older, time speeds up. I  also noticed that it was Children In need [...]

PODCAST VERSION: A Hunstman’s View (2) / Invisibility 20th November 2009 The London trip was not a great success and a fresh assessment is required if I am to stand for parliament.  Cybil has a rather curious attitude to politics.  She listens to what politicians say and assesses their worth and value accordingly. I remember, over dinner [...]

Continuing with my Friday ‘Rive Gauche’ theme, I thought I would start this week’s edition with some more political nonsense, tinged with a soupçon of hubris. Political diarist Iain Dale, always worth a read whatever your political proclivities, asks: When will it end? The Telegraph has the story tonight of Conservative MP David Curry, the new chairman [...]

Reprieve: British government uses ‘Alice in Wonderland’ argument to cover up torture of Binyam Mohamed

The secrecy thing is getting out of hand. Recently, we had the Trafigura super injunction fiasco which, thankfully produced such outrage on twitter, in the blogs, The Guardian and other mainstream press, that the lawyers had to back down. We have secret evidence, we have SIAC, we have a growing culture of secrecy in [...]

The Guardian reports this morning: Judge allows secret services to hide evidence in civil lawsuits • Ruling prompted by UK Guantánamo torture cases • Lawyers decry attack on basic principle of law MI5, MI6 and the police will be able to withhold evidence from defendants and their lawyers in civil cases for the first time, the high court [...]

PODCAST VERSION: A Hunstman’s View (1) / Law & Order 18th November 2009 Cybil not awfully impressed by my latest idea to stand for parliament,  but having seen the buffoonery in SW Norfolk t’other night with the Turnip Taliban, I spoke to Jack, my head keeper,  and we both agreed I could not really make any more [...]

Lord Strathclyde, leader of the Tories in The Lords lists this in his bio on the Tory Party website: PROUDEST POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Protecting the integrity of the House of Lords and resisting government attempts to turn it into a ‘crony’ house of rubber stampers There is a delicious irony, therefore…at least to my sardonic eye this [...]