Tag: Law
Preventing social media harm – an idea
There are widespread calls to regulate social media. Hardly a day goes by without some new outrage which eclipses what we have seen already. One of the great problems for anyone wishing to put a stop to the abuse is that social media users can easily make themselves anonymous. If they are ejected from a platform, they can re-enrol under a new identity. All it takes to open an account on a platform is an email address. And all it takes to get an email address is … absolutely nothing at all. Read more »
Posted: March 20th, 2019 under Topics: Communication, Law, Politics, Regulation
We disagree … so you must be lying?
From working as an independent expert witness, I know only too well that it is not unusual to find one’s client acting as though nothing the opposing party says can ever be believed. As a mediator, I have seen this attitude taken by both sides simultaneously. Sometimes in a dispute, both sides are inveterate liars. But quite often I would see two parties who were both incapable of seeing that their opponent’s point of view was not built (entirely) on falsehood. It seems that is where we are now with Brexit. Read more »
Posted: November 28th, 2018 under Topics: Communication, Happened to me, Human Rights, Law, Mediation, Politics, Press, Regulation
Lawyers for Alternative Facts?
It seems that, when it comes to Brexit, we can’t trust anyone to get their facts right. Not even lawyers. At least, not Lawyers for a People’s Vote (LfaPV). Read more »
Posted: October 17th, 2018 under Topics: Communication, Justice, Law, Politics
A Few Good Men – but this one?
Brett Kavanaugh, the current presidential nominee for the US Supreme Court, faces a series of allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his youth. He denies them all. He denies them emphatically. But he denies them in a manner which raises questions about his suitability for senior judicial office, let alone the highest judicial office in the land. Read more »
Posted: September 29th, 2018 under Topics: Communication, Justice, Law, Politics
Friday fiascos
A couple of matters caught my attention this morning, from the world of journalism and coffee shops. Read more »
Posted: December 15th, 2017 under Topics: Communication, Happened to me, Human Rights, Justice, Law, Press
Hard Brexit is dead. Long live … hard Brexit
I keep hearing that last Friday’s agreement between the UK and the EU 27 means that a hard Brexit is off the table. Well, I’m looking at the table and I can still a hard Brexit resting atop it. Read more »
Posted: December 11th, 2017 under Topics: Justice, Law, Politics, Regulation
A pressing need for regulation …
In 2012, when I clicked on a link in order to watch a family friend appear in front of the Leveson Inquiry, I little realised just how much the subject of press regulation would get under my skin. Sometimes in a good way. But, all too often, it’s more like formication. Read more »
Posted: January 13th, 2017 under Topics: Happened to me, Justice, Law, Politics, Press, Regulation
Brexit: supreme logic required
Much has been written about the Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court in the Brexit case. Political commentators tell us that the appeal is very likely to fail. Many lawyers think otherwise. Read more »
Posted: December 4th, 2016 under Topics: Communication, Human Rights, Justice, Law, Politics
Moses and the Culture Secretary
It has been a strange week for those of us who took a keen interest in press regulation as a result of the Leveson Inquiry. Read more »
Posted: April 15th, 2016 under Topics: Justice, Law, Politics, Press, Regulation
It’s lawyers v politicians in the battle for human rights
The Conservative Party has published plans to change Britain’s human rights law. They have been criticised by many lawyers. But, whilst the politicians may have got the law wrong, many lawyers seem to have got the politics wrong. Read more »
Posted: December 31st, 2014 under Topics: Human Rights, Justice, Law, Politics