Chilcot ~ legality of the war?

Addendum 5th July

The Iraq Inquiry report will be published on Wednesday 6th July.   The inquiry was instigated by Gordon Brown (Prime Minister 27th June 2007 to 11th May 2010) and was officially launched on 30th July 2009.  The Chairman, Sir John Chilcot, said:

It is Brexit (5) - European Council 28th June 2016 (with UK) and 29th (without UK)

Here are the "conclusions" of the European Council meeting held on 28th June 2016 attended by the Prime Minister -  Conclusions.   The conclusions succinctly state:

IV. OUTCOME OF THE UK REFERENDUM

The Baronetcy of Pringle of Stichill ~ Reference under Judicial Committee Act 1833 s.4

Updated 20th June:

On Monday 20th June, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council will give its advice to Her Majesty in the Pringle Baronetcy reference - see Judicial Committee website.  On the 10th of November 2014, HM The Queen made a reference to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council under section 4 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833 so as to obtain the Opinion of the Committee as to which of the Applicant (Norman Murray Pringle) or Respondent (Simon Robert Pringle) should be entered on the Official Roll of the Baronetage in respect of the Baronetcy of Stichill.

Lord Judge ~ Ceding power to the Executive

Most members of the public would be surprised to learn that Parliament frequently hands to Ministers massive powers to make legislation.  The outcome is an enormous volume of material and that is, in itself, a cause for concern.  Whilst Parliament exercises some controls over this "Ministerial legislation" it is more often than not quite minimal.  Even more concern arises from the insertion of Henry VIII provisions into many Acts of Parliament.  Here is a brief look at the issue.

Henry VIII clauses:

Extending the Voter registration deadline

Update 10th June:  The Regulations were approved by both Houses of Parliament on 9th June.  It seems likely that House of Commons will examine further the problems that arose.  See The Regulations - "made" at 6.29 pm on Thursday 9th June.  Somewhat in excess of 400,000 people were added to the electoral register over 8th and 9th June.

EU Referendum - Voter Registration - A nightmare of a paper chase!

I had planned to do a walk today: fresh air and exercise and all that.  Unfortunately, the weather turned dull with bouts of heavy rain so I abandoned the idea of the walk.  I suppose that I could have found something better to do but I ended up delving into the law behind Voter Registration for the EU Referendum.  Get a life I hear you say!  OK - but it demonstrated what an absolute mess our statute law is in.

Treaty on European Union Article 50 – High Court application

Before SIR BRIAN LEVESON PQBD and MR JUSTICE CRANSTON
Tuesday 19 July, 2016

APPLICATION(s) CO/3281/2016 The Queen on the application of Santos v Chancellor For The Duchy Lancaster

Justice Committee - The Magistracy (2)

The House of Commons Justice Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Role of the Magistracy and has concluded its evidence sessions.  The first of those sessions was covered in an earlier post on 24th March - Justice Committee - The Magistracy. 

A second session was held on 10th May and this took evidence from six Magistrates.   The final session was held on 7th June 2016 with evidence from the Magistrates' Association; the Senior Presiding Judge (Lord Justice Fulford) and the Chief Magistrate (Mr Howard Riddle) and, finally, from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice (Mr Shailesh Vara MP).

UK and the EU (10) - What if it is Brexit?

There is little doubt that the present House of Commons has more MPs in favour of remaining in the European Union (EU) than leaving it.  So, bearing in mind that this is a referendum of the whole of the United Kingdom, what might happen in Parliament if a majority of voters vote to leave (i.e. Brexit)?  Lots of possibilities might arise and much recent media comment has focused on the majority in the House of Commons trying to force the government to keep Britain inside the EU single market - BBC News 6th June 2016.

It is Brexit (3) - The role of Parliament under Article 50

About a week before the referendum I met with a few friends and discussed the possibility that the UK would actually vote to leave the EU and I posted the outcome of that discussion - UK and the EU (11) - The event horizon approaches - What if it is Brexit.  We tried to envisage how things might go after such a referendum result and sought to identify some of the legal questions that would arise.

Now that the decision of the referendum is to leave, many of those questions are receiving some serious attention including the all-important notification (under TEU Art 50) of a "decision" to withdraw from the EU.

Deepcut

Update - Addendum 6th June 2016 

Privates Sean Benton (died June 1995) - Cheryl James (died November 1995) - Geoff Gray (died September 2001) - James Collinson (died March 2002).  They were all at Deepcut Barracks and all died from gunshots - BBC News 1st February 2016.

The website Deepcut The Truth has the following about each of the soldiers - Sean Benton (5 wounds to his chest) - Cheryl Jones (a gunshot to the head) - Geoff Gray (two gunshots to the head) - James Collinson - (a gunshot to the head).

A glance at the new British government

Updates 16th and 17th July - further appointments

Full list of government appointments

On 13th July, David Cameron's time as Prime Minister ended with his visit to Buckingham Palace.  HM The Queen invited Theresa May to form a government and she accepted.  The apparently seamless transition from one government to another had occurred.  Here is a brief look at some of the changes that will have the most impact on Brexit and on legal matters.

Brexit (9) - Legal and Constitutional Requirements

Following the result of the EU referendum held on 23rd June, the country is about to embark on a process of leaving the EU. In these difficult moments, it is crucial that this process is in accordance with legal and constitutional requirements. The constitutional framework governing Brexit needs to be laid out clearly, and with precision, for the benefit of both the people and government officials.

It is Brexit (8) - Points of interest

A)  Two weeks after the 52% to 48% referendum result in favour of the UK leaving the EU, the legal debate continues apace.  I have argued - and still do so - in favour of Parliamentary involvement in the process.  The UK is a parliamentary democracy and the referendum decision is NOT legally a decision taken by the United Kingdom as a State to withdraw.  It could certainly become a decision of the UK if it were to be formally endorsed by Parliament by way of an Act - please see the earlier post - It is Brexit (3).  Others have strongly argued that Parliament does not have to be involved in the process of giving notice under Article 50 since Ministers already have the prerogative power, in foreign affairs, to do this - (there are links in It is Brexit 3).

Iraq Inquiry Report

The Iraq Inquiry report was issued today (6th July).  The report has an Executive Summary and 12 Volumes.  The Inquiry Chairman - Sir John Chilcot - made this statement immediately prior to the publication of the report.

The Inquiry did not express a view on whether military action was legal - (previous post).   Sir John noted that this could only be resolved by a properly constituted and internationally recognised court but the inquiry did conclude that "the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory."

It is Brexit (7) - Role of Parliament in Brexit decision and notification to EU

The question of what role Parliament should play in relation to the United Kingdom making a "decision" to withdraw from the EU was discussed in an earlier post - It is Brexit (3) - where I both advanced the view that an Act of Parliament was required and also included a list of links to arguments for and against that proposition.  It has been announced that legal steps are being taken to try to secure the involvement of Parliament - see Mishcon de Reya - Article 50 process on Brexit faces legal challange to ensure parliamentary approval.   The Mishcon de Reya statement informs us that the action is being taken 'on behalf of a group of clients' but they are not named.

It is Brexit (6) - Parliamentary material

Update 26th July:

A week has elapsed since the result of the referendum was declared.  Rarely has there been greater proof of the statement that "a week is a long time in politics."  These documents issued by Parliament will be of interest :

a)  Brexit: what happens next? - This Commons Library briefing paper looks at the immediate consequences of the vote and some of the longer term implications. This paper considers various questions about UK withdrawal from the EU and what is likely to happen in the coming weeks and months. The issues include the method of leaving the EU, continuing parliamentary scrutiny of EU business and the withdrawal negotiations, and the implications of Brexit for Scotland and Gibraltar.

It is Brexit (4) ~ Legal consequences

The Civil Litigation Brief  website has numerous articles on Brexit: The Legal Consequences.  Several subject areas are addressed including Article 50 and legal arguments about the process of Brexit. 

The Chagos Islands

On Wednesday 29th June the Supreme Court will hand down judgment in R (Bancoult - No.2 v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) - (2015 UKSC 0021).  The appellant, Mr Louis Olivier Bancoult, seeks to overturn a 2008 judicial decision of the House of Lords.

It is BREXIT (1) - The overall vote was to leave the EU

The United Kingdom referendum on EU membership resulted in a LEAVE vote of 17,410,742 (51.9%) and a Remain vote of 16,141,241 (48.1%) - see Electoral Commission and Telegraph for full details.  The turnout was 72.2%

Scotland and Northern Ireland both voted overwhelmingly for the UK to Remain in the EU.  The implications of this will become apparent over the next few weeks. Even though the question put to voters was whether the UNITED KINGDOM should remain or leave, there can be no doubt that voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland would have been voting for what they perceived to be in the best interests of those nations.