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01 March 2024 / Roger Smith
Issue: 8061 / Categories: Features , Human rights , Public , Constitutional law
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Human rights: old subject, new audience

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Roger Smith enters the world of local politics

I have recently taken on a new commitment. I have become chair of the local ward of a political party. It does not matter which. I could happily have survived in any of the factions which have surfaced in the three major national parties. The point is that, to make a bit of a splash at my first meeting, I chose to undertake a presentation on human rights.

This was, therefore, one of the few times that I have had to talk about the subject to a non-lawyer audience. As director of JUSTICE when the Human Rights Act came into force in 2000, I debated often with lawyers and politicians. But not too many ordinary people in the street. Or, as in this case, on Zoom.

I have to admit that my north London audience gave me an easy ride. I tried beforehand to find someone critical of human rights with whom I could have a debate. There are, after all,

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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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