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Insurrection & court intervention Pt 3

19 July 2024 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 8080 / Categories: Features , Profession , International , Public
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A disgraceful decision: Michael Zander KC on Trump v United States
  • The majority held that the president could not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers and was entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all other official acts.

The US Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on presidential immunity has raised serious alarm. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a powerful dissent joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, warned: ‘Under the majority’s rule, a President’s use of any official power for any purpose, even the most corrupt, is immune from prosecution.’ She ended: ‘With fear for our democracy, I dissent.’

The court said that the president was not above the law, but deprived that statement of most of its content both by the width of what it said was covered by immunity and by how it narrowed the path for a prosecutor.

The government argued that a president enjoyed no immunity whatever from criminal prosecution. Trump argued that just as a president had been held to enjoy absolute

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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