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The rule of law in action

06 October 2016 / Jon Robins
Issue: 7717 / Categories: Opinion
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The long-awaited ruling of the Hillsborough inquests shows that justice is worth fighting for, says Jon Robins

It so happened that I was interviewing the formidable Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall on the day that two of the lawyers who worked so tirelessly to win some measure of justice for the families of the 96 dead were recognised at the Halsbury Legal Awards. Elkan Abrahamson and Marcia Willis Stewart received the Rule of Law Award in recognition of their “integrity, tenacity, pursuit of justice and humanity” last week.

I left a sun-kissed Anfield where I met Margaret, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, for the award ceremony with her devastating critique of British justice ringing in my ears. She lost her 18-year-old son, James, in the 1989 disaster.

“What made me angry was that all that evidence had been there for all those years,” she told me. “It could have made the families’ lives so much easier but, no, they decided to keep it hidden. Let the fans stand accused, let the

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NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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