Law in Action is Back

A new series of the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action has begun. The first episode of this series begins with the celebration of Magna Carta 800 Year On. 29 min, no transcript.

Magna Carta at 800

To celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, Gresham College organised an event on January 14th. Video and audio recordings of presentations by Lord Igor Judge (32 min.) and Anthony Arlidge QC (19 min.) are available as well as transcripts.

Squatters in England

The Guardian has done a podcast about squatters' and homeowners' rights. Should squatting become a criminal offence?
33 min, no transcript, streaming or downloadable .mp3

Superinjunctions

Law in Action on BBC's Radio 4 is back with a program about superinjunctions.
30 min. no transcript

The Future of the English Legal Profession

Inside Track, by Charon QC (aka Mike Semple Piggot) recently began a new series 'The future of the legal profession'. The series will present a "range of perspectives from some of the leading figures in the profession on what the legal services arena will look like in five years time and how the employment market in the sector will develop. Interview guests will give their advice on how the next generation of young lawyers can prepare for that market."

Nicholas Green QC – Chairman of the Bar - began the series on May 17th. ± 25 min., transcript available, downloadable .mp3.

There will be an interview each week until 14 June.

A reminder - all of Charon's podcasts can be found here.

The E.U. in the U.K./ the U.K. in the E.U.

Two programmes on the BBC address the question of the place of the United Kingdom in the European Union

• Analysis BBC 22 Nov 2009  Divorcing Europe - 30 min. no transcript
• Unreliable Evidence, with Clive Anderson, will begin a new series on Wednesday. The first programme is "European Law: After Lisbon" - 45 min. no transcript

BBC The Cases That Changed Our World

The Cases That Changed Our World — a four part series with Clive Coleman.

The first episode, about the 1670 trial of two Quakers which established that judges cannot intimidate juries, is available only until Nov. 11. It will be replaced by the second episode, about the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. The subjects for the last two episodes have not been announced yet.

15 min. BBC iPlayer, no transcript

BBC Profile The BBC programme Profile has some interviews with actors on the legal scene - Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (interviewed by Edward Stourton), Sonia Sotomayor, first Hispanic and third woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (interviewed by Claire Bolderson) and Keir Starmer, U.K. Director of Public Prosecutions (interviewed by Clive Coleman). BBC iPlayer ± 15 min., no transcript. You can also subscript to the Profile podcast or download the latest programme in .mp3 (available for one week only). Since the programme is now off the air, the last programme, with Jose Manuel Barroso, will be available here to download in .mp3 until the series begins again in January.

U.K. Supreme Court

C-Span has a long video concerning the first day of business at the new U.K. Supreme Court - Monday, October 5, 2009 .

It begins (first 9 min.) with an interview with Joshua Rozenberg - legal columnist for Standpoint magazine - followed by the proceedings in an appeal about the freezing of financial assets of terrorist suspects. 38 min. no transcript

C-Span also posted a video on YouTube of the opening ceremonies on October 16th - in the presence of the Queen, with short speeches by Lord Phillips, President of the Court and by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown . Three justices from the U.S. Supreme Court were present. 7:42 min. no transcript

U.K. Supreme Court

Yesterday the final court of appeal in civil matters for the United Kingdom was the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords. From today it is known as the Supreme Court. The BBC has several short videos describing the changes that have taken place. In addition, an audio recording from the Today programme of 8 September talking about the changes can be found here.

The College of Law has posted a podcast of an interview with Jenny Rowe, the CEO of the new Supreme Court. (.mp3, 20 min., transcript available)

The Engish legal professions

The College of Law of England and Wales site has started a series of podcasts - Inside Track - for those considering a career in law. The series will continue through November. The schedule of podcasts is here.

The interviewer for the series, Mike Semple Piggot, whose nom de plume is Charon QC, is the author of the blog, Insite Law, where you can find hundreds of his "lawcasts" which are a very rich source of information about the English legal profession. The blog is also in the process of posting free online resources for UK law students - texts, casenotes and recorded lectures. The subjects will include Contract | Sale of Goods | Tort | Criminal Law | Constitutional Law | Land Law | Equity & Trusts | European Union Law | Competition Law | Employment Law | Evidence| Family Law | Intellectual Property.

BBC Radio 4 programmes you won't want to miss.

Jeopardising Justice -

Part one of a four part series examining the victims' rights movement and its unexpected consequences. Programmes will be available for only one week - episode one will disappear Monday Sept. 7, replaced by episode two.

Also coming up this week :

Top Dogs: Britain's New Supreme Court - next Tuesday 8 Sept. 40 min.

The Last Chance Court - next Wednesday 9 Sept. 30 min.

The UK's first family, drug and alcohol court, a groundbreaking experiment designed to keep children of addicts from going into care.

other programmes still available online :

The Chambers

Two programmes that present the barristers, clerks and staff of one of London's leading law chambers (Outer Temple Chambers). 30 min. BBC iPlayer, no script

Unreliable Evidence

programmes from May 2009 - 45 min. BBC iPlayer, no script

• The Law and Climate Change
• The Law and Protest
• The Law and Death
• The Law and the Unborn

Other Unreliable Evidence programmes from 2009 are available here - but they won't stay available forever, so listen now!

New UK Supreme Court

NPR's Morning Edition of July 17, 2009 has a story entitled "Independent High Court Ushers Britain Into New Era". The piece is not just about the "new" Supreme Court soon to replace the judicial committee of the House of Lords - it speaks more generally about constitutional questions, especially separation of powers issues.

4 min. 41 sec., no transcript, but a fairly detailed (628 word) presentation. .mp3 or NPR MediaPlayer

The Barristers The BBC and The Open University have produced a series of 4 programmes — The Barristers — which will appear on BBC TWO starting November 14. Details of the programmes can be found at this site which includes short videos asking

• What is the role of the barrister?
• What makes a good barrister?
• What makes a good judge?
• What makes the legal system just?
• If we visited a court in 10 years' time, what differences would we notice?

The answers to these questions are also presented in .mp3, with transcripts available. ± 8-13 min. A document presenting "ten momentous cases that have changed the way we lived and are governed" will be available to be downloaded.

The Privy Council From the BBC's Westminster Hour of June 29, a presentation of the Privy Council can be found here 7:19 min., no transcript

Sharia and English Law The Archbishop of Canterbury recently suggested incorporating elements of shariah law into the English legal system. NPR's Talk of the Nation, February 18, 2008 has a 30 min. discussion (no transcript) of what happens when religious courts and civil law intersect. Use this link if you have the latest Flash player. If you want the recording with RealPlayer, click here. The BBC, of course, has many audio and video clips on the subject which can be found here and a good general presentation of sharia here which includes a recording of the remarks of the Archbishop (9:09 min. with transcript).

Legal Executives Legal executives are the third branch of the legal profession in England. To find out more about them, you can listen to an interview with Noel Inge, Managing Director of ILEX Tutorial College. The interviewer is Charon, Q.C. and the podcast can be found on this page, which also has links to sites where you can find out more about this little known kind of lawyer. Charon, Q.C. has a series of podcasts about other aspects of legal education in England.

Unreliable Evidence Described as "Radio 4's flagship law programme", Unreliable Evidence appears, as does Law in Action, in blocks, or series, of programmes. Presenter Clive Anderson's subject this week is the Attorney General. The current Attorney General, Peter Goldsmith, is interviewed as well as Dominic Grieve, shadow Attorney General, law professor Jeffrey Jowell and Lord Lester of Herne Hill, Q.C. The discussion is centered on the difficult role of the Attorney General as a politician and a legal advisor to the Crown, and especially on the advice given by Lord Goldsmith prior to the British involvment in Iraq. Next week's (6 June) subject is "Appointing the Judges". No transcript, recording (45 min.) available for one week only.

The BBC programme, Law in Action, has begun a new series today. Presenter Clive Coleman examines the new Ministry of Justice, the victim surcharge in Magistrates' Court, and the case of the peace campaigners who broke into a Royal Air Force base intent on sabotaging B52 bombers. No transcript. The recording will be on the Law in Action web page until it is replaced next Tuesday afternoon by the new programme. The Australian radio programme, The Law Report, on 22 May had an interesting programme about interpreters in the courtroom. Transcript available, .mp3 recording will be available for another few weeks.

Home Office to be Split Tony Blair has announced that the Home Office will be split into two departments. You can find out all about it with this BBC video. (3:29 min., no script)