The charismatic and obviously brilliant David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, has announced a media campaign costing £4 million to “turbocharge” the recruitment of volunteers to be Magistrates with the aim of adding 6,000 over the next three years. The campaign is deliberately aimed at younger people. The aim is to get the court backlog down, combined with a reduction in the right to a jury trial. It is blindingly obvious that an increase of non-legally, qualified part-time volunteers, especially with young people, will result in rough justice and miscarriages. David Lammy might do better in allowing Magistrates to sit beyond…
A great deal has been written about whether the US bombing Iran is legal. Some have said that “legal” is whatever President Trump says it is. In truth, however, even though you may not like it, the United States is well within the recognised contours of international law relating to the use of force and self-defence. Iran’s response to the use of force since late February 2026– lashing out at its neighbours, targeting Israeli civilians, murdering its own people and unlawfully closing the Strait of Hormuz completely justifies the legality of the US action in law. April 2026 Rodney Hylton-Potts
Do you ever get grumpy when you see politicians, like Sir Kier, send you an Easter message. Where in the job description (unwritten) of the Prime Minister does it say that he must pontificate on religious holidays about the state of the nation? That is the job of the King. On that note, the Chief Constable of Cheshire has spent a huge amount of time and effort commenting on the efforts of Sir David Davis to reopen the Lucy Letby “baby killing” case. Sir David Davis MP has a view. It may be right, it may be wrong, but why…
Those who think that flamboyant lawyers died with George Carman, should look at David Sherborne, Prince Harry’s lawyer in the Daily Mail libel case. Floppy hair, glamorous and with a taste for publicity on the steps of the court. Even he, however, struggled to make Prince Harry’s case interesting, and it felt more like a tennis match between seniors, not at Wimbledon, but in the Albert Hall. The judge could be forgiven for struggling to stay awake with such remarks as “It’s a bit like pin the tail on the donkey, but we are blindfolded and there is very little…
Costs of living rocketing prices are driving more divorcing couples to end up in court with figures at a 15 year high – 49,067. This is the highest since 2010. Figures have jumped since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with growing anxiety about financial security. Let us hope the Iran war ends soon. April 2026 Rodney Hylton-Potts
Harleys, a leading “offshore practice” in the city, commemorated International Women’s Day by sending their female staff and female clients, a kitchen appliance, namely a pink ice cream maker. This did not go down well. Their “valued female leaders, friends, clients and colleagues” made sure the decision backfired, by asking if they could have an upgrade on a Dyson vacuum cleaner and whether a washing up brush might be offered as well! A lady partner hit back by saying she was working on a full house cleaning kit for husbands, to be sent out as a gift on Mother’s Day.…
The government’s proposed jury reforms means that findings of guilt in cases resulting in prison sentences, will be made by named judges rather than anonymous juries. This results in an immediate threat to that judge’s personal safety. Named judges already are subject to a huge amount of social media abuse. Further, these judges will sit at one centre rather than moving around the country like a High Court Judge and will use the same court entrance and exit, as members of the public and no doubt aggrieved families. The risk is obvious, but the government seems blind to it. Rodney…
We hear a lot about it, including the rule of international law. What is it? It means we are seeking to support open justice and access to fair justice for all. We try to protect the fundamental rights of all and try to persuade States to exercise proportionate and accountable power over their citizens in good faith. In Nazi Germany, a ‘knock on a door’ meant that many, usually Jews, disappeared. That still happens in large parts of the world. In Britain, everybody is subject to law, including the police, MI5 and even Andrew Mountbatten -Windsor and Peter Mandelson. Internationally, the…
The new Court Bill is madness. The idea is to get far more trials heard by the Magistrates and to extend their sentencing powers. They will be overwhelmed. There are not enough Magistrates now, especially with the ridiculous 70 retirement age. There will be appeals to the Crown Court, retrials and all the extra cases and many more because of their increased sentencing powers. The only solution is more money and most people think there is no prospect of getting that more money for Defence, NHS or education or anything else, until we cut the huge burgeoning benefit bill. March…
PM Law solicitors, operated 24 branches stretching from Yorkshire to Kent. Stealing clients’ funds is, apart from being a serious crime, utterly despicable as many of the clients have no other funds. In this case somebody has stolen £1 million of clients’ money One solicitor I met said that the clients’ funds that he had stolen had only been about £30,000.00. I discovered later he had stolen from the Church! February 2026 Rodney Hylton-Potts
