Sentience is often defined as the ability to perceive or feel things, but it is much more than that. It is the capacity to feel emotions, form connections and relationships and crucially, develop a personality. For hundreds of years, scientists and philosophers have quarrelled over whether or not animals have sentience. However, the evidence now […]
Non-profit organisation Humane Being is launching what it says is the first legal fight against factory farming in the world. Arguing that the UK government is not doing enough to eradicate intensive farming, the group, backed by an impressive legal team, has issued a letter before action to the government. The group’s campaign Scrap Factory […]
Amid liberalised drug reforms across the US, the UK maintains its hardline “war on drugs”, with cannabis categorised as a class b drug. This followed a reclassification from class C in 2009. Despite this, the UK is currently the biggest producer of medical cannabis in the world. Currently, under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), […]
It’s estimated that 40% of private law children cases now involve allegations of domestic abuse in the UK. This means that family courts engage with this issue in around 22,000 cases each year. Despite the prevalence of these allegations, family courts have been found to victimise survivors of rape and domestic abuse time and time […]
“Dangerous,” “disproportionate,” “a power-grab,” “poorly-thought-out,” these are just some of the ways critics have described the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. In a time when trust in the police has been repeatedly weakened and eroded, Home Secretary Priti Patel is introducing a bill that would afford them more power. According to ministers, recent […]
As the Covid-19 pandemic pushes the criminal case backlog to the brink, criminal legal aid (CLA) lies in tatters. Subjected to relentless cuts since the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), the sector has struggled to stay afloat. While the Criminal Legal Aid Review is currently examining the […]
In a much-anticipated ruling, the Supreme Court recently handed down its judgement that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had overreached in its attempt to seek overseas documents from non-UK company KBR (US). Over the years, the SFO has earned a reputation for systemic incompetence and inefficiency. This ruling has no doubt dealt another significant blow […]
The criminal justice system (CJS) has been critically underfunded and subjected to a serious erosion of resources for years. So, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, it worsened the already fragmented nature of the system. With the nationwide lockdown placing restrictions on its functionality, the government has scrambled to find solutions, seemingly to no avail. The […]
The Mental Health Act (MHA) is nearly 40-years-old, and outlines how individuals can be detained involuntarily, as well as the treatment they will receive while in hospital. However, over the years, despite attitudes to mental illness and its treatment evolving, the legislation regulating this area has remained largely unchanged. The legislation significantly restricts the autonomy […]
In the UK, it is estimated that there are over 70,000 sex workers in the UK, and around 90% are women. Many of these women are vulnerable, exploited and subject to extreme poverty. This situation has of course been worsened by austerity cuts, the introduction of universal credit, and most recently the Coronavirus pandemic. As […]