Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics

Has the United States & Israel broken international law by bombing Iran? Or was it an act of Self-Defence?   Professor Marko Milanovic, a leading expert in international law joins Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC to assess the legality of the recent Israeli and US military actions against Iranian nuclear facilities.    From Article 51 of the UN Charter to the legacy of the Caroline Doctrine, the d...

How should members of Parliament decide matters of life and death? In the midst of passionate public debate, Parliament has begun to rewrite the legal boundaries around abortion and assisted dying, but what does that mean for the future of UK law? And has the United States broken international law by bombing Iran?   Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC explore the shifting lines of morality, medicine,...

What happens when a justice system is asked to do more with less and at what cost to fairness, freedom, and the rule of law?   Crime and justice commentator Danny Shaw appears on the show to examine the political and legal fallout from the UK government’s spending review. With stretched police forces, an underfunded probation service, and mounting pressure on the courts and the prisons, how can La...

Is Britain still a world leader in forensic science or are we sleepwalking into a criminal justice crisis?   Once considered the gold standard, the UK’s forensic science system is not working well for anyone – not for the police, not for the suppliers of services, not for the courts and, by extension, not for the public.  Yet we all believe it to be a critical tool that we can rely upon to bring t...

Why does Britain lock up so many people and is there a better way?   The UK has the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe, yet reoffending remains rampant and prisons are at breaking point. What’s gone wrong in our approach to crime and punishment - and is the public ready for a smarter, more effective system?   Former Justice Secretary David Gauke, chair of the Independent Sentencing Revie...

What if your political beliefs on Brexit, climate change or even gender identity were being subtly shaped by a foreign power?   From hostile state actors exploiting social media to the legal grey zone between terrorism and subversion, Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation joins Double Jeopardy to unpack the expanding world of national security, f...

In three of the four nations of the UK, abortion remains a crime under legislation passed in 1861, subject to the exemptions from criminal liability in the Abortion Act 1967.  Paradoxically, abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019, so that it is now seen as a matter of healthcare rather than the criminal law. Recent prosecutions in England under section 58 of the Offences Against t...

The clash between David Wolfson KC’s “thin” interpretation of legal principle and Attorney General Richard Hermer’s “thick” is explained through the experienced legal eyes of Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC on this episode of Double Jeopardy.   They dig into the political implications of these contrasting views, the role of parliamentary sovereignty, how the UK navigates its obligations under int...

Given the gross miscarriages of justice exposed by the Post Office/Horizon scandal, the extraordinary delay in reversing the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson due to repeated failures by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the continuing calls for the case of Lucy Letby to be referred back to the Court of Appeal, is the criminal appeal system in need of fundamental reform?   Connecting...

As support for populist movements grows, judicial independence and the rule of law are increasingly under attack. Lawyers around the world are becoming front-line defenders of democracy - and paying the price. Double Jeopardy hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC explain the situation with expert legal commentary and legal system insights.   Renowned international lawyer Robert Amsterdam joins th...

What does the law say about who counts as a woman - and who gets to decide? Unpacking the UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the definition of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 and Gender Recognition Act is guest Karon Monaghan KC, one of the UK’s leading employment and discrimination law barristers.  See here for a link to the judgment.   The discussion of this high-profile legal case tackles...

What happens when political leaders and media outlets misrepresent court decisions, and how does this impact judicial independence and public trust in the UK legal system? A range of high-stakes UK law and UK politics issues that have dominated headlines recently are tackled in this listener-driven postbag edition of Double Jeopardy. Hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC begin with a scathing ana...

What happens when the very foundation of criminal justice - the prosecution disclosure process to the defence - fails to meet modern demands?    This episode focuses on the Fisher Report, a groundbreaking review that addresses the critical issues surrounding prosecution disclosure in complex criminal trials, a key issue in the ongoing criminal justice crisis in the UK.   Ken Macdonald KC and Tim O...

Is the UK heading toward a constitutional clash over crime and justice?    Exploring a wide range of pressing issues, from the government’s proposed emergency legislation to override revised sentencing guidelines, to the implications of an international summit on organised migration crime. Examining the complexities of asylum claims, the growing controversy around Article 8 of the Human Rights Act...

Exploring the high-profile Lucy Letby case, and the dangers of relying too heavily on identification evidence, this episode of Double Jeopardy raises critical concerns about the ban on jury research and how it hampers efforts to improve the criminal justice system through controlled academic study.   As expert legal commentators, Tim Owen KC and Ken Macdonald KC unpack the importance of pre-senten...

Is UK criminal justice really heading towards a two-tier sentencing system? A fierce debate has erupted over the Sentencing Council’s new guidance on pre-sentence reports, which highlights the need for greater consideration of certain defendant groups, including ethnic minorities.   Critics argue that this risks creating an uneven playing field, while supporters insist it’s a necessary step toward...

Should terminally ill adults have the right to decide how and when they die? The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is discussed by Jake Richards MP and hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC.  They talk about the legislative process, from the intricacies of the committee stage to the broader implications of the private members' bill system.  The discussion also focuses on the historical evo...

Is tougher legislation the answer to crime, or is it just more political posturing?   The Government’s monster new Crime and Policing Bill promises to crack down on antisocial behaviour, knife crime, and retail theft. But is any of this really necessary, or is it just another example of performative lawmaking?   This episode unpacks the bill’s sweeping powers, the political motivations behind it,...

Why is UK penal policy failing so badly?  This week, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by former Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke, who has just published Part 1 of his Independent Review into Sentencing. In the face of falling crime, why do we have the highest prison population in Western Europe, and why can’t we reduce our expensive addiction to incarceration?   The discussion...

A high-profile immigration case takes centre stage at Prime Minister’s Questions, sparking debate over refugee law and the reality of power politics in an age of populism. In this episode of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC dissect Kemi Badenoch’s focus on a controversial ruling involving a Palestinian family.  They go on to consider the UN Convention on Refugees, and ask whether...

Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC explore the latest developments in the case of Lucy Letby, as her new barrister holds a second press conference revealing the conclusion of 14 experts that every baby died either as a result of natural causes or because of medical neglect.    Do these new medical opinions ‘demolish’ the evidence of the prosecution experts, as her new barrister claims? Or, as some a...

Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by guest Chris Henley KC, to explore the terrible miscarriage of justice which led to Andrew Malkinson spending 17 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit.   Looking at Chris’s report into the scandal, they examine the failures of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and  its atrocious mishandling of crucial DNA evidence.  What lay behind the CCRC’s...

Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC review the Southport murder trial, following Axel Rudakubana's sentencing to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of three girls in Southport in July 2024. The discussion examines the implications of recent legislative changes surrounding whole life orders for young people, the public's reaction to severe sentencing, and the challenges...

In this episode, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC examine the powerful  arguments for using telephone intercept evidence in UK criminal trials. Why are the security services so opposed to a reform that would obviously give a major boost to convicting terrorists and serious criminals, and why have successive governments failed to overcome this opposition?   For context, Ken and Tim look at the 2020...

In this episode of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC engage in a thought-provoking discussion with their guest, Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation and state threats. Together, they examine the implications of Elon Musk's influence on UK politics, the challenges posed by foreign interference, and the far-reaching impact of the National Security Act....