Law and Disorder: News, politics and more, from a legal perspective

2025 has been a hugely consequential year, with troubling assaults on the Rule of Law in the US as well as challenges to international law in the Middle East and Ukraine. Closer to home, the UK justice system continues to creak under the weight of the backlog. With so much happening, the Law & Disorder team gather (remotely) one last time for 2025, to look back over the past 12 months and ahea...

Should misconduct be taken into account when an equitable division of assets is being attempted following a divorce? That's the question we're dealing with today, as Nicholas Mostyn – and old hand in these affairs – and Helena Kennedy are joined by Anita Mehta, a barrister and co-host of Talking Family Law . Together they talk about the law as it was, is and could possibly be, as our understa...

Baroness Brenda Hale is one of the most experienced legal minds in the country. Having served on the Supreme Court (including a stint as the first female President) she joins this week's podcast to reflect on her storied career, the times when she came up against certain podcast hosts in court, and some of the pressing issues facing the justice system, from the future of jury trials to the allevia...

There has been much in the news in recent years about undercover police work, with the public shocked by the level of intrusion permitted. Charlotte Kilroy KC, our guest today, is an expert on this subject, and has recently represented a woman, Beth, whose partner allegedly used his status as an informant for MI5 in order to inflict domestic abuse. In this wide-ranging discussion, the team look at...

Last week, the Law & Disorder trio had the privilege of broadcasting live from Ripon Cathedral, where they debated a key question at the heart of proposals to revamp Britain's justice system: should jury trials be consigned to history? Or is there space for a hybrid system? Tied to suggestions made by Sir Brian Leveson, the team make their arguments for and against preserving a key part of Bri...

Donald Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for a reported $5bn over the BBC's flagship Panorama programme's 'misleading' edit of one of his speeches. The President is claiming significant reputational damage stemmed from an injudicious edit which made it seem like he had directly incited the 6th January insurrection at the Capitol. But does he really have a case? How much money could the Beeb be o...

The 2024 General Election feels a long time ago now – and must feel like another lifetime for Sir Keir Starmer – but one of the Labour party's flagship propositions, the new Employment Rights Bill, is inching its way towards the statute book. To discuss the implications (both for employers and employees), the Law & Disorder team are delighted to be joined by David Reade KC of Littleton Chamber...

Since we began work on Law & Disorder back at the start of 2024, the challenges surrounding Israel's war on Gaza have been front page news. Have the Israeli's committed war crimes? Does this constitute a genocide? And what levers are available to the international legal community? For two years, these issues have swirled, and in spite of a recent ceasefire, no proper resolution seems near. To...

In 1989, 97 people lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. The fight for justice, led by their families, has taken decades, and there are still huge failures of accountability. The cover-up after the disaster only served to exacerbate the pain of victims, and prevent justice being served. That's where the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, better known as the Hillsborough Law, comes in. T...

This summer, a superinjunction was lifted, following an independent review, which had prohibited reporting on a massive data breach relating to the possible evacuation of Afghans to the UK in the wake of the Taliban takeover there. The court battle, fought between a number of media organisations and the government, exposed the ways in which the law must strike a delicate balance between national s...

Planet Tax – widely considered the most interesting and sexy domain in our galaxy – is the home of a a certain Dan Neidle . A former Head of Tax at Clifford Chance, Dan has become the country's most prominent tax vigilantes, holding public figures to account over their tax arrangements. This week, he talks us through two knotty, political tax affairs: Angela Rayner's failure to pay sufficient stam...

SLAPPs: S trategic L itigation A gainst P ublic P articipation. These lawsuits, often brought by the super wealthy, have been in the news a lot over the past few years, and, indeed, we've covered them before on the show. But today we're looking at it from the impact of the SLAPPee, in this case Charlotte Leslie, a former Tory MP and now Director of the Conservative Middle East Council. Her experie...

Alastair Campbell has worn many hats: journalist, bagpiper, political operator, Burnley ultra, and, most recently, podcaster. This varied CV has brought him into frequent contact with power and infrequent contact with the law. In this episode, a wide-ranging season opener, he talks candidly with Charlie, Helena and Nick about his life in politics, his fears for the current state of play, and his o...

Birthright citizenship is an important Constitutional right in the United States, but one that is increasingly challenged under the second Trump presidency. In this episode, we re-convene with David D. Cole , a top constitutional lawyer and former Legal Director of the ACLU, to discuss the case of Trump v CASA, a Supreme Court case which addressed whether lower courts could issue 'universal injunc...

Few social issues have proven quite as controversial or emotional as the fraught subject of gender dysphoria treatment for minors. In both the UK and US, the question has vexed doctors, lawyers and politicians. The balance between the medical and psychological wellbeing of trans youngsters presents unique challenges for physicians and legislators, and it feels like we are yet to alight upon a comp...

Donald Trump is desecrating the United States' fundamental belief in due process – or, at least, he's trying to. Standing in his way are a number of obstacles, including the constitution, the courts, and his former comms director, Anthony Scaramucci , who has become a vociferous critic of his old boss. After just 11 days in the role – a unit of time now known as "a Scaracmucci" – Anthony was sacke...

Why is cannabis illegal in the UK? This is a vexed question that dates back to colonial times but continues to be a hot button issue in the present day. Indeed, Charlie Falconer recently chaired a report for the London Drugs Commission on this very topic, recommending that cannabis possession be decriminalised but dealing remain outlawed. Is this an elegant solution or a mealy-mouthed fudge? To de...

Is sports a law unto itself? That's the question posed this week, as the Law & Disorder crew are joined by Nick De Marco KC, perhaps the UK's top sports lawyer. Nick has worked on cases ranging from corrupt cricketers to fiscally feckless football clubs, and offers here a tour d'horizon of the landscape in sports and the law. Should betting companies offer markets on yellow cards? Did Jannick...

Media freedom around the world has never been more embattled. A rise in violence perpetrated against journalists and media proprietors has been accompanied by a significant surge in the use of 'lawfare', frivolous but destructive lawsuits designed to silence and intimidate. To discuss this crisis, the Law & Disorder team are joined by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC , a leading lawyer representing ac...

With climate change an ever increasing priority for people and governments around the globe, it is necessarily becoming a major part of our legal system. How do treaties like the Paris Agreement bind countries to climate goals? Can people – old and young – use the law to hold the state to account over climate action? And, in a world where climate change denial is increasingly mainstream from polit...

Tariffs: a word that has become, in the past few months, a political hot potato. With US President Donald Trump slapping major tariffs on countries all around the world, the Law & Disorder crew gather to consider these moves in their historical context and probe their legality. Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer are – regrettably – missing Helena this week, but we have two guests to compensa...

Until recently, there was no real pressure on parties to mediate before an issue went to court. It has created an expensive, and often destructive, dynamic. But now, there is a concerted movement to introduce more "non-court" options, from mediation and arbitration to third party evaluation and collaborative law. To discuss this attempt to innovate in a calcified field, the Law & Disorder trio...

Earlier this spring, Sir Nicholas headed off to Chamonix for a conference of family lawyers. There, he delivered a speech titled "The Law is Above You". But is it? In this episode, we'll play an extract from that speech and spark a conversation with Charlie and Helena about the Trump administration's myriad abuses of power, and whether the law can be play a role in preventing further injustices. I...

On this week's episode of Law & Disorder we're considering one of the big societal issues of the 2020s: the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What challenges does it pose the law? And what possible advantages could be reaped? Will it be used to augment current practices? Or will it entirely refashion how the law works? To discuss this, our intrepid trio are joined by Richard Susskind,...

What are the challenges of prosecuting fraud, in cases where the disclosure documents might make War and Peace look like a flimsy little pamphlet? That's the question being consider this week on Law & Disorder and to get to the heart of this, the gang – Nicholas Mostyn, Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy – are joined by James Hines KC, one of the country's most experienced lawyers specialisin...