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

Our guest today – Jonathan Sumption – sat, until June of this year, as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He left that role – "in high dudgeon" – as a critique of the creeping totalitarianism of pro-Beijing influences in the east Asian territory. In this wide-ranging discussion with Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer, Lord Sumption discusses how he came...

Caroline Norton was a sensation of 19th century London. A writer and social reformer, she hit the headlines in 1836 when she accused her husband, George Norton, of coercive behaviour. What proceeded was a legal case that embroiled the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and, in some ways, changed women's place in the law. But how much did Norton really achieve? And has the dust really settled on women...

James Pratt and John Smith: the last two men to be executed in Britain for the crime of homosexuality. It is a story recounted by politician and historian Chris Bryant in his book James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder . But how far has the law come since the 19th century? Was the image that Charles Dickens painted the truth? And how did feminist historian Naomi Wolf come to misunder...

Britain's prisons are in crisis. In the past week, we've seen the early release of some 1,500 prisoners in order to free up space in our nation's jails. But how did we get here? On this week's Law & Disorder , Charlie Falconer, Helena Kennedy and Nicholas Mostyn are joined by Ian Burnett, who served as Lord Chief Justice from 2017 to 2023. They have a candid and critical discussion about the s...

The streets of the UK have been gripped by disorder . Fuelled by racist rhetoric, rioters have taken to the streets from Southport to Bristol and the criminal justice system is now facing the huge task of processing these criminals and re-establishing order. Can quick sentencing decisions offer a deterrent to further unrest? How are prosecution decisions being made? And can anything be done about...

Extradition goes back a long way, in principle, but the modern application is complex. What are the grounds for refusing extradition? How has Brexit changed our relationship with European countries? And why is our relationship with America so asymmetrical? This week on Law & Disorder , Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer romp through the history extradition via three case stud...

On the 17th July, the new Labour government enjoyed their first King's Speech. In it, they put forward dozens of bills for consideration in this parliamentary session. But do those commitments get to grips with the necessary constitutional changes in our system? And do they address the years of decay and debasement of the Rule of Law, experienced under the previous governments? Charlie Falconer, H...

Divorce is a complex business, especially when the participants are part of the mega-rich elites who spend millions quibbling over the balance and share of assets and proceedings. Our guide, this week, through the maze of monied marital misery is Tim Bishop KC, one of the UK's leading specialists in top-level financial cases on divorce. Alongside Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falcone...

It's time for us to open up the mailbag and see what Law & Disorder listeners have made of the first six months of the show's existence. From the right to protest to the right to die, Liz Truss to Amber Heard, your questions run the gamut of the topics covered in the podcast. Should we televise courts? How badly did Charlie screw the pooch on his Lord Chancellor reforms? And are we all really...

Libor: a little known, or understood, mechanism by which banks set an interest rate average. It became headline news when, in the crucible of the financial crisis, the practitioners were accused of rigging the rate to inflate public perceptions of their banks' health. But was all as it seemed? And were the traders – men like Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo – who carried the can for Libor rigging, real...

With the UK heading to the polls next week, the Law & Disorder trio – Helena Kennedy, Charlie Falconer and Nicholas Mostyn – gather to discuss the long and difficult history of the franchise. From votes for renters to the struggles of minorities to gain recognition in the UK and abroad, the journey to our current electorate was a long and winding one. Do you know your rotten boroughs from your...

Britain has a long and complex history with slavery. From medieval villeinage through to the African slaves brought to the colonies, has the country truly reckoned with its role in perpetrating one of the great evils in humanity's history? In this episode of Law & Disorder , Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer run through our fraught history with the slave trade, and ask wheth...

A landmark ruling in the European Court of Human Rights has allowed a claim from a Swiss activist group who asserted that their country's government had been inadequate in its attempt to reduce carbon emissions. They told the court that their age and gender (they are a group of older women) made them more susceptible to the impacts of climate-induced heatwaves, and the ECHR agreed. Does this open...

The right to protest is fundamental to any democracy, and yet, in recent years, it feels as though the Conservative government is strangling that ability. For this episode of Law & Disorder, the gang – Helena Kennedy, Charlie Falconer and Nicholas Mostyn – are joined by a very special guest, Raj Chada, in order to look at the evolving picture of protest in our courts. From the Colston Four to...

In an historic decision, a court in New York has convicted former President (and current Presidential candidate) Donald Trump on 34 counts in a so-called "hush money" case. What exactly was the court's decision? Does it hold up, to the legal eye, and will it survive appeal? And what does it mean for the course of the Rule of Law? As ever, Charlie Falconer, Nicholas Mostyn and Helena Kennedy gather...

This week, we're convening an emergency pod to look at the publication of Sir Brian Langstaff's report into the infected blood scandal, in which thousands of Brits were given contaminated blood containing the HIV or Hepatitis C viruses. How was this allowed to happen? Does the report come close to capturing the scale of the problem? And is there a course for reparations, or criminal penalties, or...

On this week's Law and Disorder , Helena, Nicholas and Charlie gather to discuss the recent decision of a New York court to overturn the conviction of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. How did this decision – which has shaken faith in the legal system's ability to handle the gravity of the MeToo movement's concerns – come about? And could the same thing happen in UK courts? As ever, t...

This week, Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer set the sights on the UK's legal migration rules. Are we making it too hard for low-wage (or low-skilled) workers to move to the UK with their families? And how does this fit in with the complex political puzzle that is the 'stop the boats' campaign? Is this truly a question for the law, or really one of policy? Join us, listen along,...

From the Widgery inquiry into Bloody Sunday to Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, public inquiries are a key part of British legal and political life. On this week's episode of Law & Disorder , Charlie guides Nicholas and Helena through the history of inquiries, and questions how the work. Are they too slow? Do they provide answers that would be unavailable through a crimi...

Judges have been part of Britain's legal bedrock for many years. While they were often seen as operators bendable to the political will, they are now a key and independent part of the system. But is that under threat? In this episode of Law and Disorder , Nicholas Mostyn (himself a judge, until last year) along with Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer discuss the role of judges, their freedom from...

On this week's episode of Law & Disorder , we're looking at the rights of unmarried people in the British legal system. What difference does it make for long-term, cohabiting couples whether they're married or not? Well, quite a lot it turns out. From common-law marriages on desert islands (not Bali, though) to Australia's bonza equiparation developments, this is a forensic look at how the leg...

The question of what can and cannot be said has dogged lawyers and lawmakers for centuries, but has found new life in recent months as Scotland grapples with this question. On this week's Law & Disorder , Helena Kennedy, Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer discuss the evolution of our laws around hate crimes, hate speech and what can be done to protect marginalised groups from further harassm...

The Human Rights Act has become something of a hot topic within the political establishment. Is it a symbol of European overreach into the British courts? Or is it an important part of how our legal system safeguards individual rights? That's the topic that Helena Kennedy, Charlie Falconer and Nicholas Mostyn tackle on this week's episode of Law and Disorder . Do send your own thoughts to us via l...

SLAPPs: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These are the cases pursued, often by the super wealthy – from James Goldsmith and Robert Maxwell, to Mohamed Al-Fayed and Barbra Streisand – in order to suppress or intimidate those who act against their interests. In this episode of Law and Disorder, Nicholas, Helena and Charlie sit down and sort through the history of SLAPPs, name and sha...

How transparent should our judicial processes be? From televising court cases to debating anonymity in the family courts, this episode of Law and Disorder runs the gamut of issues surrounding "open justice". With Nick, Helena and Charlie on punchy form, expect sparks to fly over the history of our system's openness, all the way to Depp v Heard. Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast. Executive Produc...