New lord chancellor backed Lammy’s jury trial curbs
By Michael Cross and Monidipa Fouzder (24 July 2026) The new lord chancellor and justice secretary had barely got his feet under his desk before being embroiled in a row over early prison releases. Alex Norris MP was told by the prime minister yesterday to pause the scheme designed to address prison overcrowding ‘until we have conducted an […]
MoJ dangles £3.6m for next LawtechUK phase
By Michael Cross >> (20 July 2026) A grant of up to £3.62 million is available for the contractor to take over the seven-year-old programme to nurture law tech developments, the Ministry of Justice has announced. A central aim of the investment is to spread the benefits of technology more widely. LawtechUK, set up in 2019, […]
Slow progress on judicial diversity
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (10 July 2026) Official figures on the diversity of the judiciary have once again revealed sluggish progress – with female and ethnic minority representation rising but the number of solicitor-judges shrinking. The proportion of black judges has effectively stalled. According to annual diversity statistics released by the Ministry of Justice yesterday, non-barristers […]
Bar opens campaign for higher age threshold for criminal responsibility
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (28 June 2026) The Bar Council has urged the government to lift the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 – laying the groundwork with an evidence-led report, published today, which the government has committed to considering as part of its youth justice reforms. The current age when children can be arrested […]
Prime minister announces homebuying ‘shakeup’
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (18 June 2026) Sales packs with upfront information, binding agreements and a code of practice for estate agents will be introduced to ‘shake up’ the homebuying process, the government has confirmed. Unusually, today’s announcement of the policy quotes both prime minister Keir Starmer and chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves. Starmer said: […]
Tribunal backlog ‘alarming’ says Society
By Gazette reporter >> (12 June 2026) Employment tribunal backlogs continue to multiply, resulting in severe delays that are denying both employees and businesses access to justice, the Law Society said today. At the end of March, 64,000 single cases remained open – an increase of 42% on last year, with the backlog steadily rising month […]
LAA tries to avert legal aid crisis in 45 regions
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (8 June 2026) The fragility of the civil legal aid sector has once again been laid bare, with the Legal Aid Agency needing housing and debt providers in 45 areas across England and Wales to ‘maintain strong coverage’. Meanwhile, research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that 3.5 million people […]
Land Registry warns over conveyancer competence
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (22 May 2026) Repeated failure to check deeds could land conveyancers in regulatory hot water, HM Land Registry has warned. In the week HM Revenue & Customs’ tax adviser registration requirement came into force, capturing conveyancers involved in stamp duty land tax returns, Land Registry outlined the circumstances when conveyancers will be […]
King’s speech: Law Society calls for ‘sustained investment’
By Gazette reporter >> (14 May 2026) Responding to the legislative programme laid out in the King’s speech, Law Society president Mark Evans called for justice system reforms to be backed with ’sustained investment to address longstanding pressures and ensure access to justice for all’. ‘As the Courts and Tribunals Bill is carried forward to this […]
Battle to water down jury trial reforms continues
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (17 April 2026) The government has continued to bat away proposed amendments to the Courts and Tribunals Bill that would have watered down its plans to curb jury trials as part of wider efforts to cut the Crown court backlog. However, an important amendment on specialist rape courts – a Labour manifesto commitment – […]
