We have rely on conventions and unwritten rules every day and a variety of situations.
But our over-reliance on them in the Legal and Political space has left us weak when facing-off against those whose whole drive is to ignore and upend them.
We must be bolder in protecting our liberal democracies from those who threaten them. Continue reading 2025.3 – A New Norm-al
…or why Human Rights are always Human Rights. It is often said that it is in times of crisis that we show our true selves. The selfish care for themselves first, while the caring going about looking after the most vulnerable. During the lock-down period, we’ve seen that, both in our local communities and at the national scale. Take the Scottish and UK governments, for … Continue reading Of Landlords and lawLords
…or why context is everything.
So, my recent blog post on Richard Leonard’s plans for a Wealth Tax had an audience, which is nice. I mention this, not to brag about #numbers, but because at least one of the members of the audience was a senior partner at Thompsons Solicitors, Patrick Maguire. He disagrees with my view, so decided to produce a rebuttal blogpost on Unison’s Dave Watson’s website (albeit without linking to or describing the post he was rebutting). Continue reading “Wealth Tax 2: Revenge of the Blog…”
…or why reading the interpretation section is always important.
I haven’t blogged (yet) about the Scottish Labour Leadership Race. I probably won’t (until it’s over anyway) – though I did go on a short twitter rant last week about how dreadful the race had been up to that point. It ended with a call for both candidates to improve themselves and their campaigns, and noted that Anas Sarwar had, just that day, released his tax plan, which is the substance that the campaign had long been lacking. Continue reading “On Taxes and Turmoil…”
What would getting rid of the Human Rights Act mean? Would it achieve what proponents believe, and what would it mean in a Scottish Context? Continue reading Repealing the HRA…
…or a long story on a lot of not very much. It’s been a busy few weeks for me. In the past few weeks on the Diploma I’ve had 6 or 7 assessments, some written, some oral and some both. Street Law lessons have been great – and I was part of a ‘Day of Street Law’ at Kyle Academy in Ayr {Which I will be … Continue reading Refuge in Audacity?
…or when I realised even kids hate lawyers! For our third lesson we thought we’d be a bit more adventurous that we had one before and not use just worksheets and pens, but strips of paper with human rights (mostly according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) which the groups can move about themselves. It was a risk…but we were prepared to take it. … Continue reading #StreetLaw 3: Aliens and Human Rights
…or why I’m particularly excited about Street Law. I’ve complained twice in the last month that understanding of the law outside of the profession is, generally, quite poor. Even our own government makes mistakes that are simple to avoid (and for some, their approach to law-making leave a lot to be desired). I’ve also said that it is up to law students and lawyers to improve … Continue reading Creating a High School Law School…
Paul Cruikshank 