Francis FitzGibbon

Tony Livesey - 25/11/2025 - BBC Sounds Tony Livesey with late night conversation and in-depth interviews.

I spoke about the disastrous plan by David Lammy on Radio 5. At 45 mins www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Francis FitzGibbon · Short Cuts: Why Juries Matter In this country, trial by jury is constitutive of a fair, credible, legitimate system of criminal justice. It is what...

I wrote this about why it's important not to do away with juries in criminal trials www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jeremy Clarkson: Brexit makes me want to sit in a gutter and weep Since we left the EU it’s been easier to get into Iraq than France. None of this has made our lives better in any way

Magnificent by Jeremy Clarkson on how people who voted for Brexit and still think it was a good idea make his hair catch fire and teeth itch.

www.thetimes.com/article/5356...

A bit unfair to leave Theresa May out of the reckoning of failure.

The 'originalism' favoured by SCOTUS doesn't seem to help keep the constitution alive, in the face of the insurgents in power. A properly independent judiciary might do more. A 238-year old document may be coming to the end of its life.

Huge congratulations to @laurajanes.bsky.social on her appointment as KC - some recognition for a career devoted to securing the rights of the most marginalised and vulnerable.

The Times knows this is bullshit. It knows what the cab rank is. It knows how it works. But The Times is dishonest. So it runs the story anyway.

St Sebastian died of fright

Mr Nicodemus 'Noddy' Boffin would have mined the dust heaps for the golden key.

The firm's practice areas (according to their website asserson.co.uk) don't include defamation. But they do claim to be the 'UK’s most dynamic and creative law firm'.

Appropriate reply: Dear Liz, you are absolutely right, I misspoke. I meant to say 'trashed', not 'crashed'.

Drainweasel? HNY!

YouTube video by Mark Holding Classic BBC Radio Theme ~ Shipping Forecast (Sailing By)

Tesco, good, occasionally busy later. Sainsbury’s, moderate to good, rough in toilet roll aisle.
Asda, light to moderate, heavy crowds by evening.
M&S and Co-Op, fair.
Waitrose, fair to moderate.
Lidl, rough at first, easing later.
That’s the end of the Shopping Forecast

youtu.be/dFdas-kMF74?...

Best for the obits and crossword, some international coverage. Otherwise, Daily Mail lite

Fair point, but shouldn't anyone who knows about the extent of control exerted by CCP also know that a person such as Prince A's friend is - connected?

How is what the Chinese are said to be doing in the UK different from what most states do (peacefullly) to advance their national interests?

Interviews by video conference are audio-recorded. In person ones, at Secretary of State's discretion: Imm Rules §339NE

Investment, reversing sentence inflation, holistic defence models: how to fix the UK’s criminal justice system Five ways to tackle the crisis and begin to eliminate court backlogs

Thank you @theguardian.com for this. Criminal Justice needs urgent investment - yes, money - much more than inventing a new jury-less court. www.theguardian.com/law/2024/dec...

I have created a #starterpack on access to #justice and #legalaid - message me if you want to be added

go.bsky.app/J6g9H4r

As a non-academic: seems to me that the concept of 'democratic' is much richer than referring simply to the activities of elected legislatures, and includes and overlaps with principles of legitimacy and rule of law. (I'll get my coat now.)

Especially jury trials in Liverpool #KenDodd

No yogurt for Kemi either #culturewarrior

I am not Spartacus I’m proud to do the work I do, just don’t label me an ‘activist’ lawyer, says Colin Yeo.

Lawyers rightly complain when politicians, the media and the public associate us with our clients, leading to immigration law firms being targeted by neo-Nazis. So why do some lawyers also willingly do it to ourselves? Isn't that rather hypocritical? lag.org.uk/article/2163...

Can't say for sure, but likely that all the BSB's evidence was agreed and the issue was whether it was sufficient for the case to proceed - as a matter of law.

I don’t seek to defend Phil Shiner but the reporting of his sentencing is generally wildly inaccurate as to what he pleaded guilty to (failing to declare use of a fixer and referral fees) and the amounts involved (£200k not £3m). Why do people not read the published sentencing remarks?

Times for crossword and obits. Not much else worth it. Law used to be better.

In Syria, the secret police were known as 'The Germans', since Hafez Assad employed fugitive senior SS officer Alois Brunner to set up his secret service's torture-prisons. #Syria

This is an opportunity for re-considering whether mandatory life sentences should be passed for all murders, especially those based on remote 'parasitic liability'.

Law Commission to review law and sentencing in homicide - Law Commission The Law Commission has agreed to take on a project reviewing the law on homicide and the sentencing framework for murder. The review follows a request from the Lord Chancellor and recognises the vital...

The Ministry of Justice has asked the Law Commission to review the law on homicide in E&W and the sentencing framework for murder. It will examine diminished responsibility and whether the sentencing framework adequately reflects the seriousness of domestic murders.
lawcom.gov.uk/law-commissi...