All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 30
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OpinionThe jury’s out on the European Public Prosecutor
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the case of United Kingdom vs the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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NewsA song and dance over Europe
I preferred to be a wall-flower last week rather than join in the wild and shameless hokey cokey led by the government over the decision both to opt out and then opt back in to various EU criminal law measures. We will opt out of 135 and opt back in ...
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OpinionThe best of summer holiday reading
It’s the time of year when every respectable journal tells you what reading to pack for the beach, and so here goes. Crime The fiction list for lawyers has not been strong this year. A late contender is the publication in the last few days of the Financial Action Task ...
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News
Data mining: what happens next?
Although I try to vary the topic covered each week, to show the range of issues being dealt with at European or international level, I do not apologise this week for going back to a subject that I have covered recently: the fall-out from the data mining revelations by the ...
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Tips for the future lobbyists’ register
The prime minister recently announced plans for a statutory register of lobbyists, with a bill to be published by the end of July. I don’t know whether the bill will include lawyers within its definition of lobbyists. I guess so, although I don’t want anything I say to be taken ...
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European collective redress
In a week in which distressing images of Turkish lawyers being dragged by police out of a court building showed the importance of not taking the benefits of the rule of law for granted, here is some of Europe’s more traditional, everyday legal fare to distract you.
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News
Support our Turkish colleagues
‘The history of lawyers is the history of society in general.’ That’s my theory anyway, and it can be tested by tracing a country’s trends from what is happening to its lawyers. The ethics-lite market fundamentalism visited upon our profession is a mirror of the country’s history during the Thatcher-Blair ...
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Money laundering still dogs us
There is plenty of backstage manoeuvring in the development of legal policy. Often the most interesting work cannot be written about, to protect the confidentiality of our members’ views or our interaction with outside bodies. At the same time, I think: ‘But the wider legal profession should know about this!’
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Surviving international legal encounters
I know that complaining about business travel to glamorous destinations is considered inverted snobbery. I have been in Athens and Zurich these last two weeks, first at a Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Plenary Session and then at an IBA Bar Leaders Meeting. Why complain, you ...
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OpinionEU withdrawal would be dire for profession
Withdrawal from the EU is staring us in the face. It is a good time to spell out what the consequences might be for lawyers.
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Dealing with corruption in the UK
This week, the Council of the International Bar Association (IBA) will consider Anti-Corruption Guidelines for Bar Associations. I remember when this was discussed in one of the IBA policy groups of which I am a member. The representatives from bars in the west (and from at least one other developed ...
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Will ABSs be allowed to cross EU borders?
A report was published by the European Commission this week, keenly awaited by dedicated followers of European legal fashion. It gives important insights into lawyer cross-border mobility in Europe.
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The dilemma of small claims
The struggle over the financial limits for small claims is an issue which is traditionally difficult for lawyer policymakers, because of the apparent conflict between public and private interests. The raising of personal injury claim levels in the UK has caused a fuss, and now the topic has appeared on ...
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Model of a modern secretary general
You may wonder what the secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) does all day. This is a proper question, since solicitors contribute to my pay. So here goes, with all events taken from last week. If you want to see how I am ...
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News
Lawyers are the same – though different – wherever you go
I have travelled a good deal for more than 15 years, either on behalf of the Law Society or for my current employer, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE). Since this has been paid either wholly or now in small part by solicitors, it is time ...
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Promoting European legal values abroad
A part of your tax that funds the EU’s budget goes towards the improvement of human rights and the rule of law in countries around the world. This makes sense to me, because a stable world enables us to enjoy those things which governments are supposed to provide: an environment ...
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Mrs Thatcher and me
There hasn’t been much written in the Gazette about the death of Mrs Thatcher. Maybe the other contributors are too young to have lived through her premiership? I was not a fan, and so if you are one of the millions who voted for her and continued to adore her ...
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Catherine, the language warrior
There is a tradition which is stronger on the continent than in the UK, that of the Festschrift or Liber Amicorum. ‘Celebratory book’ is probably the closest in English. For the second time, I have been asked to contribute to one, and it is thoughts about the lawyer in whose ...
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Oscars for the best EU legal system
A report has just been published by the European Commission which measures how EU member states are faring comparatively in a number of areas of their legal system. It is part of the continuing drive to use justice as a means of encouraging economic growth in the EU. This is ...