All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 37
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Legislating for changing sexual mores
Is Europe the beginning of something new or the end of something old? We know what the Eurosceptics think (end, end, end), but the soft power and liberal institutions of the EU can as easily be seen as the forerunner of a new template, which ...
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What is that spell again, Hermione?
Never has the European Commission had more need of magic. It has become the Harry Potter figure, waving its wand desperately, trying to fight off death eaters and dementors (I have a few nominees for representatives of these groups, beginning with the hysterically anti-EU columnists in certain UK newspapers). In ...
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Some thoughts after the Arab revolutions
It has been interesting to see that lawyers have played a prominent role in the actions to overthrow dictatorships in the Arab world. In Tunisia, the overwhelming majority of lawyers went on strike rather early in the protests. The courthouse in Benghazi, Libya was apparently ...
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Do lawyers need digital certificates?
The European Commission has been going crazy over the last few weeks issuing consultations on matters relevant to the legal profession, and we are struggling to keep up: ADR, collective redress, Recognition of Professional Qualifications Di
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Explaining money laundering to a Martian
Here are some questions which puzzle me. Why has money laundering, of all crimes, become the single crime where it is enacted everywhere in Europe that lawyers must breach their code of conduct and report on suspicions of criminal activity? Is money laundering worse than ...
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Who can be a lawyer? Two more cases
I meet regularly with representatives of other professions at European level. The legal profession has a number of special features: it is regulated in every EU country, which is not the case with most, if not all, of the others. Secondly, ...
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When lawyers lobby
It looks as if the UK is set for the same painful debate that we have had in the EU recently over what to do about government lobbyists, and in particular the lawyer lobbyists among them. Maybe something can be learned from the EU experience. The ...
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How eurozone bailouts affect lawyers
Greek lawyers have been on strike recently, protesting over measures brought in by their government at the insistence of the International Monetary Fund, which is helping to bail out the country’s economy. This is the first sign of a new movement: a retargeting of lawyers’ activities as part of general ...
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Twitter for beginners
The CCBE has dipped its toe into the world of Twitter. In our office, we had all heard of it and its impact on the world, but none of us had ever used it. It was like the introduction of the first telephone into companies nearly a hundred years ago: ...
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Reasons for lawyers to love the EU
At a time when political rhetoric on Europe is increasing in volume, not only because of the troubles in the eurozone but also because of the European Union (Referendum Lock) Bill going through parliament, I think it is time to put forward the other side of the argument. A number ...
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Forum shopping for a lawyer’s title is alive and well
In this New Year, there is a new name to be added to the roll call of names that have contributed to the development of the practice of law in Europe, by bringing a case to the European Court of Justice. Added to those on the list such as Gebhard ...
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Less bureaucracy for all
Christmas is coming, and so the European Commission wants to clear the decks before the holiday break. We notice this before the summer break, too. It announced last week not one, but two, initiatives affecting the work of lawyers.
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A single telephone number for Europe
Here’s a good idea. The European Commission is consulting on a single numbering service for businesses in Europe which have branches in more than one member state.
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Divorce, patents and crime
Our little local difficulties in Europe do not mean that work is not continuing on the many substantive changes that are taking place at European level in the justice area. How to keep up with them all? (Read this, that’s how …)
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Latest news from inter-governmental organisations
It is a strange paradox that as the world becomes more globalised, our attention is drawn more to the local, as if we are incapable of encompassing a span that takes in the whole world. As a result, developments which take place at inter-governmental organisations – in some strange city, ...
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A timely guide to EU actions on the financial crisis
I have chosen the ideal time to write about the new regime being established by the EU to ensure that there is not another financial crisis – now when the structure of the eurozone is tottering as a result of the crisis, and the future of the euro and of ...
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House of Lords’ unsung battles for EU democracy
One of the constant accusations made against the EU – it was made in a comment to my blog last week – is that there is a democratic deficit. I accept the claim; it is undeniable. But it is also an accusation from within a UK glasshouse, since many of ...
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EU’s own Mama Grizzly
Forgive me for being a cultural slave of the US, but the US mid-term elections have coloured my thinking this week of developments here in Europe.
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Two cheers for the European parliament
I have been reading the first volume of Chris Mullin’s political diary A View From the Foothills, covering his period as a junior minister in the Blair government from 1999 to 2005. I can recommend it – very readable and most instructive about those years. He is usually more benign ...
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The right to choose your own lawyer – part 2
A year ago, I wrote about the Eschig decision of the European Court of Justice, which held that insured individuals in a mass tort case retain the right to choose their own lawyers. Now there is another case on its way to the European Court of Justice on the same ...