All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 39
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Language wars – a preliminary skirmish on patents
The patent blogs – yes, there are such things – have been buzzing this week with the opinion given by the advocates-general of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on the legality of the proposed scheme to make the patent process more competitive in the EU. And ...
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The coming regulatory revolution
The European Commission is concerned at the take-up of electronic commerce in the EU.
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Thoughts from the American Bar Association's annual meeting
I was at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco last week. Here are some conclusions.
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Legal professional privilege is under attack again
I have a message for democratic governments everywhere (please forgive the self-importance): stop interfering with legal professional privilege. I think that they used to, by and large, leave alone this cornerstone of the definition of the legal profession – and, of course, cornerstone of a citizen’s fundamental rights, which is ...
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Helping the criminal suspect: the letter of rights
I am in Colorado at the moment, and so you will forgive me if I again use cowboy metaphors to describe the latest actions of commissioner Reding. She has come riding down into the canyon (and there are plenty of those in Colorado), lassoed the horse rustling member states ...
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Lessons from a conference on a turbulent legal profession
I have just participated in a conference at Stanford University in California, called The Legal Profession in Times of Turbulence. It was attended by professors from leading American universities, with presentations of the highest quality. I have conclusions to draw of interest to us in Europe.
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Contract law: this summer’s essential beach reading from the EC
A sure sign of the beginning of the summer, as fixed as hot weather and crowded airports, is the publication by the European Commission of an important consultation document. They clear their desks before packing their bags, and woe to the rest of us who want to enjoy the summer. ...
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EU language war sparked by patents proposal
The other side of the coin of the EU’s welcome inclusiveness and multilingualism is that some things are made worse by it.
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What about the European courts?
Courts have problems, like everyone else. In the UK, there will be much heat over the coming months over the closure programme announced by the government.
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Some lessons for the Legal Services Board
The Legal Services Board can take a leaf out of the American Bar Association’s book when planning its next radical review of legal services.
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Could Beethoven have been a lawyer?
As the euro and the idea of Europe go into freefall, as the UK’s debts mount and swingeing cuts take place, let us talk about something really important: why is it that so few great artists have been lawyers?
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The secret world of GATS
There is a small body of rootless cosmopolitans who meet in windowless hotel rooms a few times a year to discuss the ins and outs of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as it affects lawyers: free trade agreements, most favoured nation status, mutual recognition, the whole shebang. ...
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A day in the life of an international legal conference attendee
The flowering season for that most exotically located of plants, the international legal conference, has begun. It runs from May to October. It does not mean that there are no legal conferences outside those months...
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You are an EU citizen: do something about it
Much ink has been spilled recently about what it felt like to be a UK citizen during the changes leading to the coalition government – we were being ignored/our wishes were being followed; we were voting for change/we did not know what we wanted; etc (in each case, delete ...
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Lawyers getting connected in the EU
The cliche brands of Facebook, Skype and Google tell us how we have become intimately interconnected, wherever we live on the planet. There will obviously be more of it in the future. One of the great, unsung advantages of the EU is that it is preparing us – not for ...
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The law is about quality not nationality
The news grows worse in the eurozone. The tardiness of leaders to come to the rescue of Greece has made a crisis for all of us, and leads me to think about the role of nationality in the EU, with a particular focus on how it plays out in the ...
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Give a little whistle!
I am playing Jiminy Cricket this week, trying to keep you on the straight and narrow – in relation to views about the European Union: 'If you start to slide, give a little whistle! Give a little whistle!'
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A five-year Action Plan for justice in the EU
The UK has been going through waves of Cleggmania, but has largely ignored the EU as it undergoes the process of how it will be governed for the next five years. Now the EU has published its own plans for the next five years in the justice sector.
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In memory of Joanna Agacka-Indecka
Last weekend, I was on one of the beautiful country walks which abound around Brussels when I received a text message from my president, to say that the head of the Polish delegation to the CCBE and president of the Polish Bar Council, Joanna Agacka-Indecka, had been among the victims ...
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Europe and the law – an embarrassment at election time
I have read that UK citizens are already bored by the general election. Before you have glazed over entirely, let me offer some insights into the corner that concerns me: the junction of law and Europe.