S10E01 - It's Not Fair!

Episode one of series 10, eh?

Well life's not fair but at least you can listen here and know that your glass half empty view of the world is actually fully justifiable.

First up on the it's not fair index is having to spend forever behind bars because you can't afford to pay the ever increasing interest payments of the loan shark government.  Ben looks at unforeseen consequences of POCA legislation as discussed in the case of R v Gibson.

Then Kirstin looks at the guidelines for prosecutors of child sex abuse cases, holding her head in her hands for the most part that the prosecution need guidelines to tell them to do what they should already be doing. (Although there are some creditable bits too).

Jonathan joins us to hold his head in his hands about IPNAs and CBOs - You'll just have to listen if you don't know what these are but be afraid.

We recognise there are new offences of subletting a council house - more next week perhaps.

And finally, we salute His Honour Justice Holman and Bar Council Chairman Maura McGowan for telling it like it is.  You can read along with us here and here.

New Series Starts Next Week!

We have been off air for 6 weeks and those lovely people over at UK Criminal Law Blog have been filling your ears with interesting information on the Baby P case, politics, child abuse cases and all sorts.

Whilst we have been off-air, Kirstin has been talking to the MMU Critical Lawyers about anonymity in sex cases - our old friend  She's even been bothering the Beeb's viewers on the subject.  And BBC 5Live.  Such a media-tart!

Ben has been working and trying to keep his sanity as builders have descended on his home to replace the bathroom.  Quite probably some litigation coming there as the first builders disappeared into the sunset!  

Jonathan has been busy with all manner of interesting stuff.  He's going to tell us about some of it at the start of the new series.

We hope that you have all been keeping well and we'd like to know if you have any subjects that have arisen over the last six weeks that you think we should be covering.

Get in touch and tell us what you'd like us to talk about.

The Northpod Law bods - 11th October 2013

Whilst we are off-air....

For the six weeks when we are living the high life and not recording Northpod Law, we are really pleased to announce that those lovely people at UK Criminal Law Blog (most of whom have been on the show at some point or another) will be giving you six weeks of their take on the big crime stories in the press.

Your iTunes, Pocketcast etc feed will update automatically so don't freak out when you see a new logo appear in your podcasts!

We'll be back in six weeks so we'll leave you in their hands for now.

Ben, Kirstin and Jonathan.

S09E06 - Forced Marriages

A cake and bourbon show with no cake.  Or bourbon.  Or Ben.  Or Jonathan.

What we do have though is an in depth look at the work of the family courts of England and Wales with a particular focus on the increasingly common issue of forced marriages.

Have a listen right here.

Joining Kirstin this week (actually in Podcast Towers for a change!) is Joseph Lynch.  He is a family law specialist whose work mainly involves public law cases - where a local authority is seeking to remove the child from the custody of the parents.

Joe can be contacted via his chambers, Central Chambers.

We will be back in <cough> six weeks with a new series.  Series 10 is quite likely to end with a party.  What do you say?  Fancy joining us for a few sneaky drinks at a live show?  Let us know on the Twitter, Google+, email or on 0161 408 5037

Some other stories for which we did not have time this week:

Grayling turns on yet another “valued partner”. Serco this time.

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/moj-calls-in-police-over-serco-fraud-claims/5037199.article

...but refuses to back down on Legal Aid destruction.

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/areas-of-law/legal-aid-and-access-to-justice/grayling-refuses-to-delay-legal-aid-cuts/5037170.article

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Orders or Suspected sex offender restraining orders

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23844385

Jonathan Rayner, writing in the Law Society Gazette, quotes Law Society criminal law committee chair Richard Atkinson told me: ‘It is a dangerous move to take away the requirement for a conviction to make a restrictive order, not least because the order will be interpreted as proof that you committed the offence and that you are indeed a paedophile.

‘Also, if you resort to litigation to resist the restrictions, you are effectively telling the prosecution in advance how you intend to conduct your defence – giving the prosecution two bites of the cherry.’

Also, keep a lookout for a new law-based podcast, coming soon on the Northpod network of podcasts.  Don't worry as we will add the new show to your podcast feed automatically when it's available so you don't miss out.