by Albert Sanchez-Graells, Professor of Economic Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Global Law and Innovation (University of Bristol Law School). On 29 March 2023, the UK Government published its much awaited policy paper ‘AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach’ (the ‘AI White Paper’). The AI White Paper made it clear that Government does not intend to create new legislation to regulate artificial intelligence (‘AI’), or a new AI regulator. AI regulation is to be left to existing regulators based on ‘five general principles to guide and inform the responsible development and use of AI in ..read more

by Clare Torrible, University of Bristol Law School The Supreme Court’s is currently considering one of the most important cases for police accountability this Century. Stemming from the fatal police shooting of Jermaine Baker in 2015, R (on the application of Officer W80) v Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct and others (W80) concerns the correct test for determination of whether officers’ use of force against citizens may amount to misconduct. The point in issue is whether (as the IOPC is arguing) misconduct may be found where the use of force was not “necessary, p ..read more

by Jani Hannonen, Doctoral Researcher, University of Turku (Finland) [This blog is part of a series on the pandemic. The introduction to the series can be found here.] The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has reformed work culture, with many people suddenly having to work remotely. Not even the criminal justice system has escaped the pandemic unchanged because it has forced countries to arrange court hearings in a remote format or postpone them. In this blog post, I explore whether the increased use of technology in criminal procedure as a result of Covid-19 could be harnessed to combat human ..read more

by Dr Kathryn Allinson, the Law School University of Bristol, The Illegal Migration Bill was presented to Parliament this week, proposing to ‘prevent and deter unlawful migration’. It will do so by obligating the Home Secretary to detain and remove anyone who arrives in the UK irregularly whilst denying them access to asylum procedures and appeals. The only exception is unaccompanied children and those to whom removal would cause ‘serious and irreparable harm’. However, the Bill will not deter people from coming to the UK. Instead, the provisions of the Bill, if enacted, would place asylum-se ..read more

by Clare Cathelain (Claire Cathelain is currently enrolled as PhD student at University of Lille, she is on her 1st year. She got her law bachelor’s degree in 2018 and her master’s degree in social law in 2020 in Lille. She is specialized in health at work law and in the field of disabilities at work. She is directly concerned by this last subject.) [This blog is part of a series on the pandemic. The introduction to the series can be found here.] The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the face of the world. During the health crisis, remote working increased for many reasons and remote work, w ..read more

By Dr Jule Mulder, The Law School, University of Bristol This series of blogposts emerged from the 14th Legal Research Network Conference hosted by the University of Bristol Law School on the 15th and 16th of September 2022.  [The Legal Research Network Conference.] The conference focused on the post-pandemic effect and potential opportunities for social and sustainable development. Contributors were invited to explore the Pandemic and consider what we can learn from experience during the Covid crisis exposing structural vulnerabilities in industrialised societies and how this provides o ..read more

by Professor Devyani Prabhat, University of Bristol Law School The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), a court that specialises in national security cases, has upheld the home secretary’s decision to cancel Shamima Begum’s citizenship. The 23-year-old was deprived of her citizenship in 2019, four years after leaving the UK aged 15 to join Islamic State in Syria. The court found “credible suspicion” that Begum had been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, as her lawyers had argued. It also found that there were “arguable breaches of duty” by state authorities in having ..read more

by Professor Charlotte Villiers and Yefan Xu The recent hearings of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Parliamentary Committee, taking oral evidence relating to Royal Mail on 17 January 2023, provide a case study of confrontational industrial relations brought about by corporate governance failure. A breakdown in trust between the boardroom and the company’s workforce is highlighted in the protracted and bitter industrial dispute involving strikes and stalemate in the negotiations around proposals to transform the business away from a universal service obligation of s ..read more

on the by Dr Eleanore Hickman, University of Bristol Law School The Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SMCR) is considered to be a response to the excessive risk taking and poor corporate culture from which the financial crisis and the LIBOR scandal emerged. At that time, accountability was in short supply and the SMCR sought to address this. In my recent paper I consider whether the SMCR is fit for this purpose and conclude that, although it is in principle, in practice it is falling short. The Government have pledged to begin to review its reform in the first quarter of 2023. As a reg ..read more

by Michael Naughton, Reader in Sociology and Law, University of Bristol Law School and School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS) Introduction A UK Government and Parliament Petition emerged recently calling for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to be given more funding. The case made by the petitioners was as follows: ‘We want the Government to increase funding for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), so they have more resources, funding and manpower to review all possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts. We believe that the CCRC is under ..read more