• In Focus

    Roles of the lord chancellor and the law officers: Lords committee report

    In January 2023, the House of Lords Constitution Committee published a report on the roles of the lord chancellor and the law officers. It concluded the office holders must have the character, authority, intellect and independence to defend the rule of law. In response, the government said it had no plans to review the roles but would continue to reflect on the committee’s report. This article summarises the committee’s findings, as well as the government’s response.

  • In Focus

    Tackling fraud: Lords committee report

    In 2022, the House of Lords Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud Committee held an inquiry on a wide range of issues relating to fraud. It found that fraud was the most experienced crime in England and Wales and has brought significant financial and emotional costs to millions of victims. However, the committee also found that successive governments had failed to prioritise the issue, with the response from law enforcement and the private sector also lacking. To address these issues, the committee made 65 recommendations.

  • Research Briefing

    British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill: HL Bill 144 of 2022–23

    The British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill would deal with a legal issue that has come to light which casts doubt on the British citizenship of some people born in the UK to European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss nationals between 1 January 1983 and 1 October 2000. The bill would amend the British Nationality Act 1981 to effectively confirm the British citizenship of these individuals.

  • Research Briefing

    Powers of Attorney Bill: HL Bill 121 of 2022–23

    The Powers of Attorney Bill would introduce changes to the existing process for making and registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA). This would include introducing identity verification when applying to register an LPA and streamlining how individuals could object to the registration. It would allow different processes and evidence to be accepted depending on whether an LPA is made digitally, on paper or a combination of the two. Additionally, it would permit chartered legal executives to certify copies of LPAs.

  • In Focus

    Draft Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023: ‘Fatal’ and ‘regret’ motions

    In response to protests by groups such as Just Stop Oil, the government has introduced secondary legislation which would lower the threshold for what kind of protests are classed as “serious disruption” in England and Wales. The regulations are controversial because the government previously tried to introduce the same changes during parliamentary consideration of the Public Order Act 2023. The House of Lords rejected the proposed measures at that time. The House is now set to debate the regulations and motions to ‘regret’ or reject them.

  • In Focus

    Freelancers in the arts and creative sectors

    The creative industries sector is a significant contributor to the UK economy and freelancers comprise a large proportion of its workforce. While many freelancers can benefit from the flexibility of self-employment, they can also lose entitlements to a range of workplace rights. Concerns have been raised about the impact on creative freelancers of the UK’s post-Covid recovery. Some organisations in the creative sector have called for the appointment of a freelancers’ commissioner to advocate for the rights of freelancers.

  • Research Briefing

    Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Bill: HL Bill 125 of 2022–23

    The Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Bill is a private member’s bill which provides for a new offence of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress to a person in public because of that person’s sex or presumed sex. The bill has cross-party support and has passed all stages in the House of Commons. It is due to receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 16 June 2023.

  • Research Briefing

    Public Advocate Bill [HL]: HL Bill 25 of 2022–23

    This private member’s bill seeks to establish a public advocate who would advise representatives of the deceased after major incidents, and who would establish a panel similar to the Hillsborough Independent Panel if a majority of representatives of the deceased requested it.

  • In Focus

    Sentences of imprisonment for public protection: Updated action plan

    Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences were indeterminate sentences given to serious offenders who posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public. Although the IPP sentence was abolished in 2012, thousands of people subject to such a sentence are still in prison. In February 2023, the government rejected a recommendation from the House of Commons Justice Committee to conduct a resentencing exercise. It says its recently updated IPP action plan will support those serving an IPP sentence to progress towards release.

  • In Focus

    Trends in violent crime

    This article presents recent data on violent crime in England and Wales published by the Office for National Statistics.

  • In Focus

    Size of the army: Numbers, tech and the latest on the integrated review

    In 2021, the government announced it would reduce the size of the army from 82,000 to 73,000 trained regulars. It also said the army would be modernised to take advantage of new technologies. This article looks at the current size of the army, the government’s 2021 integrated review and the findings of a recent inquiry on UK defence policy by the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee.

  • In Focus

    Personality disorders in prison and probation: Are specialist units working?

    Several thousand prisoners in England required support from custodial mental health services between July and September 2021, according to new research. One such service included psychologically informed planned environments (PIPEs), which are designed to support offenders with personality-related difficulties. An evaluation of PIPEs commissioned by the government analysed whether the PIPE model had been effective. This article looks at how PIPEs work and what the evaluation found.

  • Research Briefing

    Illegal Migration Bill: HL Bill 133 of 2022–23

    The Illegal Migration Bill seeks to fulfil the commitments made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 4 January 2023 to “stop the boats and tackle the unfairness of illegal migration”. Provisions in the Illegal Migration Bill would introduce a duty on the home secretary to remove all adults entering the UK illegally (as defined in clause 2) after 7 March 2023. It would also introduce powers to detain those individuals prior to removal. The bill provides the secretary of state with greater powers to decide the place and duration of an individual’s detention. In addition to the duty to remove adults, the bill contains a power to remove those under 18 years of age; this would become a duty upon the child reaching 18. It would disapply aspects of modern slavery protections and provide that asylum and human rights claims by those subject to clause 2 were inadmissible. Immigration is a reserved matter, most of the bill’s provisions would apply in all four parts of the UK.

  • In Focus

    Police standards and culture: Restoring public trust

    In recent years, there has been a series of high-profile cases of gross misconduct and illegal behaviour by police officers. The government and policing bodies have recognised this has led to a loss of public trust and confidence in the police. This article examines some of the key inquiries into police standards and culture and discusses some of the commitments made by politicians and the police to restore public trust.

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