In Focus
On 1 April 2022, the House of Lords is due to debate the second reading of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill. The private member’s bill would raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18. It would also expand the scope of legislation dealing with forced marriage to include any conduct to facilitate the marriage of someone under the age of 18.
In Focus
British sign language (BSL) is the most commonly used sign language in the UK and is considered culturally important by the Deaf community. Although it is recognised as a language by the Government, this is not set out in law. This bill would give BSL full legal recognition as a language in England, Wales and Scotland and contains provisions to promote its use. The measures have cross-party support.
In Focus
In March 2021, the House of Lords Constitution Committee published the ‘Covid-19 and the Courts’ report. This made several recommendations to the Government, including for continued investment in remote hearing technology. The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the report on 23 March 2022.
Research Briefing
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill is a government bill that is being fast-tracked through Parliament. It completed its second reading and remaining stages in the House of Commons on 7 March 2022. The bill would make provision in three areas: part 1 would introduce a register of the beneficial owners of overseas entities that owned land in the UK; part 2 would make changes to strengthen unexplained wealth orders; and part 3 would make changes to sanctions legislation to help deter and prevent breaches of financial sanctions.
In Focus
Despite years of international attention on the issue, global gender gaps remain. Data published by the World Economic Forum in 2021 showed that global gender gaps remained in education, health, economics and politics. This article looks at findings from the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and girls.
In Focus
The Approved Premises (Substance Testing) Bill is a private member’s bill that would create a statutory framework for drugs testing in approved premises, including testing for psychoactive substances and the abuse of prescription and pharmacy medicines. The bill received cross-party support in the House of Commons.
In Focus
Recent labour market figures show a record number of job vacancies and increased economic activity in the UK. It has been suggested that one reason for this could be that older workers are leaving the workforce at a higher rate than before. This article considers how the pandemic has impacted older workers and what actions the Government has taken.
In Focus
Under provisions in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, cultural objects loaned to institutions in the UK for temporary exhibitions are protected from seizure for a period of 12 months. The Cultural Objects (Protection from Seizure) Bill would allow this period to be extended by three months, for example in cases where an object may be stranded in the UK due to travel disruption and the 12-month period of protection would otherwise lapse.
In Focus
On 4 March 2022, the House of Lords is due to debate the second reading of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill. The bill would oblige taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities to submit information about refusals, suspensions and revocations of driver licences to a national database. Licensing authorities would also have to check the database before making licensing decisions.
In Focus
The Office for Demographic Change Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill which would establish an independent demographic authority to analyse the impact of UK population change. This article summarises what the bill would do, and the background to the proposals.
In Focus
A regret motion has been tabled in the House of Lords on the draft Passenger, Crew and Service Information (Civil Penalties) (Amendment) Regulations 2022. This article provides information on the motion and what the regulations would do.
In Focus
In recent years, some in law enforcement and Government have associated recreational drug use, particularly among the middle classes, with increasing violence. This article looks at the Government’s plans to tackle the problem, responses to the proposals and Dame Carol Black’s recent independent review of drugs.
In Focus
The Human Rights Act 1998 set out human rights protection from the European Convention on Human Rights in UK law. The impact of the act on parliamentary sovereignty and the criminal justice system, amongst other things, has been increasingly considered. Following several years of debate, the Government has recently revealed its plans to replace the act with a new British bill of rights.
In Focus
From 1 January 2021, the UK and EU’s relationship in policing, law enforcement and security has been governed by the provisions of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, most notably part three. The House of Lords European Union Committee published a report examining the arrangements on 26 March 2021. The committee welcomed several of the agreement’s provisions but said it was an unavoidable consequence of Brexit that it did not provide for the same level of collaboration as before.
In Focus
In June 2020, the House of Lords Democracy and Digital Committee published its report into the effects of digital technology on democracy and trust. It made several recommendations to the Government, including calling for online harms legislation to be introduced within a year of the report’s publication. The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the report on 11 March 2022.
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