Embracing the Uncomfortable Complexity of Police Legitimacy: The Only Way Ahead for Democratic Accountability?

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By Ms Clare Torrible, Teaching Associate (University of Bristol Law School).

© Guardian
© Guardian

It can sometimes be easy to lose sight of the wood for the trees. The Policing and Crime Bill suggests a number of changes to the police complaints system and, having received its third reading in Parliament on June 13th looks set to make the statute books in due course.

However, as I have recently argued,* academic debate on police complaints can be conflicted and circular. Further, the reasoning in public debate is peppered with assertions (which seem to be presumed rather than tested) that reforms will deliver improvements in what, to my mind, is a worryingly ill-defined ‘public confidence’.

Policing is a necessarily conflicted social function. So by what measure can we assess the multiple reforms to police complaints and discipline that are about to be ushered in? In a recent article ‘Reconceptualising the Police Complaints Process as a Site of Contested Legitimacy Claims‘ I take a step back from the current academic and public debates and outline a new framework by which the true impact of these reforms might be assessed. (more…)

Brexit and private international law

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By Prof Jonathan Hill, Professor of Law (University of Bristol Law School).

GlobesIt is unlikely that many voters, when deciding how they would vote in the recent EU referendum, would have given any thought to the implications of Brexit for private international law in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, Brexit is likely to have profound consequences in this (admittedly) complex and specialist field. The greatest effect will be felt in the commercial arena: in the context of cross-border litigation, for example, the EU has established, in civil and commercial matters, a common framework for the jurisdiction of national courts, the determination of the applicable law and the reciprocal recognition/enforcement of judgments granted by Member State courts. Brexit will also take the United Kingdom out of the EU-wide systems for the allocation of divorce jurisdiction and the mutual recognition of divorces and nullity decrees. (more…)

Race, Heritage and Epistemic Violence: What Brexit is for Africa and British-Africans

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By Dr Foluke Ifejola Ipinyomi, Teaching Associate (University of Bristol Law School).

black_britain400In my personal blog, I examined in detail why many British-African voted Leave. It is my contention that the campaign failed to address the concerns of African citizens of the Commonwealth and those of African descent living in the UK. This was quite a considerable section of the electorate whose concerns were ignored or presumed. In fact some members of the Leave campaign petitioned to have this section removed from eligibility to vote, presuming that they would vote to Remain in the EU. Personally, I had an interesting time trying to counter presumptions made by various African friends about why they wanted the UK to leave the EU. I do wish I had said more when there was still time, but no one expects the unexpected. Ultimately, Africans voting to leave the EU was the result of badly run campaign, an enormous amount of misinformation and a glaring disregard of the history of Africa-Europe relations. The two primary issues that should have been addressed with regard to British-Africans were immigration and financial concerns. (more…)

PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC v O W Bunker Malta Ltd: A case on the statutory definition of a sale of goods

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By Dr Mark Campbell, Teaching Associate (University of Bristol Law School).

AAEAAQAAAAAAAAZkAAAAJDY3NzMyZTA3LTYzZDEtNGFhNi05ZDFlLWI0YWE0NjZjNGNlYgSection 2(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (the ‘Act’) defines a sale of goods as ‘a contract by which the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a money consideration, called the price.’ There are, accordingly, three reasons why a contract may fall outside that definition and, thus, the Act’s jurisdiction. First, there may be no transfer of property in the goods, as in a bailment where there is transfer of possession but not ownership. Second, the transfer may relate to subject matter other than goods: e.g. an assignment of intangible property such as copyright or debt. Third, there may be an absence of money consideration: e.g. a gift or a contract involving goods given wholly in exchange for other goods.

In PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC v O W Bunker Malta Ltd [2016] UKSC 23, [2016] 2 WLR 1193 the UK Supreme Court has recently examined the reach of s 2(1) and, in particular, the requirement for a transfer of property in the goods. The transaction in question involved the supply of bunkers (marine fuel) by O W Bunker Malta Ltd (‘OBWM’) to PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC (‘PST’), the owners of a vessel, Res Cogitans. That agreement contained a retention of title clause. Where goods are supplied on credit terms, a retention of title clause allows the seller to retain ownership of the goods pending payment by the buyer. OBWM had been supplied with the bunkers by its parent company, O W Bunker & Trading A/S (‘OWBAS’), which in turn had been supplied by Rosneft Marine UK Ltd (‘RMUK’). The contract between OWBAS and RMUK also contained a retention of title clause. Physical delivery of the bunkers to the vessel was made by RN-Bunker Ltd, an associate company of RMUK and the supplier to RMUK. The legal proceedings arose following an application for restructuring by OWBAS, an event which would allow ING Bank NV to claim the contract price from PST as assignee of debts owed to OWBM. Concerned that it may not recover the contract price from OWBAS, RMUK indicated that it would seek payment from PST on the basis that RMUK remained the owner of the bunkers. (more…)

The Human Rights Implications of Brexit

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By Prof Steven Greer, Professor of Human Rights (University of Bristol Law School).

banner-1327289_640At this stage, the only firm conclusion which can be drawn about the human rights implications of Brexit is that they are likely to be uncertain for many years to come – for the UK, for the soon-to-be 27-member European Union, and for the 47-member Council of Europe, the parent body of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, the so-called ‘Strasbourg institutions’. Taking each of these in turn, let us consider the UK first. (more…)

International Commercial Arbitration: the removal of arbitrators for apparent bias

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By Prof Jonathan Hill, Professor of Law (University of Bristol Law School).

iba1It is a fundamental principle of arbitration law that arbitrators – whether appointed by one of the arbitrants, by the arbitrants jointly or by a third party (such as an arbitral institution or a national court) – must be impartial. This principle is enshrined in institutional arbitration rules and national legislation. It is, therefore, not surprising that, when doubts as to an arbitrator’s impartiality arise, one of the arbitrants will seek to have the arbitrator removed. The importance of the parties’ right to challenge an arbitrator on the basis of justifiable doubts as to the arbitrator’s impartiality is illustrated by the recent decision of the High Court in Sierra Fishing Co v Farran [2015] 1 All ER (Comm) 560. The decision is notable in two respects.

The significance of the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration

Because, in international cases, arbitrants and arbitrators often come from different countries and different legal traditions, they may have different conceptions of what types of circumstance give rise to a conflict of interests and different assumptions about how any such conflict might be resolved. The IBA guidelines, which were originally formulated in 2004 and have been subsequently revised (most recently in 2014), aim to assist the arbitration community by providing a typology of different kinds of conflict and a system for grading their seriousness. The guidelines list a wide variety of professional, financial and personal connections and place them in three lists: red (split into waivable and non-waivable); orange (waivable); and green (irrelevant). Since their inception, the guidelines have frequently been used by arbitrators (in assessing what circumstances need to be disclosed prior to appointment, or thereafter) and arbitral institutions (when determining challenges under institutional rules).

(more…)

Brexit may have negative effects for the control of public expenditure, particularly regarding subsidies to large companies

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By Dr Albert Sanchez Graells, Senior Lecturer in Law (University of Bristol Law School).

image028In the current state of turmoil, it is difficult to speculate on the exact relationship between the EU and the UK that can result from the Brexit vote and the future negotiations to be held under Article 50 TEU, in case it gets triggered. However, in order to contribute to the debate of what that relationship should look like in the interest of taxpayers in the UK, it is important to consider the implications that a post-Brexit deal could have in terms of the potential disappearance of the EU rules applicable to the control of how public funds are spent. A reduction in the control mechanisms applicable to certain types of public expenditure could indeed diminish the effectiveness of policies funded by taxpayers in the UK and create shortcomings in public governance more generally. (more…)

The law and politics of withdrawal from the EU

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By Dr Phil Syrpis, Reader in Law (University of Bristol Law School).

© Alamy / Guardian
© Alamy / Guardian

On Thursday June 23, the people had their say. Over 17 million Britons voted to leave the EU. The outcome was clear, and should be respected.

Nevertheless, the future is shrouded in uncertainty. Months of campaigning failed to produce good answers to what have become urgent questions. The uncertainty relates both to the mechanism of withdrawal, and to the terms of any withdrawal agreement and future trade agreement with the EU.  As no Member State has ever withdrawn from the EU, there are no relevant precedents. This is uncharted territory; these are interesting times. (more…)

Ellie Butler: child welfare v parents’ rights

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By Prof Judith Masson, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies (University of Bristol Law School).

© PA
© PA

In all the commentary on the tragic death of Ellie Butler, there has been very little discussion of the decision made to return Ellie to her parents. This was a truly exceptional decision. Ellie had been living with her grand-parents, her special guardians, for 5 years. She had not lived with her mother since she was admitted to hospital at the age of 6 weeks and never lived with her parents together. Indeed her parents only started living together shortly before she was returned to them. Ellie had had very little contact with her parents; contact had been limited by the court and the mother and father did not attend many of their contact sessions. The people who parented Ellie were her grand-parents; she and her parents hardly knew each other.

Special guardianship orders (SGOs) were introduced in 2002 to provide a framework for permanent care where adoption was not appropriate where children were being cared for within their wider family, as Ellie was, also for older children who have enduring relationships with parents who cannot care for them. Approximately 7,000 SGOs are made each year, around 5,000 in child protection proceedings and 2,000 for children who are not in state care. (more…)

Brexit: A climactic decision?

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By Ms Chris Willmore, Reader in Sustainability and Law (University of Bristol Law School).*

Europaflagge
Europaflagge

With the Referendum being imminent, the Environment has singularly failed to make itself an issue in the BREXIT debate. Yet it is impossible to explore any aspect of environmental law in the UK without encountering European Law.  It is therefore no surprise that environmental lawyers and environmental groups have been queuing up to express concerns about the implications of BREXIT – Margherita Piericcini’s Cabot Institute blog on the impact on wildlife and habitats is an example.

So why has the environment not become a key issue?  I attended the All-Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group’s event ‘A Climactic Decision: Brexit’s impact on the UK’s climate and environment’ at the Houses of Parliament earlier this month in the hope of finding out why. (more…)