F[LAW]ED

According to a report published by the UK House of Lords' Select Committee on the Constitution, the case backlog in the criminal justice system has reached "crisis level". The report highlighted the significant increase in Crown Court cases from 39,000 pre pandemic, to 55,000 post (since then it has peaked at 59,532 cases). Alongside the Crown Court cases, the Magistrates backlog rose to more than 400,000 at the height of the pandemic. I believed that anyone with an ounce of logic and common sense should be able to identify that these numbers are dangerous and unsustainable. Dangerous, as a trial listed in 2023 can impact witnesses, statements, evidence and victims, often leading to cases being discontinued or thrown out; and unsustainable as people will lose faith in the criminal justice system which will ultimately lead to its demise. Obviously, this is a matter of urgency that requires a swift and efficient solution, to hold criminals accountable and to deter further c

A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case brought by Maya Forstater, a tax expert, over the employment tribunal ruling that her tweets, including "men cannot change into women", were "not worthy of respect in a democratic society", has succeeded. Maya successfully argued that gender-critical views classify as a philosophical belief, subsequently it is a protected characteristic under s.10 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA). Mr Justice Choudhury sided with Maya by concluding that the employment tribunal had "erred in law" and that Maya has the "right to believe ... that as a matter of biology a trans person is still their natural sex". This has, understandably, caused distress to many trans individuals who worry that this ruling enables hate speech while simultaneously eroding trans rights. Though Mr Justice Choudhury was keen to emphasise that his judgment does not express "any view on the merits of either side of the transgender debate&qu