Topic Archives: Crime, civil law, justice and rights

And when did you last see your father?

Baroness Deech 04/02/2012 – 8:25 am

There have been conflicting stories in the press this week about how and whether the government intends to change the law in order to ensure that both parents see more of their children after divorce.  Some reports said that there would be introduced a legal presumption of equally shared parenting; others that it would not go this far but that there would be encouragement of equal access, or […]

Written at 8:25 am on 04/02/2012, by Baroness Deech

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Congolese Elections: Democratisation is a process, not an event.

Lord McConnell 30/01/2012 – 2:14 pm

  On December 17 2010, a young Tunisian man set himself on fire.  This desperate act helped to spark a political revolution in the Arab world.  Images of people revolting against notoriously oppressive regimes captivated onlookers worldwide.  More than a year later, the world is indeed a different place – long-term dictators have been unseated, governments shuffled or disbanded altogeth […]

Written at 2:14 pm on 30/01/2012, by Lord McConnell

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Against my Will

Baroness Deech 26/01/2012 – 3:34 pm

The Inheritance (Cohabitants) Bill received its first reading on the 12th January.  It is based on a Law Commission Report, Law Com no. 331 (2011) http://www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/docs/lc331_intestacy_report.pdf which, after consultation, recommended that the law be changed so that cohabitants would have an automatic claim to the property of their partner if he or she died intestate, prov […]

Written at 3:34 pm on 26/01/2012, by Baroness Deech

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DRC Elections 2012: Observing a Rush to the Polls

Lord McConnell 23/01/2012 – 11:22 am

November 28, 2011 was historic in the DRC; the first ever democratic national election organized by the Congolese themselves. Indeed it was only the second time since independence in 1960 that a multi-party electoral vote would be set to determine the presidential seat.  However, this relatively undeveloped voting system left the electoral process wide open to systemic and local corruption that c […]

Written at 11:22 am on 23/01/2012, by Lord McConnell

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It’s a secret

Baroness Deech 09/12/2011 – 1:26 am

On Wednesday 7th there was a brief diversion from the progress of the consideration of amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill.  Baroness Thornton proposed a motion that the House should be able to see the risk register pertaining to the Bill.  The Information Commissioner had ruled that it should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, but the Department of Health had appealed […]

Written at 1:26 am on 09/12/2011, by Baroness Deech

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