Law In Action

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Also in the programme: do the police now need a code of conduct on ethics and social media? And the small square of land on the Arabian Peninsula where English common law holds sway.

Producer: Tim Mansel

Editor: Richard Knight.

Would the system of lay magistrates be invented today? Presented by Joshua Rozenberg.

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel.

Joshua Rozenberg finds out why criminal courts charges have proved controversial.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has ordered people to stay at home. Lawyer Mariella Melandri tells Law In Action how this is affecting her legal practice and clients.

The government is planning emergency legislation allowing people who are forced to self-isolate to appear in court by video link or telephone. Is this an adequate substitute for a face-to-face hearing? Joshua speaks to immigration barrister Colin Yeo.

Also, is India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) unconstitutional? Dr Rahul Rao, Senior Lecturer in Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, explains why this controversial law is being challenged in the Indian Supreme Court.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Di Richardson

A look inside the commercial court, one of the UK's most successful invisible exports.

Plus: We look at the controversial European court rulings that stop illegal immigrants being deported if they are caring for children who are British citizens.

Should the laws of war ban 'drones'? Plus, illegal immigrants who can't be deported.

Joshua Rozenberg meets computer scientists at the University of Liverpool, who are using 'computational argumentation' to digitally decide the results of legal cases, proving that AI can be just as discerning as a court judge. He also meets the founder of a law firm already making the most of existing AI technology to benefit customers and build business.

But just how far is the legal profession - and the general public - willing to trust the judgement of an AI algorithm? The IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice, Professor Richard Susskind, explains where AI might fit into the legal sphere in years to come.

Also: The First 100 Years is a new digital history project, charting the pioneering role women have played in the legal profession. Law in Action speaks to the project's founder Dana Denis-Smith and Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss.

Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Ben Crighton.

Joshua Rozenberg explores how artificial intelligence might change the legal profession.

Much has changed since then: the constitution was reformed; the Crown Prosecution Service founded; the Human Rights Act passed; and Joshua's beard removed.

To mark 30 years of a programme which has consistently and expertly explained the legal world to a general audience, Law in Action is broadcasting a special debate.

We will be asking a distinguished panel - the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, Deputy President of the Supreme Court Lady Hale, and the former DPP Sir Keir Starmer - to discuss the most significant legal developments of the last 30 years.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Keith Moore

Editor: Richard Knight.

Joshua Rozenberg discusses the most significant legal developments of the last 30 years.

He examines a key case which tested new rules on bogus marriages and asks whether it might allow more immigrants to use fake marriages to stay in the country. Clive also casts new light on Barack Obama by investigating his past as a law professor. Plus he gets a tour behind the scenes at Britain's most famous court, the Old Bailey.

Clive Coleman examines a key case which tested new rules on bogus marriages

Also this week: transparency in the courts. When judges make decisions on sensitive personal and family issues, should their courts be open to all? Or does reporting put justice at risk? Joshua Rozenberg shines a light on this darker corner of the law.

Producer: Neil Koenig

This week, Joshua Rozenberg explores this latest chapter in Britain's exit from the EU - the fallout from which has seen highly personal attacks on England's most senior judges, as the ideological divisions seen in the run up to the referendum vote were exposed once more.

Following our previous edition of Law in Action, which aired straight after the referendum vote, the programme has gone back to the same leading legal minds to seek some clarity amid the conflicting and confusing media coverage.

Has the high court's decision really stalled Brexit as leave voters fear - and some remainers hope? Just how will the so-called 'Great Repeal Bill' work in practice? And will the UK still have to comply with EU laws if it wants to continue to trade with the continent?

CONTRIBUTORS

Prof Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge

Prof Mark Elliott, Professor of Public Law at University of Cambridge

Producers: Matt Bardo & Richard Fenton-Smith.

What are the legal ramifications of the High Court ruling on the Brexit legal challenge?

Producer Simon Coates

Editor Penny Murphy.

Will the UK referendum result lead to real legal independence?

Interviewees include former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith and Monty Raphael, special counsel at Peters and Peters law firm.

Clive Coleman and guests explore the proposed reforms of the UK's bribery laws.

But what are the prospects of bringing him to justice? A team of investigators is already compiling the evidence needed for a criminal prosecution against him. Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Bill Wiley, the man in charge of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability about its work and the prospects of a successful prosecution.

Also in the programme: do men get a raw deal when it comes to divorce? One American law firm certainly thinks so. Cordell and Cordell have brought their service that 'men can count on' to the UK in an attempt to help men who feel aggrieved.

But how does that tally with the cases before the Supreme Court this week, where two wives are seeking to add to their original divorce settlements? They claim that their former husbands behaved dishonestly.

And we meet that rare thing - a 'sound' lawyer. Dr James Parker tells us about law and 'acoustic violence'.

Producer: Hannah Barnes.

The prospects of mounting a successful prosecution against Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

Also on the programme, presenter Joshua Rozenberg examines the legal status of the so-called 'get out of jail free' letters received by suspected paramilitaries.

And does the government's new announcement on legal aid mean justice could become a luxury for the rich, as some critics claim?

Locking up bankers, 'get out of jail free' letters, and is justice a luxury for the rich?

Joshua Rozenberg explores the legal issues underlying this controversial legal and political debate with members of the Government-appointed Commission on a British Bill of Rights; a former government lawyer; a leading criminal barrister whose cases also raise human rights issues and politicians.

The programme also looks at cycling law. As the number of cyclists on our roads increases, so too does the conflict between them, motorists and pedestrians - but is the law keeping up with the change? Few people seem to think so, with pedestrians furious at 'lycra-lout' cyclists jumping red lights or cycling on pavements and cyclists frustrated at inconsiderate motorists. Law in Action goes for a ride with cycling law expert Jorren Knibbe for a taste of the road wars. And Joshua discusses proposed new dangerous cycling and driving offences with Andrea Leadsom MP.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg investigates how reforming the Human Rights Act would affect UK law.

Also on the programme, presenter Joshua Rozenberg visits a homeowner who was shocked to discover that someone else owns the rights to the land beneath her home. It's all because of an obscure remnant of feudal law called manorial rights.

With six months to go until Scotland votes on independence, we examine some of the major differences between Scots and English law.

And what does a judge's clerk do? A glimpse into the working life of a little-known legal figure who makes the courts run on time.

Appeal courts on TV, the job of a judge's clerk, and how feudal law affects homeowners.

In the first case of its kind, in a ruling that was upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court, the Netherlands were found to have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% compared to 1990, and this by December of last year. What happened?

Apart from governments, companies are being sued by individuals or shareholders. For example, a Peruvian farmer has filed a case in a German court against a German electricity company for what he claims is its role in warming up the climate enough for him to be threatened by flooding as a nearby Andean glacier melts.

In Poland activist shareholders sued the board of their utility company to stop the development of a new coal mine, claiming an 'indefensible' financial risk, due to rising carbon costs and falling renewables prices.

And senior lawyers are developing the concept of 'ecocide', with the aim to make it an indictable offence at the International Criminal Court, analogous to genocide or crimes against humanity.

So how is the law evolving to tackle climate change, asks Joshua Rozenberg.

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

As governments and fossil fuel companies are being sued, can the law fight climate change?

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Are the tech giants anti-competitive? And should having a past block a child's future?

Also: with British military aircraft now deployed against the forces of Islamic State in Iraq, we ask whether the Prime Minister needs to seek consent from Parliament before committing British forces to action overseas.

Did the vote in the House of Commons in 2013 rejecting military action against President Assad of Syria create a convention that should now be followed in all cases? We hear from Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chair of the House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, and Gavin Phillipson of Durham University.

The Minister of Justice and Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, gave evidence last week to the House of Lords Constitution Committee. He was asked whether the Lord Chancellor should be a lawyer. Mr Grayling, who is not a lawyer, didn't think so. But what do others think? And does it matter?

And TV justice: we talk to the criminal barrister Robert Rinder who, as 'Judge Rinder', is attracting large audiences to his ITV show, in which he adjudicates on real disputes.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel

Editor: Richard Knight.

Does the PM have to ask Parliament before committing Britain to military action overseas?

Joshua Rozenberg interviews Karim Hammoud from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is responsble for enforcing the treaty, and asks why we need special laws for chemical weapons - what distinguishes them other deadly weapons?

Also: The programme reflects on the first public lecture given by the new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, presented at Gray's Inn in London. Titled 'Justice in One Place or Several?', Lord Thomas reveals his proposal to enhance the role of courts outside of London.

Joshua also debates the merits of allowing TV cameras into the Court of Appeal with Baroness Helena Kennedy QC - will it help open up an understanding of the law to the public?

Contributors:

Jean Pascal Zanders, chemical weapons expert and consultant, founder of the-trench.org

Karim Hammoud, Senior Legal Officer, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.

British veterans of World War I, archive courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London.

Producer: Mike Wendling

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith

Editor: Richard Knight.

Joshua Rozenberg reveals how laws relating to chemical weapons stretch back 2,000 years.

Judges now have the power to hand out community service punishments to parents who sabotage contact between their ex-partners and their children. Will the courts be willing to impose penalties on obstructive parents?

Also a report on how children going through care proceedings are being affected by the shortage of guardians, the professionals responsible for advising the judge on what is in the best interests of the child.

The number of cases waiting to be tried at Crown Courts in England and Wales is now over 56,000. We examine the backlog viewed from the perspective of a juror, a barrister and a judge.

We ask what effect the pandemic has had on prisoners, and on those serving indefinite sentences.

And the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC reveals new proposals to allow deaf people to sit on juries, as part of a plan to allow remote juries in England and Wales, even after the pandemic.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

The civil claim in the Anne Sacoolas case, and how is the pandemic affecting jury trials?

Across the Atlantic meanwhile, an issue of direct concern to tens of millions of voters is exercising the judges of the US Supreme Court. Later this month, they will rule on the lawfulness of President Obama's flagship health care reforms - with the possibility that they could strike down the legislation. The courts in Britain do not have that power but they can question ministers' decisions and, in doing so, bring about changes in government policy.

Joshua Rozenberg talks to leading lawyers, legal experts and commentators and discovers why all these disagreements are becoming more heated now and how they are being tackled in the two countries.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg asks why in Britain and the US judges and politicians are at loggerheads.

The little-known Energy Charter Treaty enables companies to sue governments for compensation for the loss of predicted profits, if signatory states reduce the value of contracts such as by banning new fossil fuel extraction projects. Could this deter countries from passing the carbon-reduction measures necessary to combat climate change? Or is the ECT a tool worth keeping, as it also protects renewable energy contracts that governments promised subsidies for?

What are the ethical choices for climate-conscious lawyers when it comes to either representing fossil fuel companies, or prosecuting climate change protesters? Could, or even should, lawyers refuse to act for certain clients, or to prosecute certain defendants? What's more important: fighting global warming or ensuring access to justice for all and upholding the rule of the law as it stands? We discuss the dilemmas, and some new guidance for lawyers.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill

Editor: Simon Watts

Photo of Swiss 'Klimaseniorinnen' activists at Strasbourg on 29.3.2023: © Greenpeace / Shervine Nafissi

The legal challenges of climate change: human rights law, fossil fuel investments, ethics

The type of abuse covered by the new offence could include a pattern of threats, humiliation and intimidation, or stopping someone from socialising, controlling their social media accounts, surveillance through apps and dictating what they wear.

It's an issue featured in Radio 4's The Archers, in a story-line which saw character Rob Titchener's long-term emotional abuse of wife Helen slowly drip fed to listeners over two-and-a-half years, bringing wide public attention to the problem. But what about the women who this affects in real life?

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Gemma Doherty about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered while living with her partner Mohammed Anwar. Mr Anwar sought to control every aspect of Gemma's life, from who she socialised with, her diet, and an enforced exercise regime. Mr Anwar became one of the first men jailed for the new offence.

He also speaks to Women's Aid - one of several charities which campaigned for the new law, which hopes that the threat of a conviction will help bring in cultural changes in how some people conduct themselves in relationships.

Also: Joshua interviews Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, to find out what he has learned six months into taking up his new post.

Producers: Ben Crighton and Richard Fenton-Smith.

Joshua Rozenberg examines the new laws on coercive and controlling behaviour.

Also in the programme, earlier this year, in a complete reversal of government policy, ministers decided after all to establish the new post of Chief Coroner. Judge Peter Thornton formally took up his role in September - and it is one in an area of the law that has captured enormous public attention in recent years.

The inquest into the 7/7 bombings; the inquest into the death of the newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson; Hillsborough; deaths in police custody; and deaths on military service abroad - all these have put the spotlight on the inquest system and the role of coroners in unprecedented ways.

In his first broadcast interview, Judge Thornton talks to Joshua about what the public can expect from him and how inquest procedures will be improved.

The programme will also explore the coalition's controversial plans for new sentencing rules. First, the proposed new '2-strikes-and-you're-out' rubric for serious violent and sexual criminals. Will it mean that such offenders really do serve 'life sentences'?

At the other end of the scale, the government also plans a change. This is to give victims the power to choose the form which an out-of-court community sentence will take. Joshua Rozenberg discusses with a leading barrister and an MP if it is a good idea to involve victims in the sentencing process in this way.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg asks how the courts will treat claims made by victims of Jimmy Savile.

In his first speech since becoming Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, he said that the best legal provision is the preserve of the wealthy, while victims of crime are 'badly' let down. Mr Gove also said that the case for change had been 'made most powerfully and clearly by the judiciary themselves'.

In this special edition of Law in Action, the Lord Chief Justice gives his reaction to Michael Gove's speech.

And we hear from a panel of experts who have intimate knowledge of the justice system on what can be done to make our courts function better and more efficiently: Sir Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions and now a Labour MP; Sir Stanley Burnton, former Lord Justice of Appeal and author of the report 'Delivering Justice in an Age of Austerity; and Dame Hazel Genn, Co-Director of the UCL Judicial Institute.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Hannah Barnes

Editor: Richard Knight.

As Michael Gove says the justice system is failing, an expert panel critiques UK courts.

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the master of the rolls and head of civil justice, reveals how new online systems are increasingly doing away with the need to go to court.

The legal profession used to be dominated by middle-aged, middle-class, white men, but that has been changing, and this year I. Stephanie Boyce became the first person of colour to be elected president of the Law Society, the professional body for solicitors in England and Wales. What are her priorities for her tenure?

The recent quashing of the convictions for theft and false accounting of 39 sub-postmasters after Britain's biggest miscarriage of justice has laid open the world of private criminal prosecutions. It was not the Crown Prosecution Service that took the sub-postmasters to court, but the Post Office itself. Should private prosecutions now be regulated?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Unfair Covid fines, online justice, diversity in the profession, and private prosecutions.

Following a Court of Appeal ruling this week about a case referred to the senior judges by the Attorney General, those charged with criminal damage for actions like throwing red paint at a building as a protest, can no longer use a certain defence to be acquitted. Parliament had intended the defence for different circumstances. Protesters used to be able to claim that had the owners of the damaged property known of the reasons for the damage, such as to highlight climate change, they'd have agreed to it. The Attorney General, Victoria Prentis KC MP speaks exclusively to Joshua Rozenberg about what this victory means.

Prisons are almost full, and to help make room, the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC MP has announced that prisoners meeting certain criteria can be released up to two months early. Prison campaigners must be pleased, or are they? Andrea Coomber KC (hon), chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has a more mixed reaction.

How are prisons in England and Wales dealing with inmates with severe mental health needs? Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), which are often called the eyes and ears of the public in prison, believe that too often prisons rely upon tough segregation units to manage inmates with mental health needs. IMB volunteers share their observations, and Elisabeth Davies, IMB National Chair, calls for a faster transfer to secure hospital units instead.

Awaab Ishak was aged just two when he died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the home his family rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. The coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report as a result, but it was only following a campaign by Awaab's parents and others that the law was changed. Awaab's Law, as it's being called, will specify the timeframes within which social landlords have to respond to complaints of mould. We hear from barrister Christian Weaver of Garden Court North, who represented Awaab's family.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison

The Court of Appeal limits the use of a defence used by climate change protesters.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Following a Court of Appeal ruling this week about a case referred to the senior judges by the Attorney General, those charged with criminal damage for actions like throwing red paint at a building as a protest, can no longer use a certain defence to be acquitted. Parliament had intended the defence for different circumstances. Protesters used to be able to claim that had the owners of the damaged property known of the reasons for the damage, such as to highlight climate change, they'd have agreed to it. The Attorney General, Victoria Prentis KC MP speaks exclusively to Joshua Rozenberg about what this victory means.

Prisons are almost full, and to help make room, the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC MP has announced that prisoners meeting certain criteria can be released up to two months early. Prison campaigners must be pleased, or are they? Andrea Coomber KC (hon), chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has a more mixed reaction.

How are prisons in England and Wales dealing with inmates with severe mental health needs? Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), which are often called the eyes and ears of the public in prison, believe that too often prisons rely upon tough segregation units to manage inmates with mental health needs. IMB volunteers share their observations, and Elisabeth Davies, IMB National Chair, calls for a faster transfer to secure hospital units instead.

Awaab Ishak was aged just two when he died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the home his family rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. The coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report as a result, but it was only following a campaign by Awaab's parents and others that the law was changed. Awaab's Law, as it's being called, will specify the timeframes within which social landlords have to respond to complaints of mould. We hear from barrister Christian Weaver of Garden Court North, who represented Awaab's family.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison

The Court of Appeal limits the use of a defence used by climate change protesters.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Joshua Rozenberg discusses the art of courtroom advocacy with vice-chair of the Advocacy Training Council Anesta Weekes QC, and senior treasury counsel Richard Whittam QC, who recently prosecuted the two men convicted of murdering Fusilier Lee Rigby.

Also: After the Court of Appeal says its concerned about holding a criminal trial in complete secrecy - something the CPS had hoped to do in an on-going terror trial - Law in Action speaks to Guy Vassall-Adams from Matrix Chambers, who's been involved in challenging closed hearings. Have the judges struck the right balance?

~Law In Action also looks at the proposed 'Heroism Bill' designed to protect volunteers from being sued - will it really make a difference in terms of the law, or is its real purpose to change public perception?

And with just a year to go until the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, former Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge and Prof David Little of Georgetown University discuss why the charter is treated with greater reverence in the USA than it is in the United Kingdom.

CONTRIBUTORS

Anesta Weekes QC, vice-chair of the Advocacy Training Council

Richard Whittam QC, senior treasury counsel

Guy Vassall-Adams, Matrix Chambers

Dr Justin Davis Smith, executive director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Zahra Nanji, Leigh Day solicitors

Prof Karen Yeung, King's College London

Igor Judge, Baron Judge PC QC, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Prof David Little, Georgetown University

Producer: Keith Moore

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith.

Evaluating the combative cross-examination techniques used in the Oscar Pistorius trial.

In his first broadcast interview, the chairman of the newly-created Sentencing Council of England and Wales, Lord Justice Leveson talks about how it does its work and how far it affects the way judges decide the penalties for individual offenders. He explains why he thinks it is important for the sentence to be served for a crime committed in different areas to be determined by a consistent approach - while accepting that the final sentence may still differ from one offender to another.

By contrast, Vivien Stern, the leading criminologist, explains why she worries that consistency is damaging to judicial independence and creativity. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary in the last Labour government, tells Joshua why he set up the Council and how far he thinks politics - and the pressure for cuts - may influence its work. Dame Anne Owers, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, explains the unique problems caused by the unplanned rise in the number of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences.

Joshua Rozenberg asks if spending cuts will mean that sentencing policy is set to change.

Creating fakes with AI, and the software to detect them, is a growing field. The same is true of forensic speech recognition, which is done both by ear and machine and can help the police or a court identify whether a recording is the voice of a suspect, for example. Dr Anil Alexander of Oxford Wave Research Ltd plays some samples to presenter Joshua Rozenberg. Can he guess them right? And what other uses are there for this technology in law enforcement?

Forensic scientists are often called upon to give evidence in court, as are doctors. These expert witnesses are crucial, but things can go wrong. Some find cross-examination so bruising that they don't want to repeat it. Others fear for their reputation, if they're pushed into saying something they hadn't meant to say. Baroness Professor Sue Black is a leading forensic anthropologist and shares her thoughts.

Sometimes barristers and judges are out of their depth on the science of a case. One solution to this problem has been put forward by the independent scientific academy the Royal Society, with the Royal Society of Edinburgh: subject-specific primers on relevant topics. As Dame Dr Julie Maxton, executive director of the Royal Society explains, leading scientists write and peer-review the primers, such as on ballistics or DNA, and senior judges cross-check them from the legal perspective. The primers are online, aimed at judges but available for everyone. The hope is that if barristers fail to ask the right questions on the science, judges who've read the primers can then do so instead.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Editor: Clare Fordham

Sound engineers: James Beard and Rod Farquhar

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Rosie Strawbridge

What are your rights if your voice is faked? Forensic science about speech, and in court.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

What are your rights if someone fakes your voice without your consent? Forensic voice recognition. Expert witnesses in court: what's going wrong? And could scientific primers help?

Long-running legal magazine programme featuring reports and discussion

Contributors:

Tim Bowden, partner, Dechert

Alex Brummer, City editor of the Daily Mail

Toby Duthie, co-founder, Forensic Risk Alliance

Duncan Hames, director of policy, Transparency International

Laura Haywood, case controller, Serious Fraud Office

Eric Russo, prosecutor, Parquet National Financier

Janette Rutterford, emeritus professor of finance and financial history, Open University Business School

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

Why is large-scale fraud so hard to prosecute? Joshua Rozenberg investigates.

He tells the story of Mahdi Hashi, a Somali-born man whose British passport was removed just before he was handed over to US authorities, who transported him from Africa to New York to face terrorism charges.

Also: should a woman escape criminal liability if she was pressured to commit the crime by a man? Joshua looks beyond the Pryce-Huhne case and explores an forthcoming case in the Court of Appeal concerning a new defence of 'battered women's syndrome.

The programme also looks at illustrators in criminal courts, and celebrates the 80th birthday of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg - who will soon mark twenty years on the US Supreme Court.

It's a strategy recommended by the Association of Chief Police Officers. According to ACPO, research shows that domestic violence peaks during big sporting events like the World Cup. Many police forces have therefore concluded that it makes sense to let potential perpetrators know they are being watched.

As Joshua Rozenberg finds when he sees the policy in action in Nottinghamshire, police on the ground belivie the policy is working. But a closer look at the evidence casts doubt on whether there really is such a link and traces the idea that there is back to an urban myth from the United States.

Producer: Wesley Stephenson.

Joshua Rozenburg investigates an alleged link between the World Cup and domestic violence.

Joshua Rozenberg meets the team planning a 200 mile driverless journey across the UK and speaks to barrister Lucy McCormick, co-author of Law and Driverless Cars, who explains how the legal landscape is evolving.

Also: this week, the High Court is considering a challenge by two victims of the black-cab rapist, John Worboys. Among the points being considered is a challenge to a Parole Board rule, made by ministers, that says its proceedings must not be made public. Former DPP and chairman of the Parole Board Sir David Calvert-Smith discusses the desirability of a more transparent system.

Plus: a new data protection law will soon come into effect. It's called the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, and it's designed to make sure that organisations take more care of how they store and use our personal information.

Philip Giles of Giles Wilson Solicitors and Chair of the Law Society's Small Firms Division explains what this means for businesses and the way they handle data, and Deputy Information Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone reveals the sizeable penalties for failure to comply with the new law.

If a driverless car has a crash, who is responsible - the owner or the manufacturer?

This week, after concerns voiced by pilots about drones potentially crashing into planes, how effective is the law at dealing with this new technology?

We hear from two senior Judges about the digital revolution taking place in our court rooms. But is the new system working or will it be another costly public sector digital disaster?

And ahead of the first substantive hearing of Dame Lowell Goddard's Inquiry into child abuse Sir Ian Kennedy, who oversaw the inquiry into the scandal at Bristol Royal infirmary, offers her some advice on how to run a major public inquiry.

Producer: Jim Frank.

Joshua Rozenberg presents a look at how effective the law is at dealing with drones.

Joshua Rozenberg visits the court to find out how effective its work has been and what those who use FDAC think of it. He speaks to those involved in the day-to-day work of the court - including the district judge, the social workers involved in its creation, legal representatives and others with expert knowledge of the problems which the court's family users must tackle to put their lives back in order - and finds out what worries critics of FDAC. Law in Action discovers how far this innovative - but intensive - legal model is one which can realistically be emulated elsewhere in the UK when public funds are under such pressure.

The programme also focuses on the Justice Secretary's latest travails. Kenneth Clarke is struggling to persuade key figures in the secret world of closed legal proceedings to endorse his plans radically to extend such procedures. Joshua Rozenberg lifts the veil on these little-known 'special advocates' as the lawyers are known. He asks one of them what his role actually involves in court - and why he opposes Kenneth Clarke's plans so strongly.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg visits London's Family Drug and Alcohol Court and asks how well it works.

Billionaires are about to fly into space, but what is the legal framework for this? What if your rocket hits my satellite? We boldly go into space law.

Why coal tip laws brought in following the Aberfan disaster do not protect the public and need to be reformed.

And the changing face of the legal profession - criminal barrister Mark Robinson shows that lawyers come from a greater range of backgrounds now - he didn't have any GCSEs, but a career as a DJ.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Diane Richardson and Arlene Gregorius

What's legal for e-scooters; space law; university freedom of speech and a DJ barrister.

Scotland needs the agreement of the Westminster-based UK government to hold a referendum about independence legally. So far Downing Street has indicated that the UK would not agree to a second referendum in the short term. But could there be legal options around the need for Westminster's approval?

And jabs for jobs? Can vaccination be made compulsory in some circumstances? What are your rights if your employer requires you to be vaccinated to come to work? Or if your employee refuses to be vaccinated? And what about companies - from cinemas to airlines - can they legally require proof of vaccination from their customers?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Amy Jeffress, the US lawyer of Anne Sacoolas, speaks exclusively to Joshua Rozenberg.

The government is proposing to rent prison space abroad, due to a risk of prison overcrowding here. There is precedent: Norway sent prisoners to a Dutch prison, for example. How did that work out in practice? What lessons were being learnt? Prisons expert Professor Alison Liebling of Cambridge University has studied and evaluated the Norwegian-Dutch case.

How safe are Joint Enterprise convictions for murder? As a result of legal action on behalf of JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association), the Crown Prosecution Service has started to gather, and publish, data about those charged with Joint Enterprise homicide or attempted homicide. The figures show that young black men are vastly overrepresented among those charged under the Joint Enterprise doctrine. The convictions are difficult to appeal, as the threshold is high. In 2016 the Supreme Court admitted the law had 'taken a wrong turn' on Joint Enterprise for 30 years. What went wrong, and is it being put right? We hear from Professor Felicity Gerry KC, who led the defence in the 2016 Supreme Court case, and from someone who served a Joint Enterprise sentence for murder, even though he says he was not present at the killing and only found out about it afterwards.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Editor: Clare Fordham

Sound engineers: Neil Churchill and Rod Farquhar

Production coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Can exporting prisoners work? Are Joint Enterprise cases racist? And Israel-Gaza: the law.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

What does international law say about self-defence and proportionality? Also: sending prisoners to a prison abroad as Norway did, and are Joint Enterprise convictions safe?

Also in this week's programme...

Do body-worn video cameras help police to deal more effectively with domestic violence incidents - or do they make matters worse?

And the mysterious case of the 'pernicious weed'...who should pay when the wrong kind of vegetation - such as Japanese knotweed - is found on railway lines?

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson.

Is face mapping a valuable tool in the fight against crime or a threat to civil liberties?

The Public Accounts Committee has published a scathing report criticising the collective efforts of the CPS, National Crime Agency and the courts service to reclaim the proceeds of crime. The accounts committee chairperson, Margaret Hodge, summarised the collective performance as 'rubbish'.

Also, with news that Led Zeppelin are facing a legal challenge over the writing credits to Stairway to Heaven, we ask how such claims can be assessed in a court of law.

And after the European Union Court of Justice ruled Google must amend some search results at the request of ordinary people in a test of the so-called 'right to be forgotten', we find out what that might mean - and whether Google has any avenue to appeal.

CONTRIBUTORS

Richard Lorkin, former CPS paralegal

Alan McQuillan, former director of the Assets Recovery Agency

Peter Oxendale, musicologist

Dr Orla Lynskey, The London School of Economics and Political Science

Producer: Keith Moore

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith.

Why have government agencies consistently failed to recover the proceeds of crime?

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders and David Tucker from the College of Policing about their response to this rising concern.

He also speaks to those directly affected by the failures - members of the public charged and taken to court because police failed to disclose evidence that would clear them.

Such cases are nothing new to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice. Law in Action speaks to the CCRC's chair Richard Foster about the current wave of cases and his concerns that people are being wrongly imprisoned because evidence is not shared with defence teams.

CONTRIBUTORS

Clive Steer, businessman

Julia Smart, barrister at Furnival Chambers

Dr Hannah Quirk, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law & Justice, University of Manchester

Richard Foster, Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission

Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecution

David Tucker, crime and criminal justice lead for the College of Policing.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders speaks on recent disclosure failings.

He speaks to Sir Andrew McFarlane, the senior family judge in England and Wales, about his plans to open up the family courts to reporting by accredited journalists and specialist bloggers.

And Derek Sweeting QC, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, tells Joshua why he believes the largest funding increase in more than a decade for the justice system still doesn't go far enough.

Producer: Paul Connolly

Researcher: Louise Byrne

Sound: James Beard

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck

Does the phenomenon of false memory challenge the justice system?

Knife crime in England and Wales is at its highest in ten years. Some young people can find it hard to resist gangs or knives for what they see as self-protection. Often they end up in the criminal justice system. Some argue the law is not the answer. But what is the alternative? We hear from a youth worker at the successful youth centre Youth Futures, and from a retired senior criminal barrister, who has launched an online one-stop-shop, fightingknifecrime.london, for those seeking or offering help to keep young people out of trouble.

In Scotland, juries can find defendants guilty, not guilty or not proven. If guilt is 'not proven', the defendant is acquitted and regarded as innocent in law. Should that third option be abolished? Juries often use 'not proven' in rape cases, if they feel guilt has not been proven 'beyond reasonable doubt' (the requirement for a guilty verdict) but nor do they want to imply they disbelieved the alleged victim. Now some campaigners want to abolish the 'not proven' option, as research has shown that if it didn't exist, more juries would find the accused guilty, even in rape cases.

The government has announced that cars will be allowed to steer themselves in slow-moving motorway traffic, so long as they had been approved for use with automated lane-keeping systems. But what does the law say about liability for automated vehicles? Who is responsible if there is an accident? Is it the driver or the car manufacturer? What changes are being introduced by this year's Automated and Electric Vehicles Act and the planned changes to the Highway Code?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Fighting knife crime before it happens; Scotland's 'not proven' verdicts; automated cars.

We explore the link between school exclusions and crime, and hear that workshops using graphic evidence to deter young people from carrying a knife can be counterproductive.

We also find out about innovative policing methods to deter young people from carrying knives, or, if they've been caught already, try and get them back onto the right track without prosecuting them in court or sending them to prison. Can treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy and mentoring, as well as help with education or employment, help young people turn their lives round?

Contributors:

Jay' who carried knives as a young person

Robin Lockhart, Director of Development, Catalyst in Communities

Dr Charlotte Coleman, Deputy Head of Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University

Aika Stephenson, Co-Founder and Legal Director, Just for Kids Law

Dr Peter Neyroud, Associate Professor, Cambridge University Institute of Criminology

Bruce Houlder KC, founder, Fighting Knife Crime London

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researchers: Marianna Brain and Diane Richardson

Editor: Tara McDermott

Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison

Knife Crime: how can we save lives and keep young people out of prison?

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

What leads some young people to carry a weapon? Joshua speaks to 'Jay' who began carrying a knife in his early teens and asks what can be done to save young lives and futures.

Long-running legal magazine programme featuring reports and discussion

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

What can the Great Fire of London teach us about dealing with our current pandemic?

But has freedom of information actually made us less trustful of government? And what sort of things do we know now, thanks to the law, which we didn't before? Clive Coleman examines the impact of the powerful Freedom of Information Act.

Guests on the programme include:

Professor Robert Hazell - Director of the Constitution Unit, University College London

Maurice Frankel - Director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information

Lord Falconer - Labour Minister responsible for piloting the Freedom of Information Act through the Lords.

Christopher Graham - UK Information Commissioner.

Clive Coleman asks if the Freedom of Information Act has created a more open society.

Also this week, how do you ensure social distancing in a crowded detention centre?

And how is lockdown affecting the work of the civil justice system?

Contributors:

Dr Natalie Byrom, director of research at the Legal Education Foundation

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Richard Munchkin, host, `Gambling with an Edge` podcast

Professor David Ormerod, University College London

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

How a case about a \u00a37.7 million win at baccarat changed the legal test of dishonesty.

When a Christian bakery in Belfast was found guilty last year of discriminating against a gay man, by refusing his request for a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it, it became headline news around the world.

It also divided people in Northern Ireland. Many there see it as a battle between freedom of conscience and the right to religious expression, and Northern Ireland's equality laws. Joshua Rozenberg travels to Belfast to untangle the legal layers of the so-called 'gay cake' story.

Producer: Ben Crighton.

Joshua Rozenberg travels to Belfast to untangle the legal layers of the 'gay cake' story.

Lawyers in the City of London bring in billions of pounds to the UK economy. English law is popular overseas for its predictability and for the independence of its judges. But is this reputation as a beacon for the rule of law being eroded by a lack of court funding and also by what some see as government undermining the judiciary? Fears raised by the Lord Chief Justice and echoed by the body representing City of London solicitors.

And why is there still a pay gap between male and female barristers?

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Research: Octavia Woodward and Imogen Serwotka

Sound: Graham Puddifoot

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jacqui Johnson

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Producer: Ben Crighton

Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: The bones of thousands of genocide victims inside a crypt in Nyamata, Rwanda. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Joshua Rozenberg examines the history and tension between two seemingly related laws

Picture: Peter Kandler, founder of North Kensington Law Centre courtesy of Law Centres Network.

The programme includes an Extract from 'North Kensington Law Centre', © Crown copyright/BFI - British Film Institute or BFI Player.

How the UK's first law centre still provides free legal advice, 50 years after its birth.

Later this month, the Supreme Court will rule whether the former Attorney General Dominic Grieve was right to block the release of letters written by the Prince of Wales to government ministers.

We examine the case with the journalist who made the original Freedom of Information request, Rob Evans of the Guardian, and the former Solicitor General, Sir Edward Garnier.

Also in the programme: Grieve's successor as Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, gives Law in Action his first broadcast interview since taking on the job.

And: the CSI Effect. Are juries now so blinded by science that they will convict on unreliable forensic evidence? We hear about the increased danger of miscarriages of justice in British criminal courts.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel

Editor: Richard Knight.

The British court case that could damage Britain's relations with the United States.

He also explores the state of forensic science with one of Britain's most experienced forensic scientists; and asks a leading human rights lawyer why women from Northern Ireland must pay for abortions carried out in England. And he discovers if duplicate contract bridge is a sport.

Should an inquest or a public inquiry occur after multiple deaths? And is bridge a sport?

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

The Scottish government's Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) bill also aims to improve rape trials. If passed, it would abolish the 'not proven' option for acquittal, create specialist rape courts, and controversially establish the option of judge-only, non-jury trials as a pilot scheme, as it's feared rape myths might influence some jurors. Fiona Leverick, professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Glasgow and Tony Lenehan KC, president of the Faculty of Advocates' Criminal Bar Association discuss the bill.

The Hollywood stars and former married couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced each other during two separate libel trials that asked whether or not Mr Depp physically abused Ms Heard. Depp lost the first case, against the owners of the Sun newspaper. It was heard by a judge in the High Court in London. Depp won the second case, against his ex-wife, decided by a jury in the United States. Nick Wallis is the only journalist to have covered both trials. He contrasts them in his new book 'Depp v Heard, the Unheard Story'.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham

Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

Editor: Clare Fordham

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

How the Law Commission and the Scottish government hope to change rape trials for victims

What can the law do when a husband takes his wife on a trip abroad, such as to his or her country of origin, and abandons her there, without the means to return? Typically in such cases, the man confiscates his wife's passport, documents and mobile phone, and then returns to the UK without her. If there are any children, the husband takes those with him, leaving the wife and children separated from each other. Often, the wife's right to live in or return to the UK is tied to her marital status. We hear from someone who became a victim of 'transnational marriage abandonment' as it's called, when she was taken back to India.

Artificial Intelligence or AI is changing how we live and work. Generative AI is able to produce written texts and many other types of content, including soon perhaps legal documents. Could such AI be used to deliver justice more quickly and cheaply than lawyers and judges? What safeguards should there be? And could it help clear huge backlogs in the courts? Joshua speaks with Professor Richard Susskind, one of the world's leading experts on AI and the law.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Editor: Clare Fordham

The Parole Board's record of public protection; spouses abandoned overseas; AI and the law

How can law firms become more welcoming to people with disabilities? Law in Action's Octavia Woodward tests the wheelchair access at Barristers' Chambers 7 Bedford Row. Plus barristers Holly Girven and Disability's Not a Bar co-host Haleemah Sadia Farooq share their experiences of disability and the law.

Do we need a change in the law to bring more cases of corporate fraud to court? The Director of Public Prosecutions sets out his plans.

Also what makes a good judge? 'If the party that loses pays you a compliment, then I feel that's a job well done.' Lady Rose of Colmworth, justice of the UK Supreme Court talks about balancing fairness and empathy.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Reporter: Octavia Woodward

Sound: Neil Churchill

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Producer: Diane Richardson

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Can the UK Bill of Rights be compatible with international law?

In his inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson is seeking an inclusive approach, holding open seminars and teach-in sessions and creating a role for 'core participants' who have demonstrated a special interest in the Inquiry's work. The panel of experts working with the judge has been chosen, it is claimed, for its independence. But just how transparent will the Inquiry be? Joshua Rozenberg talks to those involved in previous high-profile public inquiries to discover what effect they have had on our law and public policy, whether they represented value for money for the taxpayer and whose interests they really served.

Among those taking part are:

Lord Falconer, former Lord Chancellor;

Inquiries expert, Richard Lissack QC;

Inquirer into the death of Victoria Climbie, Lord Laming;

Inquirer into the deaths caused by Harold Shipman, Dame Janet Smith; and

Inquirer into the Soham murders and child protection issues, Lord Bichard.

Producer: Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg investigates how accountable such reviews as the Leveson Inquiry will be.

In this first programme of the new series, Joshua Rozenberg speaks to the current head of the CPS - the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders.

They discuss how the CPS has changed the legal landscape, as well as some of the key areas of work for the CPS in recent years such as increasing the success rate of rape prosecutions; bringing historical child sexual abuse cases to trial; the recovery of proceeds of crime; and the new challenges social media is presenting for the justice system.

Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith.

The director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders speaks to Joshua Rozenberg.

And following recent concern about how the media in Britain reports on witnesses and suspects in high-profile criminal investigations, he talks to the Attorney General about the law on contempt of court. The law in this area was last amended by Parliament in the early 1980s, before the Internet and social networking. How should we now strike a proper balance between public information on the one hand and reporting which may be prejudicial to future prosecutions on the other?

Producer: Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg talks to the Attorney General about contempt of court and prisoner voting

Also: Could plans to change the way solicitors are regulated result in easier and cheaper access to legal services or put consumers at risk? Paul Philip, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and deputy vice president of the Law Society, Simon Davis, discuss the pros and cons of the proposed changes.

Plus the Secret Barrister, who blogs and tweets about life as a criminal barrister tells Law In Action why the criminal justice system is close to breaking point.

Lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice David Gauke speaks to Joshua Rozenberg.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Lord Judge discusses issues ranging from sentencing and the viability of short prison sentences to the problems of access to justice in the civil courts.

Clive Coleman talks to the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge.

Clive Coleman talks to FIA president Max Mosley about privacy laws.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to make cuts of around 23% in the next four years. It plans to do this by reducing the number of prison places by 3000; closing the posts of thousands of probation staff; cutting the £2 billion legal aid budget by £350 million; and shutting over 150 courts.

The Justice Secretary has said that he wants to see mentally ill and drug addicted offenders diverted away from prison and for more use to be made of community sentences. But if unemployment goes up, so too might crime. How will a less generously resourced criminal justice system cope in the event of such a rise?

Producer: Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg questions Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke about the government's plans.

To begin, they discuss the issue of sentencing and the attorney general's role as gatekeeper to the appeals court. How does he go about deciding whether a sentence is lenient or unduly lenient - and therefore worthy of an appeal? What are the factors he takes into consideration? And how can members of the public make an appeal to his office, to ask for a case to be reviewed?

The programme also speaks to Lord Justice Sir Colman Treacy, a senior member of the Sentencing Council, about the council's advisory role, asking whether he thinks sentencing is becoming more lenient.

The conversation moves on to international law, and the recent raids by US special forces in Libya and Somalia, in which a suspected leader of Al Qaeda was detained. Did the United States break international law by taking such action? And what about the British government's decision to push for military action in Syria - would it have been legal?

Finally, many voices within the Conservative Party want to restrict the influence of the European Court of Human Rights. But does Dominic Grieve agree with his cabinet colleagues? He warns of the potential cost to the UK's reputation and to the promotion of human rights around the world.

Contributors include:

Dominic Grieve QC MP, Attorney General for England and Wales

Lord Justice Sir Colman Treacy, senior member of The Sentencing Council

Ann Oakes-Odger MBE, founder of KnifeCrime.org

Dapo Akande, Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict

Producer: Mike Wendling

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith

Editor: Richard Knight.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve on sentencing, the laws of war and human rights.

The programme also discovers the legal implications of the explosion in the theatrical use of holograms of both the living and the dead. And we find out what's on the agenda for the new Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, David Lidington.

The agenda for the new justice secretary, the law and holograms, and ageing sex offenders.

Also, if you are a foster carer, are you an employee or a worker? How a Scottish couple fought to have their status changed.

Katie Gollop QC in conversation with Nemone Lethbridge who was called to the Bar nearly sixty years ago. She remembers why she was not allowed to use one particular facility in Chambers.

Finally, as Paddington comes to the big screen again, immigration barrister Colin Yeo explains what the Peruvian bear's status is in England.

Paddington 2 is directed by Paul King and produced by StudioCanal.

Producers: Diane Richardson & Smita Patel

Editor: Richard Vadon.

Joshua Rozenberg talks to Sir Ian Burnett for his first interview since taking office.

The president of the ECHR Dean Spielmann responds to criticism of his court in Britain.

The programme also explores whether we need new laws to protect cyclists on our roads.

Producer: Smita Patel

Researcher: Diane Richardson.

Why lawyers in Scotland are boycotting some domestic abuse cases in a dispute about legal aid.

Plus, if you place a bet on a winning horse, does the bookmaker have to pay out if they make a mistake?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Diane Richardson and Arlene Gregorius

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Editor: Hugh Levinson

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan QC speaks about the challenges facing investigators in Ukraine.

During the interview, which marks the first time any member of the tribunal has spoken to the media, Mr Justice Burton reveals how the court works, and how its members go about investigating the potentially sensitive work of the British intelligence services.

Also: There has been much public debate regarding the wearing of veils in court rooms, with critics claiming how vital it is for judges and jurors to see the face of those giving evidence, to help determine whether they are telling the truth or not.

~Law In Action asks can we really tell if someone is lying by their facial expression? And would it be fairer if the face of every witness and defendant was obscured, so jurors only pay attention to what is being said in court?

Plus, a new ruling has come into force which enables musicians to reap royalties from their performances for an additional 20 years - but is it time to tear up copyright law and re-invent it?

Contributors:

Prof Glenn Wilson, Gresham College

Mukul Chawla QC, 9-12 Bell Yard

Les Reed, musical arranger and composer

John Smith, General Secretary of the Musicians' Union

Sir Robin Jacob, The Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property Law, University College London

Producers: Hannah Barnes and Charlotte Pritchard

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith

Editor: Richard Knight.

Interview with the president of the court which considers complaints brought against MI5.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Paul Connolly

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Remembering Jack Merritt, murdered in the London Bridge attack a year ago.

Plus, why four doctors have launched a Judicial Review of the Royal College of Physician's assisted dying poll.

Producers: Neil Koenig and Diane Richardson.

Inside the prison where inmates study alongside law students.

Producer: Paul Connolly

Researcher: Louise Byrne

Sound: Andy Garratt

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Tracking down trolls; how to be an advocate; and a lawyer behind bars.

Clive Coleman examines the powerful legal doctrine of 'joint enterprise'.

This gave campaigners significant hope as they say Joint Enterprise is an unjust law, especially when applied to murder convictions because all defendants face the same mandatory life sentence even if they were periphery players.

But these hopes were dashed when the Court of Appeal announced that it was not going to permit thirteen Joint Enterprise murder convictions to be reviewed. Joshua Rozenberg explores why the court came to this decision - and asks if the perceived unfairness over Joint Enterprise points to bigger problems with the law of homicide.

Also on the programme: Soon-to-be President Donald Trump has said one of his most important tasks will be to appoint a judge to the US Supreme Court, which he has said would be pro-life and pro-gun ownership. To what extent can he be sure that the Supreme Justices will do his bidding?

And after 500 years, the trial of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark will be heard in London in a mock trial featuring real QCs, and a real judge. Law in Action hears how the prosecution and defence are going to state their case.

CONTRIBUTORS

Gloria Morrison, campaign co-ordinator for JENGBA (Joint Enterprise, Not Guilty by Association)

Alison Levitt QC

Bob Neill MP, chair of the Justice Select Committee

James Zirin, lawyer and author of Supremely Partisan

Ian Winter QC

Ruth Brock, chief executive of the Shakespeare Schools Festival

Shaheed Fatima QC

Lady Justice Hallett

PRODUCERS: Matt Bardo & Richard Fenton-Smith

EDITOR: Penny Murphy.

Why did the Court of Appeal reject challenges to Joint Enterprise murder convictions?

Ahead of Cop26, Joshua wades into a burning debate on whether or not fossil fuel companies are entitled to compensation from governments which make the switch to cleaner, renewable energy ahead of schedule.

And he speaks to Christian Weaver, a young barrister whose new book aims to educate the public about their legal rights in 60 second bursts.

Producer: Paul Connolly

Researcher: Louise Byrne

Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Afghan women judges at risk since the Taliban came to power.

Also on Law in Action: if you've been turned down for social security payments, how easy is it to take the government to a tribunal? And the Australian defence lawyer who shopped her gangster clients to the police.

Producers: Bob Howard and Neil Koenig

US prosecutors want Julian Assange extradited - what are their chances of success?

Also on the programme, presenter Joshua Rozenberg hears claims of a murder attempt and lives in turmoil as he speaks to people who turn up at the High Court without legal representation.

And could Tony Blair be subject to a citizen's arrest?

Tough new laws for juries, lawyer-free litigants, and can you arrest Tony Blair?

There are currently around 5000 active satellites in space and that's expected to rise to 100,000 by 2030. Satellites generate debris, too, and even a tiny fleck of paint can cause serious damage when colliding with something else, due to the speeds involved. But who is liable if one satellite damages another? Joshua asks Rachael O'Grady, Partner at Mayer Brown if international space law is keeping up with technology.

If you find treasure in Scotland, can you keep it and will the finder receive a reward for declaring it? We hear from Glasgow University student Lucy Ankers who discovered a hoard of coins thought to be linked to the 1692 Glencoe massacre and Bobby Sandeman, Chief Executive of King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Diane Richardson and Arlene Gregorius

Sound: Graham Puddifoot and James Beard

Editor: Carl Johnston

Juries and conscience, liability in outer space and Scottish Treasure Trove.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Can juries acquit a defendant as a matter of conscience? Who has liability in outer space if one satellite damages another? And if you find treasure in Scotland, can you keep it?

Long-running legal magazine programme featuring reports and discussion

What can be done about the form of potentially abusive litigation known as a SLAPP?

Plus, we meet the Ukrainian lawyers brining their skills to the UK.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Diane Richardson

Editor: Simon Watts

Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck

Sound Engineer: James Beard

Could a special international tribunal put Russian leaders on trial?

Scotland's second most senior judge, Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, outlines how socially distanced jury trials can resume safely in July.

And Joshua Rozenberg asks Director of Service Prosecutions Andrew Cayley QC if the Service Prosecuting Authority is prosecuting cases of rape and sexual assault effectively and whether charges are likely to be brought against British military personnel accused of offences against Iraqi civilians.

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

Can virtual courts deliver justice? Joshua Rozenberg reports.

This week, Maura McGowan QC of the Bar Council is in the studio with Joshua Rozenberg, making the lawyers' case. But is she right that the legal profession will be undermined? Lord McNally responds for the government.

Plus: what can Facebook or Instagram do with the pictures you upload? We continue our investigation into terms and conditions on the internet.

Legal matters with Joshua Rozenberg. Will the government back down over cuts to legal aid?

As the current government eyes up the legal aid budget for further cuts, Joshua Rozenberg asks whether Mr Straw was right or will plans to put thousands of criminal lawyers out of business lead to an unacceptable decline in standards.

Joshua Rozenberg asks if too many lawyers are trying to live off criminal legal aid.

Firms which lost out are bitterly disappointed and there are fears that successful firms will be over-stretched, lowering the standard of service for clients.

In the week the new contracts are due to be signed, Joshua Rozenberg goes to Nottingham to meet two solicitors - one whose bid for three new contracts was successful, the other who got nothing.

Also in this week's programme:

Supreme Court judge Lord Carnwath on whether the courts should have a role in the climate change debate.

A magistrates court on the Isle of Wight recently dismissed a case against a father who refused to pay a fixed penalty notice for taking his daughter on holiday during term time. What might their ruling mean for other parents?

And on the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty Joshua speaks to Julian Knowles QC, author of a history of capital punishment.

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel.

Solicitors affected by cuts in criminal legal aid give their verdicts on the changes.

Producer: Wesley Stephenson.

Joshua Rozenberg looks at the government's controversial legal aid proposals.

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

Joshua Rozenberg asks what we can learn about the law and the constitution from Brexit.

Joshua Rozenberg looks at whether Wales is on the road to becoming a fourth jurisdiction.

Class actions, or collective actions as they're called in the UK, are new on this side of the Atlantic. How do they work, and could millions of passengers stand to benefit from a case against some rail companies?

A little-noticed part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would criminalise trespass and 'residing, or intending to reside, on land without consent in or with a vehicle'. Gypsy, Roma and Travellers say that threatens their lifestyle and makes nomadism illegal. But the Government argues it would prevent 'boundless misery to local communities without consequence'. Joshua hears the arguments on both sides.

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researchers: Octavia Woodward and Imogen Serwotka

Sound: Rod Farquhar

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jacqui Johnson

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Has silencing journalists with libel claims now become harder? And: new UK class actions.

The anniversary is being celebrated by the British Library with an exhibition that brings together the four surviving copies of the 'Great Charter' for the first time in 800 years. Two of these extraordinary mediaeval documents are permanently housed at the Library; the other two are normally kept in the cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury.

~Law In Action is playing its own part in the celebrations with a special programme recorded at the British Library in which a distinguished panel will consider how much of our current law actually comes from Magna Carta; how much of its legacy is little more than myth; and to what extent the protections attributed to Magna Carta are under threat.

Joining presenter Joshua Rosenberg to discuss these matters are: Lord Judge, formerly the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales; Richard Godden, for 25 years a partner at the law firm Linklaters; and Claire Breay, Head of Mediaeval Manuscripts at the British Library.

How much of today's law really comes from Magna Carta?

Joshua spends the morning with the Norfolk Police and one of their new custody centres to see what happens when someone is first brought into the criminal justice system. What do the Police do if they arrest offenders with mental health problems and what happens to them? And Joshua talks to a local solicitor who specialises in crime and one of the country's top forensic psychiatrists who express concerns about the numbers of people with mental health issues who are sent to prison.

Producer: Jim Frank.

Joshua Rozenberg reports on offenders with mental-health problems.

What does the law say about commercial ship captains' duty to help those they find in distress at sea? Captain Andy Lewington explains how he, and his 18 man crew, took aboad more than 400 migrants in the seas north of Tripoli earlier this year. And Stephen Fietta a lawyer at Volterra Fietta, explains the legal position.

How easy is it to get rid of your MP? A petition has been filed which seeks to overturn the election of Alistair Carmichael MP. Professor Bob Watt explains what the petitioners would have to prove in order to succeed.

As Michael Gove, the new justice secretary, begins work on the new British Bill of Rights that the Conservatives promised in their election manifesto, we have a guide to this fiendishly complex area of law which even a seven-year-old could understand.

And government lawyers will soon be in Strasbourg to defend the United Kingdom against a claim that it failed to respect the most fundamental right of all - the right to life. The claim has been brought on behalf of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead by police officers at a London Underground station almost 10 years ago. Solicitor Harriet Wistrich, representing the Menezes family, explains their case.

Producer: Hannah Barnes

Editor: Richard Knight.

Do commercial ships have a legal duty to help those they find in distress at sea?

Other cases have raised doubts about the independence of the military police and prosecution authorities.

Joshua Rozenberg asks whether recent reforms to the military justice system are sufficient to restore confidence in the way the armed forces deal with crimes committed by their own troops.

Joshua Rozenberg looks at the issue of military justice.

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel.

Should fewer mothers be sent to prison? Joshua Rozenberg asks if there are alternatives.

Also in this week's programme: Christina Blacklaws, incoming president of the Law Society of England and Wales, on the implications of an important milestone. A century after the reform that allowed them to become lawyers, most practising solicitors are now women.

And, the Attorney General Jeremy Wright on what to do with the National Fund: nearly 500 million pounds which was meant to pay off the national debt.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson.

Should it be easier to end a marriage? Joshua Rozenberg investigates.

He is joined by the writer Kenan Malik, philosopher Jo Woolf and lawyer Christopher Stone, who discuss propositions put forward by philosopher Peter Singer and environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan.

Clive Coleman discusses the idea that human rights might extend beyond humans.

Also new legal powers to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Joshua speaks to David Lawson, Barrister at Serjeants' Inn Chambers and Catharine Arnold, author of Pandemic 1918.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

How effective is the Parole Board at predicting whether a criminal will reoffend?

Plus, in our latest look behind the scenes of courts large and small, we visit an immigration tribunal in central London. Joshua Rozenberg meets applicants who want to stay in Britain and judges who need an encyclopaedic knowledge of world affairs to decide whether they can remain.

Is our legal system failing victims of online abuse?

This week, Joshua Rozenberg visits Kirkham Prison - an open prison in Lancashire - to find out what open prisons are really like. In the studio, Joshua speaks to Conservative MP Philip Davies - who has been highly critical of the system - and journalist Noel 'Razor' Smith, who was given a 26-year sentence for bank robbery.

It's 50 years since Nelson Mandela and seven other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia trial. Joshua Rozenberg meets George Bizos, an advocate working on the defence team at the time, to reflect on Mr Mandela's life as a lawyer.

Doctors now have a legal duty to consult with and inform patients if they want to place a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order on medical notes, the Court of Appeal in England has ruled. Law in Action speaks to lawyer who represented the family which brought the case.

CONTRIBUTORS

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley

Noel Smith, journalist

George Bizos, defence lawyer for Nelson Mandela

Merry Varney, Leigh Day solicitors

Producer: Keith Moore

Series Producer: Richard Fenton Smith.

Following a spate of high profile escapes, does the open prison system need reforming?

Also, what the new director of public prosecutions for England and Wales thinks about screening jurors before they try rape cases. And one of the BBC team covering the Grenfell Tower Inquiry brings us up to date with the lines of evidence that have emerged so far.

(Picture: Alex Calabrese, Acting Supreme Court Justice for the State of New York and Presiding Judge at Red Hook Community Justice Centre)

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Can justice based on ancient tradition work better than a criminal court?

Also in the programme, after his recent extended interview with the Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, Joshua discovers if the Lord Chancellor's enthusiasm for replacing no-win, no-fee arrangements for lawyers in such cases as personal injury claims would be good for those who sue. Is enabling lawyers to be paid out of the compensation awards made to successful claimants involved in accidents at work or road traffic accidents an overdue reform? Or could it take much-needed money away from those needing full-time care following a life-changing accident?

Joshua also reveals how a judgment delivered by the UK Supreme Court could have profound implications for tenants living in housing owned by councils and housing associations. In an unusual ruling delivered in the name of nine of the Supreme Court Justices, Lord Neuberger said the protection for home life provided under the Human Rights Act could be used against attempts by public landlords to evict tenants. 'Law in Action' discovers what the ruling might mean for future disputes over housing benefit payments for rent - and what it might mean for tenants of private landlords.

And, as the imbroglio continues over an election court's decision to declare void the election last May to the Westminster Parliament of the former Labour immigration minister, Phil Woolas, Joshua explores the role of the courts in elections.

GCHQ's ex-top lawyer says why phone tap evidence should not be used in terrorist trials.

In this opening programme, he examines an issue that looks set to prompt widespread debate among the public as well as among those working in the criminal justice system. Increasingly the police are using digital cameras and intelligence tactics to create image libraries of campaigners and protesters. These are designed, senior officers say, to help the police prevent criminal acts from being committed. But critics see the creation and development of the photographic databases as potentially sinister, claiming that ever larger numbers of images are being added.

Joshua Rozenberg investigates how the police, the courts and those responsible for protecting personal data strike a balance between the need to safeguard civil liberties and the police's responsibility to prevent crime. Are there enough safeguards to protect the public from being unfairly linked with criminals? Is maintaining public order being used as an excuse to engineer a surveillance society? Or are the authorities simply taking the minimum steps to ensure a determined and well-organised minority of protesters bent on disruption do not wreck the lives of the law-abiding majority?

Producer: Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg asks if the police's use of cameras endangers civil liberties.

Speaking to the programme is Chief Constable Alex Marshall, head of the College of Policing, who estimates that as much as half of a front-line officer's daily workload is spent dealing with calls related to online disputes. Some are very serious indeed, others less so - but where should the police and the public draw the line on what constitutes a crime?

Also: Last week a group of five Native Americans persuaded the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel six long-standing trademarks previously registered by the Washington Redskins American football team, on the basis that the team's name is derogatory. Law in Action speaks to NYU Law professor Christopher Jon Sprigman about how this was possible, and what it means for one of football's most-famous franchises.

In another landmark case, Joshua Rozenberg speaks to solicitor Michael O'Kane about a recent private prosecution - thought to be the biggest of its kind, costing the businessman who brought the case around £1 million of his own money. But why was the case not brought through the usual channels of the CPS or Serious Fraud Office?

Finally: Should humans be the only species with legal rights? Law in Action speaks to lawyer Steven Wise, president of The Nonhuman Rights Project - an American organization working toward legal rights for members of species other than our own.

CONTRIBUTORS

Chief Constable Alex Marshall, CEO The College of Policing

Prof Christopher Jon Sprigman, New York University Law School

Michael O'Kane, Peters & Peters

Steven Wise, The Nonhuman Rights Project

Producer: Keith Moore

Series Producer: Richard Fenton Smith.

Are online arguments and abuse on social media taking up too much police time?

In a special edition of Law in Action Joshua Rozenberg speaks to people whose expertise and experience spans the spectrum of prison education:

• Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor

• Chair of the Education Select Committee Robert Halfon MP

• Governor Steven Johnson, Head of Reducing Reoffending at HMP Leeds, who speaks on education for the Prison Governors Association

• Open University criminology lecturer, manager for students in secure environments, PhD candidate and former prisoner Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski

• David Breakspear, former prisoner and prison education campaigner

• Joe Tarbert, Employment Support and Partnerships Manager at Redemption Roasters

• Neah, former prisoner and trainee barista at Redemption Roasters

Joshua puts some of their concerns to the Prisons Minister Victoria Atkins MP, and hears about the government's plans to improve prison education.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Production coordinator: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

Prison education is 'chaotic', often 'inadequate'. How could it cut reoffending better?

Despite that level of expenditure, all is not well in the prisons of England & Wales. Self-harm, suicide and assault rates are all up. Prison officers are 'voting with their feet,' says Professor Alison Liebling, director of the Prisons Research Centre of Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology. She has been doing research in prisons for nearly 35 years, and thinks that this is 'the most unstable, and unsafe period [she's] known'. But she also has some suggestions for how to improve matters, and to free up prison spaces.

There's been yet another mass shooting in the United States, again involving a military-style assault weapon. Rather than try for tighter gun control to stop these killings, some people are taking the gun manufacturers to court instead. Chicago-based lawyer Antonio Romanucci is acting for many of those affected by a shooting in Chicago on Independence Day last year. They're bringing a civil claim under consumer marketing laws. Could it be successful?

The Scottish government is planning to give the people of Scotland new, enforceable human rights. These would largely be economic, social and cultural rights, as opposed to the current civil and political ones like freedom of speech. The plan is to incorporate several international treaties into Scottish law. The UK is a signatory to these treaties already, but the rights they proclaim can't be enforced through the courts. A new Human Rights bill in Scotland would change that. But could it avoid being scuppered by the limits of devolution?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Sound engineers: Neil Churchill and Graham Puddifoot

The length of prison sentences; the state of prisons; US gun laws; new Scots human rights.

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Should prison sentences be longer or shorter, and should the public have a say? The state of our prisons, and some solutions. Suing US gun manufacturers. New Scottish human rights.

Long-running legal magazine programme featuring reports and discussion.

On an important day for the search engine giant, Google, the programme also looks at how, in the internet age, personal privacy is safeguarded and copyright could change. The BBC's technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones discusses how data on computer users is collected as Google implements today changes to its privacy policy. Simon Davies of Privacy International and Nick Stringer of the Internet Advertising Bureau then debate the issues of personal privacy and targeted advertising. The former UK Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, considers how far proposed new EU legal rules will protect users while enabling companies to carry on their legitimate data-gathering activities.

William Patry, senior copyright counsel at Google, Inc., has recently published a book called 'How to Fix Copyright'. Joshua Rozenberg questions him about his proposed reforms, especially as they relate to the United States. How far these might serve the interests of the company for which he works - and how will existing copyright holders in film, music and books be affected?

Joshua Rozenberg asks how laws on privacy and copyright should work in the internet age.

Dwaine George wasn't the only person celebrating that day. Crammed into court for the appeal hearing had been a group of students and lecturers from Cardiff Law School. The law school runs an Innocence Project, where students take up alleged miscarriages of justice. There are more than 30 such projects at universities all over the country. The Dwaine George case was the first case in the UK brought by an Innocence Project to be successfully appealed.

In this week's Law in Action Joshua Rozenberg goes to Cardiff to meet the people who made this happen. He hears about the years of work that went into their investigation, and the further years of waiting after the appeal was filed in 2010. And he hears about their euphoria and relief when the email finally came through that the Court of Appeal had quashed the conviction.

But is the system that is designed to guard against miscarriages of justice working properly? There are plenty of lawyers who say it isn't. Parliament's Justice Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), through which all appeals for wrongful conviction must go. The commission's chairman Richard Foster gave evidence to the committee on February 3rd and will be in the Law In Action studio to debate the issue with Joshua Rozenberg and others.

Producer: Tim Mansel

Editor: Richard Knight.

Is the system for dealing with miscarriages of justice good enough? With Joshua Rozenberg.

Can rap lyrics amount to confessions to murder? Song lyrics are usually understood to be fiction - Tom Jones's 'Delilah' isn't an admission that the Welsh singer actually stabbed an unfaithful girlfriend, and Bob Marley never 'shot the sheriff'. But in California rap lyrics have been presented as evidence in criminal prosecutions in such a way that the state has now legislated to restrict the use of those lyrics in trials. And a murder conviction has been overturned, and a retrial ordered, for a rapper convicted on the grounds of his lyrics.

Where would you go for free legal advice? Probably not a university, but in Liverpool people can now get appointments with law students at Liverpool John Moores University, who will conduct an interview them and produce a letter of advice, all under the supervision of solicitors, and free of charge. There's something in it for the students too: they gain practical experience which counts towards their course, and later on towards their qualifying examination.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Sound engineer: James Beard

Editor: Simon Watts

Reforming protest law; rap lyrics in court; a public law clinic at a Liverpool university.

Also this week: threats and transparency in the Court of Protection. And the law behind the failed attempt to launch a private prosecution against Boris Johnson.

Producers: Neil Koenig and Nina Robinson

Professor Cheryl Thomas at University College London has interviewed more than 50 real juries about their views. Ahead of publication, she outlines her findings to Joshua Rozenberg.

Also this week, the court that can close your business down in a few seconds; and whether contestants on Love Island should have to leave their legal rights at the door of their villa.

Producers: Bob Howard and Neil Koenig

Do juries believe in rape myths? An update on new research into what jurors really think.

Should there be legal aid for bereaved families whose relative died in the care of the state, such as in prison, a police cell or in a mental health in-patient setting? These deaths trigger 'Article 2 inquests', referring to the right to life, protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. The coroner will want to find out what went wrong, so it doesn't happen again. The state has legal representation to defend itself, but the families often can't afford the specialist lawyers that, campaigners argue, are required for a level playing field.

Family breakdown can mean former partners end up in court to try and resolve disputes. This can be time-consuming, with long delays, and be very costly. Could family arbitration be the solution? We eavesdrop on a mock arbitration to find out how it works. And how much cheaper are they really?

Which UK elections can EU citizens vote in, and in what parts of the country? The answer is surprisingly complex for the votes in May - and will become more so in future elections.

Details of organisations offering information and support with bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 158 707.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

(Image: Lord Faulks. Credit: UK Parliament)

Does the government's response to Lord Faulks's report on Judicial Review go too far?

Among those innovations is mediation, Law in Action speaks to a court-based mediator and a court user whose case was resolved without leaving home.

And we find out how lockdown is changing the civil courts. Can remote hearings work effectively?

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

Joshua Rozenberg asks if new ways of working can deliver justice at a time of crisis.

Why does Northern Ireland's Justice Minister want to raise the age of criminal responsibility? It's currently set at the age of ten, the same as that of England and Wales, although not Scotland. This is very low by international standards.

Are young adult defendants being unfairly pressurised into pleading guilty? The campaigning organisation Fair Trials says that 18-24-year olds sometimes get as little as 30 minutes to make a potentially life-changing decision. There is an incentive of getting a third off a prison sentence for pleading guilty at the first opportunity - Fair Trails say young defendants can fail to realise the long-term consequences of making such a plea.

Can podcasts help bring about justice or do they run the risk of prejudicing trials? We hear about the Australian true crime podcast ‘The Teacher's Pet', which has now helped solve a murder from 1982. The victim's husband was convicted and is about to be sentenced.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot

Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Editor: Simon Watts

Which EU-retained laws to keep; young people and the criminal law; crime-solving podcasts.

The law now treats animals very differently than in the past. A new book describes how in medieval Europe, they could even be prosecuted - in one case, a pig was actually sentenced to death for the murder of a child.

But nowadays cases involving animals focus on their welfare. A campaigning organisation has been granted a court hearing to examine if the breeding of Britain's fast-growing broiler chickens is detrimental to their health and welfare, and therefore in breach of the law.

Nearly 3000 prisoners are continuing to serve more than their original sentence - sometimes over a decade more - because they are subject to `Imprisonment for Public Protection`. Some have never been released, others have been recalled to prison, even though IPP sentences were abolished in 2012. The Justice Select Committee has now called on the Government to review these sentences, with the aim of release for most. Members of the House of Lords agree, saying this form of detention is unjust.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Editor: Simon Watts

Why some court hearings are secret. Is most UK chicken illegal? And indefinite sentences.

He also asks about international law and the use of drones, and the government's Justice and Security bill and why Sir Daniel thinks the measures laid out there are necessary.

Producer: Wesley Stephenson.

Joshua Rozenberg talks to former Foreign Office legal adviser, Sir Daniel Bethlehem.

It's more than 40 years since parliament passed the first Sex Discrimination Act, making it unlawful for employers to discriminate against women in the workplace by treating them less favourably than men. Still, allegations of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment have dominated the news over the past few months.

Joeli Brearley tells the story of how she lost her job after she told her employer that she was pregnant and Joshua Rozenberg asks former High Court Justice Dame Laura Cox and employment discrimination lawyer Karen Jackson whether the law itself needs reform.

Also: Judges ought to know their sentencing law, but it's much harder to get sentencing right than it should be, according to the government's law reform advisers. The Law Commission is recommending a new sentencing code that will be much easier for judges to follow. Law in Action speaks to David Ormerod QC, the law commissioner in charge of the project.

Plus the story of how an international group of graffiti artists won nearly $7 million in damages in a New York court after their work was destroyed. We speak to the artist Meres One, curator at the 5 Pointz building which housed the work, and lawyer Eric Baum about the Visual Artists Rights Act which protected the artworks under law.

Does the law regarding sex discrimination in the workplace need to be reformed?

This restriction on his behaviour is a result of a Sexual Risk Order - what some have dubbed 'Sex ASBOS' - which have been designed to prohibit the activity of people deemed to be a potential threat to the public. This could be limiting access to the internet or preventing people from being alone with children - but is there a fine line between crime prevention, and unfairly punishing people who have no criminal record?

Plus: The decision to raise court fees in England and Wales has been a controversial one and this week the House of Commons Justice Committee published its report on the policy. It didn't pull any punches. Joshua Rozenberg speaks to committee chairman Bob Neill MP.

Finally: the quality of the courtroom performance of witnesses can determine the difference in winning or losing a case. Law in Action finds a court where people are actively encouraged to kick up a song and dance - the Karaoke Court.

In East London artist and law graduate Jack Tan has created a mock courtroom, with all the traditional trappings of the law re-imagined. He wants to revive the spirit of Central Arctic Eskimo song duels, in which claims were resolved through singing. A paying audience will help to decide disputes between a number of litigants, singing their case in front of a real-live circuit judge who'll act as an arbitrator.

CONTRIBUTORS

Bob Neill MP, Chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee

Hugh Davies QC, Three Raymond Buildings

Detective Superintendent Nigel Costello, North Yorkshire Police

Jack Tan, Artist

PRODUCERS: Richard Fenton-Smith & Ben Crighton.

Policing the daily life of potential sex offenders before they are given a conviction.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Should serious crimes be tried by a judge alone? And bias against female lawyers in the US

Should doping in sport be criminalised? And the legal repercussions of the Paris attacks.

Also in this week's programme: law is an immensely popular subject for students, but are they given sufficient warnings about how difficult it will be to find work as a solicitor or barrister - especially in the field of criminal law?

And does Donald Trump have the ability to pardon himself were he to commit a crime?

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson.

Are online courts a good idea? Joshua Rozenberg reports from Vancouver.

In this week's programme, Sir Brian Leveson, head of criminal justice in the courts of England and Wales, tells Joshua Rozenberg that the law needs updating to cope with the growth in social media. And a retired senior judge from Northern Ireland considers whether more needs to be done to protect complainants - and defendants - in sexual assault trials.

Also in this edition of Law in Action: something rather unusual - a private prosecution for fraud.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson.

Does social media pose a threat to criminal justice and how can fair trials be ensured?

The Home Secretary's recent decision to prevent the extradition to the United States of Gary McKinnon prompted disappointment in Washington. But the US welcomed the much-delayed transfer at around the same time of five suspected terrorists, including Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Talking to Alan Johnson MP - the former Labour Home Secretary - and the Conservative MP, Sir Edward Garnier QC - until recently the deputy to the Attorney General - Joshua discovers that the Home Secretary's planned changes to the law on extradition produce divided views - but not in the ways that might be expected. He also considers with an extradition expert how such decisions can be made more quickly in future.

Meanwhile, tensions with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg have risen after the Prime Minister ruled out votes for prisoners during the life of the present government - a statement which appeared to set the government on a collision course with the court. Ministers have only a few more weeks to respond formally to the court's judgment earlier this year that the United Kingdom would be in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights if it continued to operate a blanket ban on prisoners' voting.

The Attorney General has now underlined the importance of the issue by telling MPs that the UK should be seen to abide by the judgments of the Strasbourg court. Joshua asks legal experts and politicians if these two seemingly contradictory positions can be reconciled and, if so, how.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg asks how rows over extradition and votes for prisoners can be resolved.

In a wide-ranging interview, David Anderson talks about his proposal to give judges, rather than ministers, the power to authorise the interception of communications. And he tells Law in Action what he made of recent reports about the consequences of the Edward Snowden leaks.

Also in the programme: how likely is it that Lord Janner could face prosecution in Scotland, when the Crown Prosecution Service has ruled out a trial in England? With football's governing body Fifa in crisis, we explore the legal implications of trying to strip Russia or Qatar of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. And a cautionary tale about a man who boarded a train without a ticket.

Producers: Joe Kent and Hannah Barnes

Editor: Richard Knight.

The proposal to give judges the power to authorise the interception of communications.

The CAS will play a key role at the Olympics, but dispute resolution starts long before the games themselves. Britain's rhythm gymnastics team recently appealed against a decision not to select them for the Olympics and sprinter Dwain Chambers is awaiting a decision by CAS on whether the British Olympic Association rules that currently bar him from competing in an Olympic Games break the international rules on drug bans.

But the move away from the normal courts is not driven by cost alone. There is a debate about how far the law courts should be involved in decisions which impact on sport. The European Union has recognised the special nature of sport, and this has been welcomed by sporting governing bodies. But are we seeing the build up of a body of sports law, which might conflict with law in other areas? How far should sport be special in the eyes of the law? And where should the boundary lie between areas which are decided by traditional courts, sports courts or left up to the sport governing bodies themselves? Joshua Rozenberg talks to those involved with sport and the law.

Producer: Wesley Stephenson.

Joshua Rozenberg investigates how the law is increasingly impacting on sport.

When someone is seriously ill, they or their family are often faced with other problems, such as a sudden drop in income, or unsuitable housing. Many don't know what help they're entitled to, or how to get it. Joshua Rozenberg visits a 'Health Justice Partnership', where doctors and legal advisers are located in the same building, and patients are referred to the advice team. He finds it's making a big difference to families.

When a piece of Artificial Intelligence software learns about images by being fed pre-existing, copyrighted versions of images, and then goes on to produce a new image of its own, is that a breach of copyright? That's what the High Court in London will have to decide, in a case in which Getty Images - a digital picture library - is suing Stability AI, whose artificial intelligence image-generating software was trained with a very large number of images, including (but not only) Getty's. The court's decision will in effect become new law. What impact could it have on the digital, creative sector?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Editor: Simon Watts

A law to minimise strike impacts; legal advisors helping patients' families; AI copyright.

Presenter Joshua Rozenberg looks at the rise of anonymised injunctions in privacy cases.

Interviewees include:

Charles Collier-Wright, group legal manager at Trinity Mirror

Hugh Tomlinson QC

John Whittingdale MP, chair of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee

Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian

Nigel Tait, partner at Carter Ruck

Desmond Browne QC.

Examining super-injunctions and what the recent John Terry case says about privacy law.

Also, could Manchester City FC overturn their UEFA ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport? Joshua speaks to Christopher Flanagan, editor of The International Sports Law Journal.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

The unique sensory room designed to put child witnesses with autism at their ease.

~Law In Action also looks into the issue of false confessions and asks why people admit to a crime they didn't commit. Some suspects may find themselves convicted of a crime even when they retract their initial statements. Research from the US indicates that one in four death row inmates exonerated by DNA evidence falsely confessed to murder.

The programme also examines proposed anti-sectarian football legislation in Scotland. The law is designed to crack down on the kinds of ugly violence that plagued Rangers and Celtic matches last season. But the one thing that seems to unite the supporters of the two clubs is their opposition to the bill, and few others in Scotland see the need for new legislation. In this programme, Joshua Rozenberg explores the roots of Scottish sectarianism and finds out how the new law plans to deal with it.

Producer: Mike Wendling

Researcher: Lucy Proctor

Joshua Rozenberg looks into offences 'taken into consideration' and false confessions.

Weighing up this question has been one of the main tasks of David Anderson QC - the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. Mr Anderson is due to step down after six years in the post, and he speaks to Joshua Rozbenberg about the changes he has seen in counter-terrorism law, and whether the net has now been cast too wide in the fight against extremism.

One critic of the current law is Salman Butt who is bringing a judicial review case against the Home Office, which he says unfairly labelled him as an extremist speaker.

Mr Butt, who is the editor of the website Islam 21c, says the government conflates conservative religious views with extremism and this unfairly targets members of the Muslim community. Next month at the High Court he will be challenging sections of the government's Prevent counter-extremism policy, which he says conflicts with the right to free speech.

These concerns are shared by the Home Affairs select committee which has also criticised the policy, with MPs saying that that unless concerns among the Muslim community are addressed, Prevent would continue to be viewed by many as toxic.

~Law In Action has also discovered that one of the key architects of Prevent also believes it has lost its way. In this programme, Joshua Rozenberg speaks to former GCHQ director Sir David Omand about how the strategy was devised and how it differs to his original vision.

Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Matt Bardo

Editor: Penny Murphy.

Interview with David Anderson QC - the Independent Reviewer of terrorism legislation.

The programme asks why many people were refused bail and examines the sentences given to those arrested during the riots. It also explores the notion of speedy justice, and looks into proposals that the government hopes to use to make the courts quicker, even outside of emergency situations. When does rushed justice become rough justice?

CONTRIBUTORS

Nick Herbert, criminal justice minister

Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for London

Joseph Wright, duty solicitor with the firm Hodge, Jones and Allen

Julian Young, defence solicitor

Richard Bristow, chairman-elect, West London Magistrates' Court

John Thornhill, chairman, Magistrates' Association

Jonathan Levav, associate professor of marketing, Stanford University

Rod Morgan, criminologist

Producer: Mike Wendling

Researcher: Lucy Proctor.

Joshua Rozenberg explores contentious legal issues which arose from the August riots.

Joshua Rozenberg explores what the thinking behind the reforms is and how the Justice Secretary's plans for higher discounts on sentences for 'early pleas' of guilty by offenders came unstuck. He also talks to a leading criminologist about a radical new approach towards the early identification of potentially serious criminals. He discovers how reliable the evidence for this strategy is and what benefits it might offer the police, the courts - and politicians seeking to achieve a smaller prison population.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg explores the thinking behind the Justice Secretary's sentencing reforms.

The government has finally reacted to widespread criticism of the Dangerous Dogs Act with a consultation. But how do you balance the rights of animals with the safety of humans?

Plus the surprisingly intense relationship between poetry and the law.

Interviewees include President Sang-Hyun Song, Philippe Sands and Tod Lindberg.

Clive Coleman looks at the International Criminal Court and the Dangerous Dogs Act.

On today's programme, will new legislation deal effectively with the problem of so-called legal highs? Or will it just drive the issue further underground?

In a rare interview, Joshua talks to the Chief Coroner for England and Wales. Does the inquest system need reform?

And we hear from departing Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti.

Producers: Jim Frank and Ben Crighton.

Clive Coleman investigates the future of the legal profession.

And with a week to go before the presidential election, courts across the United States have already been dealing with voting-related challenges. Will the next US president be chosen by the judges?

The former president of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, says the government's Internal Market Bill is a threat to the nation's reputation as a stalwart of the rule of law, especially when it is asking citizens to abide by restrictions during the pandemic. 'It is a massive own goal for the government to be announcing to the people of this country that it does not keep its word, that it does not obey international law,' he tells Joshua.

Extract from video of ICC court proceedings courtesy of the International Criminal Court.

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Producer: Neil Koenig

Is the International Criminal Court beset by incompetence, or a lifeline for victims?

The vast majority of senior judges are former barristers, and most are white men. Is the recruitment system skewed against solicitors and minorities? Solicitors insist it is, but the Judicial Appointments Commission strongly denies this. Joshua hears the arguments on both sides.

`No fault divorce` is set to come into effect in April. Will it free couples from unnecessary acrimony and costs, or make it too easy to split up?

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researchers: Octavia Woodward and Imogen Serwotka

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jacqui Johnson

Sound: Rod Farquhar

Editor: Hugh Levinson

Dominic Raab and legal aid. And do we need more diversity among senior judges?

Dame Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, is the first Lady Chief Justice, the first woman to hold the role. She gives her first broadcast interview as head of the judiciary of England and Wales to Law in Action, for its farewell edition. She speaks about her priorities, hopes, and concerns, and marks the end of Law in Action by looking back at 40 years in the law. She also picks her favourite editions of the programme, and closes with a tribute to presenter Joshua Rozenberg.

Lord David Pannick KC is widely regarded as the most successful lawyer of his generation practising in his chosen area of the law, public law. Things might have turned out differently though: he had been approached to host Law in Action originally, and presented the pilot edition of the programme, produced by Joshua. He too looks back over the last 40 years and finds that much has changed in court.

We then look ahead to the future, and the next generation of those grappling with the law: we join 15-year old GCSE students at Trinity Academy in Brixton, south London, as they are taught The Big Legal Lesson - as part of a campaign by the charity Young Citizens. What do they make of the law?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Clare Fordham

The lady chief justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill on her priorities and concerns

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Dame Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, is the first Lady Chief Justice, the first woman to hold the role. She gives her first broadcast interview as head of the judiciary of England and Wales to Law in Action, for its farewell edition. She speaks about her priorities, hopes, and concerns, and marks the end of Law in Action by looking back at 40 years in the law. She also picks her favourite editions of the programme, and closes with a tribute to presenter Joshua Rozenberg.

Lord David Pannick KC is widely regarded as the most successful lawyer of his generation practising in his chosen area of the law, public law. Things might have turned out differently though: he had been approached to host Law in Action originally, and presented the pilot edition of the programme, produced by Joshua. He too looks back over the last 40 years and finds that much has changed in court.

We then look ahead to the future, and the next generation of those grappling with the law: we join 15-year old GCSE students at Trinity Academy in Brixton, south London, as they are taught The Big Legal Lesson - as part of a campaign by the charity Young Citizens. What do they make of the law?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Clare Fordham

The lady chief justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill on her priorities and concerns

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

Producer Simon Coates.

In a special live edition, Joshua Rozenberg considers what the election means for the law.

Clive Coleman examines the law governing what happens to your body when you are dead.

Meeting old contacts and new, he finds out what it took to get the negotiations over the line and what legacy the ground-breaking peace deal has had. He also hears about the challenges involved in achieving justice for the murders that remain unsolved; what problems remain with paramilitaries; and the UK government's attempt to bring about reconciliation. Will its Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill help, or rub salt in old wounds?

And on the legal differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, Joshua meets a campaigner who had to travel to England to have an abortion. As a result of an intervention by the Westminster government, terminations have since become legal (up to a point in the pregnancy), but some women still have to leave Northern Ireland to have the procedure.

Guests:

Denis Murray, former BBC Ireland correspondent

Peter Sheridan, former senior police officer, now CEO of Cooperation Ireland

Louise Mallinder, professor of law at Queen's University Belfast

Naomi Connor, co-convener of Alliance for Choice

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Studio Engineer: Graham Puddifoot

Editor: Simon Watts

On the 25th anniversary of the Northern Ireland peace deal, what challenges remain?

Also in this week's programme: as President Obama raises the problem of the millions of children in the US who have no legal status because they were born to illegal immigrants, we find out what's going on in Britain.

And, amid the national debate about so-called 'gagging clauses', we explain the extent of the existing legal protection for whistleblowers. The law as it stands is, it seems, rather more powerful than many think.

Producer: Mukul Devichand.

Are the centuries of legal union between England and Wales coming to an end?

Lord Neuberger wasn't sure - and he set us a little challenge, one we have called the 'Neuberger Experiment'. With the help of law students at Durham University, we attempt to discover whether male and female judges really do judge differently. Then we put our findings to Lady Hale.

Also in the programme: the curious case of the gruesome New Zealand murder appeal being heard in London. And what have been the practical consequences of last April's changes to civil legal aid?

Do women judge differently from men? Legal magazine with Joshua Rozenberg.

Change might not come overnight but the legal landscape will see a huge shift in the next five to ten years with new players coming into the market and some firms going out of business. Co-op is already staking it's claim - trialling legal services in branches of Britannia building society and smaller law firms are banding together to form countrywide chains, seeing strength in numbers.

t is the result of the Legal Services Act introduced by the last government and it aims to increase competition, make services better for consumers and improve access to justice. But those hostile to the changes believe that a drive for profit compromises lawyers professional ethics and will drive down standards.

Joshua Rozenberg looks at radical changes to the way law firms can be owned and run.

Most of the senior judges in England and Wales are male, white, middle-aged and former barristers. The new head of the Judicial Appointments Commission, Helen Pitcher, in her first broadcast interview, tells Joshua that diversity is very important and admits its an issue in the judiciary. So how will she increase it? We hear about projects and research to help remove barriers and ensure senior judges reflect the society they serve.

What is it like to do your job after a diagnosis of Parkinson's? The condition affects people differently, but many have a tremor, fatigue, reduced mobility in their arms, legs, or both, and some can have depression. Joshua meets a High Court judge, Sir Nicholas Mostyn, to find out how he has been able to carry on working despite the condition. What are employees' rights in this case? And what is it like for those in other lines of work? We also hear from a nurse with Parkinson's on how she does it.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham

Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Editor: Clare Fordham

The Justice secretary's plans and challenges; judicial diversity; working with Parkinson's

Ahead of fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 men, women and children at Hillsborough, Joshua Rozenberg chairs a panel with legal, policing and political perspectives in front of an audience in Liverpool and asks: can we trust the police?

A panel of experts and an audience in Liverpool ask: can we trust the police?

Did Post Office lawyers act unethically by failing to disclose evidence that might have helped the people they were prosecuting? Might they face criminal proceedings for attempting to pervert the course of justice?

The Post Office no longer brings private prosecutions in cases such as this. But should we still be allowing anyone apart from a public prosecutor to bring criminal proceedings in the name of the state?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Diane Richardson

Researcher: Marianna Brain

Editor: Clare Fordham

Production coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

What part did lawyers play in the Post Office miscarriage of justice?

Long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion

The Post Office scandal is one of the UK's most widespread miscarriages of justice. Did lawyers act unethically? Did they act illegally? And could a new law put it all right?

Long-running legal magazine programme featuring reports and discussion

Joshua Rozenberg asks if reducing costs is affecting the quality of advocacy in the courts

Plus, how does the military court system work?

We have an exclusive interview with the Judge Advocate General, Judge Jeff Blackett. He is the most senior judge in the military courts. He raises concerns about how some aspects of these function, namely that the board, their equivalent of a jury, can convict people with just a majority of one.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg.

Producer: Charlotte Pritchard.

What information do internet companies have on us, and how can we delete it?

Sir Mark, a retired judge, is charged with judicial oversight of, among other organisations, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

It's his job to check the security services comply with the law when applying for warrants against individuals. Joshua Rozenberg asks him about the delicate balance between privacy and security, and the challenges created by Edward Snowden's revelations.

Also: why the County Court might not be the best place to solve disputes. We hear from a disappointed litigant and explore the possibility of resolving disputes online in the fashion pioneered by companies eBay and PayPal.

Following the collapse of a trial concerning sham marriages at a south London church in which immigration officers were found to have lied on oath and covered up evidence, Joshua speaks to Trevor Francis of Blackford solicitors, which represented one of the defendants in the case.

And is an establishment figure the right person to lead an inquiry into allegations of an establishment cover-up of sexual abuse? The journalists Andreas Whittam Smith and Oliver Kamm discuss.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Tim Mansel and Keith Moore

Editor: Richard Knight.

Are the UK's spy agencies breaking the law? We ask the man whose job it is to judge.

The UK's forensic science used to be considered the gold standard, but no longer. The risk of miscarriages of justice is growing. And now a new Westminster Commission is trying to find out what went wrong. Joshua talks to its co-chair, leading forensic scientist Dr Angela Gallop CBE, and to criminal defence barrister Katy Thorne KC.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill KC speaks to Joshua about all this, and about his record as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Max Hill also breaks the news that he will not seek a second term.

From Epstein to Trump: are America's rich and powerful above the law? The former New York prosecutor and now CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig argues that they are, and has just written a book about this: 'Untouchable — How powerful people get away with it'.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Editor: Simon Watts

Sound engineer: James Beard

Picture credit: Nicholas Posner

Rape convictions; forensic science; Director of Public Prosecutions; intimidating lawyers.

Also: a senior appeal judge says that the UK is way behind the times when it comes to online justice. He is ashamed, he says, by the piles of paper that accumulate in the British legal system, especially when he encounters sleek online systems overseas. A report out this week announces plans to overhaul the way civil disputes are handled by adopting the model pioneered by eBay - resolving them online. But how feasible is this and what's the timescale?

And: the man who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he says he didn't commit. The Court of Appeal freed him more than a year ago, but he's now been told he's ineligible for financial compensation for the years he spent behind bars. Victor Nealon tells us his story and we ask if the system for determining compensation for miscarriages of justice is fair.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Tim Mansel and Chloe Hadjimatheou.

The salty snack that led to a six-year-old's exclusion from school. What does the law say?

Producer: Neil Koenig

Is it time to improve the legal protection of the UK's 3.6 million cohabiting couples? Many wrongly believe that after a period of time together or having children, they have similar rights to married couples or people in civil partnerships. But that is not the case, and the government recently rejected the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee's recommended reforms. In Scotland, cohabiting couples gained some statutory rights for the first time in 2006, but a report by the Scottish Law Commission now says that they need to be updated and made fairer.

What is mine and what yours? Not always easy to answer. Say you're on a plane, and are using your tray table when the person in front of you reclines their seat - who owns the space above your knees? You or the other passenger? The authors of the book 'Mine!' tackle some ownership conundrums.

And to end the series we hear some powerful reflections from Robert Spano on the future of democracy.

Picture Credit: Image of Robert Spano, former President of the ECHR by Candice Imbert, Council of Europe.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot

Editor: Simon Watts

The UK and the ECHR: trouble ahead? Do cohabiting couples have rights? Ownership disputes.

He speaks to law graduates who spent tens of thousands of pounds training to be lawyers, only to find the essential training contracts which would seal their career were in short supply.

Should the regulatory bodies and law schools be more open with prospective students about the odds of finding work? And could they be more selective when it comes to choosing who can undertake professional exams?

Also: So-called 'patent trolls' have burdened many American companies with outlandish infringement claims, which have them cost millions of dollars in legal settlements - could Europe's new Unified Patent Court open the doors to similar claims on this side of the Atlantic?

Contributors include:

Baroness Ruth Deech QC, chair of The Bar Standards Board

Professor Nigel Savage, chief executive of The University of Law, London

Samuel Clague, The Stephen James Partnership Legal

Christopher Thornham, partner at Taylor Wessing specialising in patents law

Alexander Ramsay, vice chairman of the preparation committee of the Unified Patent Court

Producer: Charlotte Pritchard

Series Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith

Editor: Richard Knight.

Are too many students studying law in a time when jobs in the legal profession are scarce?

Brain injury is as common among women prisoners, often due to a history of suffering domestic violence. For these women their injuries, compounded by other factors, lead to mental health issues so serious that it's estimated that three quarters of them have tried to take their own lives. What are prisons doing to help them? And what about women prisoners' additional burdens, such as anxiety about separation from their children, which affects them more than men? Can a new report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons point to ways forward for England and Wales?

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Brain injury is related to crime and is common among prisoners. But how to deal with it?

He also hears polar opposite views on whether or not thousands more civilian magistrates should be recruited to our courts: Justice Haddon Cave, the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, is in favour of the drive, whilst the anonymous and controversial author known as ‘The Secret Barrister' is against.

Finally, Joshua hears from the hugely successful barrister and judge, Barbara Mills QC, about a hard-hitting report which exposes a lack of diversity at the bar.

If you need support with dementia, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

Joshua Rozenberg examines a lawsuit that's rocked the sport of rugby.

Also in the programme: the BBC's Delhi Correspondent, Sanjoy Majumder, reports on the reaction to a recent Indian Supreme Court decision which has upset drinkers and liquor store owners - but pleased those affected by drink-driving accidents.

And, as the African Union prepares to meet later this month, Joshua talks to a leading South African-based lawyer about the fierce debate taking place on whether African countries should continue to be part of the International Criminal Court.

Joshua Rozenberg explains the role of special counsel in the US legal system

Is our democracy being eroded by the government, by reducing parliament's opportunities for scrutiny? Two reports from the House of Lords Select Committees, titled 'Government by Diktat' and 'Democracy Denied', say there is an urgent need to return power to parliament. They worry about power grabs and an increased use of secondary legislation - ie laws made by ministers, that can't be amended by MPs or peers. One recent piece of secondary legislation made it legal in England for children in care aged 16 and above to be housed in unsupervised adult accommodation such as hostels. Joshua hears from a care-experienced writer what that was like, and the risks that vulnerable children might face in such housing. The law is now being challenged in the courts.

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Researchers: Octavia Woodward and Matt Toulson

Sound: Rod Farquhar

Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jacqui Johnson

Editor: Hugh Levinson

As forensic evidence becomes more detailed and the use of - sometimes controversial - expert witnesses grows, do we need to reform our jury system to take account of changing needs and practices? And with strict controls placed on research into how juries work and how well they understand court procedures, do we even know what problems jurors may have with the system we now have? On top of this, politicians and others are concerned about the cost of jury trials.

Joshua Rozenberg considers the pressures on our historic system of trial by jury, what changes are being proposed and speaks to two recent jurors about their experiences.

As trials become more complicated, Joshua Rozenberg asks what is the future for juries?

Joshua Rozenberg speaks to the head of the Family Court Sir Nicholas Wall.

The bedroom tax and why the Court of Appeal got it wrong, plus online courts and the future of justice.

Photo: Joshua Rozenberg with The Secret Life of Prisons presenters and contributors:

Paula Harriott, Head of Prisoner Engagement at Prison Reform Trust.

Brenda Birungi, Poet and Founder of Unchained poetry.

David Breakspear, Prison Reform Campaigner.

Phil Maguire, Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association.

If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information 0800 066 066.

Producers: Diane Richardson and Neil Koenig.

The costs of bringing complicated cases to trial are growing. But some experts in white collar crime believe that the likelihood is increasing that defendants in such cases may receive only light sentences or fines - even if they are convicted. This state of affairs is prompting a re-think about serious fraud is handled by the criminal justice system.

Ministers are now promoting a less punitive approach. This, they believe, will save money by encouraging those companies which have committed fraud, bribery or money laundering to own up before a case comes to court. In what are known as 'deferred prosecution agreements', companies that have committed crimes and admit their misconduct will then receive lower penalties.

But Joshua Rozenberg asks if this is the right way to tackle white collar crime. Should those companies which have swindled other companies - and the public at large - out of their money be treated more leniently than other criminals? And is it right that the courts are asked to go along with an agreement that may suit the offending company and the prosecutor but fails to act in the interests of justice?

Among those taking part: Edward Garnier QC MP, the Solicitor General; Lord Goldsmith QC, former Labour Attorney General; and Mukul Chawla QC, a prominent barrister in fraud cases.

Also on the programme: what is the offence of 'perverting the course of justice' and why do the courts appear to take it so seriously? Sally O'Neill QC, a leading criminal barrister and part-time judge at the Old Bailey, explains.

Producer Simon Coates.

Joshua Rozenberg asks if the government is planning to go easy on white collar criminals.

The Judiciary is still reeling from last year's 'Enemies of the People' headlines and morale is low, with many Judges fed up with the job.

Speaking to three senior judges, Joshua Rozenberg asks what can be done to address the situation?

Producer: Jim Frank

Researcher: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Joshua Rozenberg is joined by a specialist panel drawn from across the criminal justice system, to find out where the problems lie. They debate what could be done differently, so that fewer cases result in no further action being taken, or with survivors dropping out of the legal process. And he hears first-person testimony from a woman who was raped, who describes her subsequent experience with police and prosecutors.

Panellists:

- Alice Kelly, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Southeast, Crown Prosecution Service

- Betsy Stanko OBE, emeritus Professor of Criminology, strategic advisor to the Home Office's Operation Soteria Bluestone, and formerly of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime

- Claire Waxman OBE, Victims Commissioner for London

- Kirsty Brimelow QC, Vice Chair of The Criminal Bar Association

- Sarah Crew, Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset police and National Lead for rape and serious sexual offences at the Police Chiefs Council

- Wendy Williams CBE, Her Majesty's Inspector of the Constabulary for the Wales and Western Region

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg

Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Ben Cooper

Researcher: Diane Richardson

Production coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Sound recording: James Beard

Sound mixing: Neil Churchill

In the first of the news series Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens and asks whether his regular press conferences and comments to the press have crossed the line between representing and supporting his client.

He asks the United States legal representative in the UK, Amy Jeffress, if the extradition arrangements between the US and UK need changing and he looks at whether people should be tweeting from court.

Joshua Rozenberg looks at the legal issues behind the Wikileaks story.

Why an autistic man's experiments with explosives were lawful. Joshua speaks to Jonathan Hall QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation about the case of Chez Copeland, who spent almost two years in a maximum security prison for setting off explosions in his garden.

Also US courtroom drama Judge Judy is to end after 25 years. Joshua asks Adam Benforado, associate professor of law, about the show's legacy and popularity.

Producer: Neil Koenig

Researcher: Diane Richardson

How good are employment tribunals at resolving disputes between employers and staff?