theForum

New Justice Secretary


https://forum.unlock.org.uk/Topic26239.aspx

By AB2014 - 1 Aug 19 12:56 PM

CC - 31 Jul 19 11:11 PM
Yankee - 31 Jul 19 5:02 PM
AB2014 - 30 Jul 19 8:57 AM
Yankee - 29 Jul 19 9:43 AM
Let's hope that  the new Justice Secretary - Robert Buckland QC -  supports reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the general approach to disclosure.

While not a criminal case, he has certainly benefited in the past from disclosure rules which meant he did not have to declare previous misconduct when being appointed to one of the most senior offices of state!

His appointment as Solicitor General for England and Wales in July 2014 attracted media attention after it was revealed he had been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Bar Standards Board for a case related to work in 2008. He had headed up an investigation into a racially-motivated attack at a school at which he was a governor. Despite having no legal grounds to do so, Buckland sought to obtain documents relating to the incident that were held by a barrister representing one of the pupils involved. In response, the Attorney General's office stated that Buckland's breach had been "minor" and that the finding "was removed from the Bar records after two years and therefore Mr Buckland was not required to declare it upon appointment as Solicitor General

Not sure why you interfered with his rehabilitation in this way. We can't very well complain about old information being dredged up online by others, then do it ourselves. Sad

My point, as i'm sure you realise, is that the new Justice Secretary has experienced first hand how old information is brought up (especially by the media) despite it being removed from the records after a passage of time - we can only hope that when the topic of reform of the disclosure rules finally hits his desk, he may be slightly more sympathetic than otherwise.

There is a petition going around to stop ministers who have breached ministerial code from being in the cabinet so who knows?

Good to hear, but I think we all know that if it gets enough signatures, it will be debated in the Commons and result in what the police call NFA.
By Yankee - 29 Jul 19 9:43 AM

Let's hope that  the new Justice Secretary - Robert Buckland QC -  supports reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the general approach to disclosure.

While not a criminal case, he has certainly benefited in the past from disclosure rules which meant he did not have to declare previous misconduct when being appointed to one of the most senior offices of state!

His appointment as Solicitor General for England and Wales in July 2014 attracted media attention after it was revealed he had been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Bar Standards Board for a case related to work in 2008. He had headed up an investigation into a racially-motivated attack at a school at which he was a governor. Despite having no legal grounds to do so, Buckland sought to obtain documents relating to the incident that were held by a barrister representing one of the pupils involved. In response, the Attorney General's office stated that Buckland's breach had been "minor" and that the finding "was removed from the Bar records after two years and therefore Mr Buckland was not required to declare it upon appointment as Solicitor General