Law and Disorder

In 2023, a 10-year-old girl named Sara Sharif was murdered by her father and stepmother, the culmination of longstanding abuse she received. This week, verdicts were passed down in court, but, along with the findings, serious questions have been raised. Could the courts have done more to prevent Sara being left in such a transparently violent environment? What do we do when the apparent rights of the parents and children collide? And should the judge who placed Sara back with her father be named? Helena Kennedy, Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer gather for this emergency episode of Law & Disorder.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Law & Disorder, Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy and Charlie Falconer are joined in the House of Lords by Martin Forde KC, a veteran barrister and former recorder, to discuss the role that race plays in the criminal justice system. Martin discusses his own experiences as a black British lawyer, and the crew piece through David Lammy's 2017 report into the disastrous outcomes for people of colour in our courts and beyond.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have a special episode recorded immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants against both leaders of Hamas and, more strikingly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. To discuss this, we've dialled up Kenneth Roth, an expert in international law and former executive director of Human Rights Watch. Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer probe him on whether Israel can meaningfully be accused of genocide or other war crimes and human rights abuses, while Helena Kennedy recounts her experiences as part of the advisory panel that recommended bringing these warrants against Mr Netanyahu.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – better know as the Assisted Dying Bill – will soon be debated in Parliament. It draws heavily from a previous bill proposed by Law & Disorder co-host Charlie Falconer, who, on this episode of the podcast, debates the ins and outs of Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's bill with his co-anchors, Nicholas Mostyn and Helena Kennedy. Nicholas thinks the bill doesn't go far enough; Helena is concerned about a slippery slope. Where do you stand on this fraught, important issue? Listen and let us know!If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time, once again, to crack open the mailbag and see what listeners have made of episodes over the past few months. In this mailbag edition, Charlie Falconer, Helena Kennedy and Nicholas Mostyn look back on episodes such as the chinwag with Lord Sumption on the ECHR, the questions raised by the prosecution of rioters in the summer, and the NDA agreements foisted upon the alleged victims of Mohamed Al-Fayed. We'll cover all that, and more, on this episode – and don't forget to send more questions, thoughts and criticisms for inclusion in future mailbag editions!If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we can't help but tackle the news story on everyone's lips: the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. For an emergency episode, Nicholas Mostyn convenes with Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy to look at the implications for the rule of law and America's position as a beacon of the free world. If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The proceedings of the Court of Protection are not widely known or understood, but could, one day, prove of vital importance to you and your family. On this episode of Law and Disorder, Nicholas Mostyn introduces Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy to Vikram Sachdeva KC, a specialist in healthcare law with long experience of the Court of Protection, to discuss how the tricky issues of mental capacity, mental health and the intervention of the state can be handled.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, a jury found Sergeant Martyn Blake, a Metropolitan police armed officer, not guilty of the murder of Chris Kaba. Kaba had been shot after police pulled over the car he was driving, which had been linked to a shooting incident. After the verdict, information has been released about Kaba's criminal record and suspected involvement in a gun crime in Hackney. The fallout has asked severe questions of our legal system. Do police officers require more legal protection to do their jobs properly? Are juries too quick to protect emergency services workers? Why was Kaba's criminal record not submitted as evidence? And are the tabloids over-reacting to this week's disclosures? Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer look the case over before Helena Kennedy joins to give the criminal lawyer's perspective. If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan Sumption – one of Britain's foremost legal voices – joins Law & Disorder again, this time for a good ding dong. Should the UK withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (and its associated court)? Sumption goes head-to-head with a trio of critics – Nicholas Mostyn, Helena Kennedy, and Charlie Falconer – on this week's episode the gets to the heart of the balance between sovereignty and accountability, legislation versus the law, and what a 'human right' truly is.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few weeks, new investigations have turned up a range of serious allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrods and Fulham FC. How does a man like Al-Fayed – about whom rumours were never far away – manage to go unchecked within his lifetime? What recompense can the law offer his victims? And is there more that the system can, and should, do in order to ensure perpetrators of abuse are brought to justice while they can still be held, personally, to account? Helena Kennedy, Nicholas Mostyn and Charlie Falconer gather to discuss.If you have questions, criticisms, praise or other feedback, please do send your thoughts to us via lawanddisorderfeedback@gmail.com!Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.PR by Sally Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.