22/05/10 (USA): Experts and Eyewitness Testimony We spotted this in the New York Criminal Bar Newsletter and thought our UK readers would find it a fascinating insight into how U.S courts have adopted an interesting approach in allowing experts to give evidence relating to the testimony of eye witnesses. The link takes you to the online PDF.

20/05/10 (UK): Clarke: A Good Man to Have Onside? Ken Clarke has now sworn his oath of office, which included upholding the independence of the judiciary and a commitment to maintaining adequate resources for the justice system - a pledge that may just come back to haunt him. Link to the recent Times article.

18/05/10 (USA): fMRI Brain Scans Unreliable, Says U.S Judge State-of-the-art brain scans that would have been utilized as evidence for the first time in New York were shot down by a U.S judge who deemed the technology unreliable. [In the U.S, the scrutinising of expert evidence by the trial judge before admission into evidence is the norm.]

18/05/10 (AUS): High Court Rejects DNA Challenge The High Court of Australia has thrown out a case that sought to challenge the use of DNA evidence in criminal trials.

16/05/10 (VAT): Vatican Details U.S Sex Abuse Defence The Vatican will make its most detailed defence yet against claims that it is liable for U.S. bishops who allowed priests to molest children, saying bishops are not its employees and that a 1962 Vatican document did not require them to keep quiet.

06/05/10 (UK): Family Courts A "Misguided Fudge" Excellent Times article by Frances Gibb, Legal editor, on changes in the family courts that have resulted in the media having "food but no cutlery". Link to the online article.

05/05/10 (USA): Lord Monckton Called as 'Expert' by U.S. Republicans House Republicans in the U.S. have chosen Lord Christopher Monckton, a non-scientist, as their sole witness at a hearing in front of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The decision has left even the sceptics bemused.

04/23/10 (CAN): No Brains Allowed "My whole brain is in there," said the Canadian lawyer Sean Robichaud as his MacBook computer was declared by a magistrate to be unsuitable for the courtroom. The magistrate aborted the criminal trial and adjourned it until August so that Mr Robichaud could use a printer or fountain pen to carry out the necessary brain transplant to paper folders.

21/04/10 (UK): Sex Offenders Win Right To Challenge Life Registration Two sex offenders have won the right to challenge their lifetime inclusion on the sex offender register after complaining that it breached their human rights. The ruling in the Supreme Court opens the way for hundreds of other sex offenders placed on the register for life to seek to have their details removed.