Socialist Lawyer
Socialist Lawyer is the journal of the Haldane Society and is published three times a year. It is available by subscription (download form as pdf - 148kb) or is sent free to Haldane society members (join here). Some older issues are available in PDF format below.
Socialist Lawyer 55, June 2010
Socialist Lawyer No 55 asks why no justice in Gaza? Haldane President Mike Mansfield QC reports on the deliberations of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and its call for universal jurisdiction to be applied. Marina Sergides explains the concept and why members of Israel's government can face prosecution in Britain for war crimes.
Socialist Lawyer also interviews our new Vice-President, John Hendy QC, who believes that calling himself a left-wing barrister is an "absurdity". And Haldane Vice-Chair Anna Morris explains the legal arguments that led to a jury acquitting Claire Finch of brothel-keeping, in a victory for the health and safety of sex workers.
Socialist Lawyer 54, March 2010
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Socialist Lawyer No 54 is on the theme of climate change and environmental struggle. The articles excerpted on the web are an analysis of the failure of the Copenhagan summit, by Polly Higgins, barrister, and Richard Harvey on “climate change in the courtroom”.
Other articles, available in the magazine and not yet on the website, include James Thornton on the threat of legal costs deterring environmental litigation, a discussion of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal and analysis by Professor Keith Ewing of the BA-Unite litigation.
Socialist Lawyer 53, October 2009
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Socialist Lawyer No 53 is on the theme of the right to self-determination. We examine the struggles of the Basque people, the Kurds and the Palestinians.
We also outline threats to human rights defenders in the Philippines and Colombia. Reviews include "Michael Mansfield: Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer" and barrister Terry Munyard welcomes the possible publication of the report into the death of Blair Peach, as long ago as 1979. The whole of the contents of No 53 can be found on the website.
Socialist Lawyer 52, June 2009
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Socialist Lawyer commemorates 25 years since the 1984 - 1985 miners' strike with articles by Davey Hopper, General Secretary of the Durham Miners' Association, Haldane President Mike Mansfield, John Hendy QC standing counsel to the NUM, Haldane Vice-President Michael Seifert, Pragna Patel from Southall Black Sisters, Gerry MacLochlainn from Sinn Fein, and others.
This issue also covers Haldane's delegation to investigate conditions of detention in Turkey in 2008 and the recent publication of our pamphlet, talks to the Haldane Society by Eamonn McCann, Liz Davies, Louise Christian and others, and testimonies from the horror of Gaza.
Socialist Lawyer 51, April 2009
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Issue includes: Justice for Jean Charles? Stockwell inquest verdict; Killing fields of Gaza: Israel's war criminals; Eye-witness reports on the West Bank. Plus: Knife crime, inquest victories, asylum support, Cuba's 50th, plus news and our regular Young Legal Aid Lawyers column and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 50, September 2008
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Socialist Lawyer celebrates its 50th birthday. Mike Mansfield QC looks back at the first issue, in 1986, and ponders how the difficulties facing socialist lawyers in 1986 have become ever more present. SL readers are introduced to our three new Vice-Presidents: Imran Khan, Kate Markus and Gareth Peirce. Phil Shiner and Bill Bowring write on bringing war to account, whilst Richard Harvey asks if international criminal tribunals deliver truth and can they lead to reconcilation.
Socialist Lawyer 49, April 2008
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Issue includes: Human rights and the Kurds; Do children in care have rights?; Peace and multiculturalism; Eqypt: when judges rebel; Nepal on the brink?, Pakistan and the Law; Access to justice for women; Agency workers: second class?; Helen Shaw on inquests and the Counter-Terrorism Bill; plus news, our regular Young Legal Aid Lawyers column and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 48, December 2007
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Issue includes: Iman Khan, solicitor for Stephen Lawrence's parents, and the families of Zahid Mubarek and Victoria Climbie; Human rights in the Ukraine; The horror of human trafficking; Fingerprinting of children; Miami Five case and US justice; Children in prison; plus news, our regular Young Legal Aid Lawyers column and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 47, July 2007
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Issue includes: Special report on the battle for Legal Aid; Tackling Israel through international law; The inquest into Tom Hurndall's death; Moazzam Begg speaks at Haldane's human rights lecture series; BAE and the Saudi corruption case; Report from a Haldane Society delegation to Turkey; plus news, our regular Young Legal Aid Lawyers column and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 46, April 2007
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Issue includes: Keir Starmer QC on the Human Rights Act and the ‘war on terror’; Eye-witness account from the West Bank; Legal struggles facing women today; Attacks on Muslims in the name of ‘anti-terrorism’; Defending legal aid; UN and EU attitudes to human rights guarantees for ‘terrorist’ suspects; plus news, book reviews and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 45, December 2006
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Issue includes: Mike Mansfield QC on the prisons crisis; Are we heading for Gulag Britain?; the rise and fall of legal aid; Young people in custody; the Jean Charles de Menezes family campaign; extracts from Tony Benn's address to the Haldane AGM; plus Guantánamo, book reviews, news and the Young Legal Aid Lawyers column.
Socialist Lawyer 44, July 2006
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Issue includes: 'Foreign Criminals' and the Home Office; Diplomatic Assurances and the issue of deporting people to possible torture; Blair's 'Respect Agenda'; Shoot to Kill one year after Jean Charles de Menezes' death; The Forest Gate anti-terror raid; Young Legal Aid Lawyers column; Guantánamo update; plus news, book reviews and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 43, March 2006
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Issue includes: Guantanamo Bay, Close it Down; Helena Kennedy on the Rights of Women; Israel's Separation Wall - Expansion or Security?; 75 Years of the Haldane Society; Pat Finucane, still no public enquiry; Professor Conor Gearty on the Human Rights Act and national security; Asylum and Immigration - enforcing destitution; news and comment.
Socialist Lawyer 42, November 2005
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Issue includes: Uganda, Time for Justice; Interview with Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti; Folly of 'anti-terror' legislation; Jean Charles de Menezes and deaths by police shooting; Why we need a Trade Union Freedom bill; Interview with Ranjit Kaur of Rights Of Women; plus news, book reviews and comment.