Politics, Public Protest and the Law

The proliferation of statutory and common law powers that can be utilised to manage and control public protest gives the police a wide range of options to in any given scenario and requires a careful balance to be struck between the maintenance of order and facilitation of convention rights. This paper discusses a novel use of the criminal law of conspiracy and considers the potential benefits of this approach and the ramifications for the protection of convention rights. It is submitted that the controversial use of the criminal law against Chinese dissidents in the UK was perhaps a result of the law of unintended consequences arising from the development of a body of law that has been piecemeal and reactive.

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Psychiatry, the law and the media

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.15.12.721 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. 721-722

Author(s):

Louis Blom-Cooper

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Daily Mail ◽

House Of Lords ◽

Public Protest ◽

The Media ◽

The Law ◽

Special Hospital ◽

Health Review

When the Liverpool Daily Post, its sister paper, the Liverpool Echo, and the Daily Mail published inflammatory material about a restricted patient at Park Lane Special Hospital (now Ashworth (North) Special Hospital) their editors were strongly warned by the House of Lords that they would be well advised to exercise greater care in future, that they did not overstep the mark and find themselves in contempt of court. The newspapers won their appeal because the law allowed them to report the fact that a restricted patient had applied to a Mental Health Review Tribunal for his discharge, the date and place of the hearing of the application and any order made discharging the patient, absolutely or conditionally. But the law does not give the papers carte blanche to comment on a case in order to mount a campaign of public protest against the patient's release.

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Ethical Challenges: Less About Moral Wrongdoing and More About Communication Breakdown

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero20.3.72 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 72-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paula Leslie ◽

Mary Casper

Keyword(s):

Ethical Challenges ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Thickened Liquids ◽

Communication Breakdown ◽

Professional Duty ◽

Language Pathology ◽

The Law ◽

Personal Case

“My patient refuses thickened liquids, should I discharge them from my caseload?” A version of this question appears at least weekly on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Community pages. People talk of respecting the patient's right to be non-compliant with speech-language pathology recommendations. We challenge use of the word “respect” and calling a patient “non-compliant” in the same sentence: does use of the latter term preclude the former? In this article we will share our reflections on why we are interested in these so called “ethical challenges” from a personal case level to what our professional duty requires of us. Our proposal is that the problems that we encounter are less to do with ethical or moral puzzles and usually due to inadequate communication. We will outline resources that clinicians may use to support their work from what seems to be a straightforward case to those that are mired in complexity. And we will tackle fears and facts regarding litigation and the law.

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