I went to Strasbourg to see whether reform, of the European Convention on Human Rights is possible, rather than quitting as some would prefer. Here's our tale for tonight's TV Ten. Pictures and editing by Lee Durant. My thanks to the ECHR / CoE team for accommodating my endless requests.

He’s now very chill. Thanks for reading !

Proof that AI has no sense of humour:

An AI search engine summary I didn't ask for that isn't intelligent enough to work out the difference between the past and the present.

Legal grenade going off this morning in London Legal Land: Barrister Charlotte Proudman has won her extraordinary disciplinary hearing which accused her of misconduct after she had a pop at a judge for his "boys' club attitude". Charges thrown out. She said she had been a victim of discrimination.

Orange = new cases. Blue: Completed cases. Green = backlog. Arrow one shows pandemic hit as backlog was rising. Arrow two is the barristers’ pay strike that Justice Sec Dominic Raab refused to settle. Three: today’s lack of prosecutors, defence barristers, judges court rooms to manage demand.

The facts are in: New stats show Crown Court backlogs have now broken all records. *73,105 cases now waiting for trial.* That’s almost double the delays before the pandemic (a level that had by then already been rising due to cuts to judges, courts and a loss of barristers over pay.)

Doggo’s got some solar enhanced highlights going on.

Result for the long campaign by the Mirror + @fleetstreetfox.bsky.social. Highlighted by us this week. Defence Sec John Healey has pledged to MPs to investigate if there are missing and secret files hiding the truth about what nuclear bomb test veterans experienced. Run VT from Defence Committee:

Lawyers for the nuclear bomb test veterans, in last night’s top documentary, proposing to launch legal action against the government in Jan if there’s no agreement on an alternative (and vastly cheaper) resolution for their claims of a cover-up of the damage to their health.

Big issue from a fortnight ago doing a deep dive analysis of where the new Lab govt goes (or not) is a great read if you can still find it. Learned more about the complexities of housing policy over this issue+local pint than in a year

Meanwhile over in the other hate-filled place my colleague from the Evening Standard is reporting the press are going to have to practice their yoga chair pose:

And ... the draft legislation concedes that it is NOT compatible with the UK's human rights safeguards. This is wording inserted by the government's lawyers so that MPs know that the legislation is likely to fall apart once challenged in the courts:

Policing Protocol: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/64...