Reimagining the Law 1 June 2020

1. Freedom of Expression

In an era of no-platforming we need to remind people of the importance of freedom of expression and that as Stephen Sedley so accurately said, "Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having"
The Rt Hon Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury

2. Global Platform for Online Court Hearings

To overcome the access to justice problem (less than 50% of the world's citizens have access to courts) - the UK should develop a standard plug-and-play platform for the conduct, worldwide, of remote and virtual hearings. For developing countries, this should be tailorable to suit local laws/procedures.
Professor Richard Susskind OBE

3. ADR and Mediation

Don't Give us an A...
Alternative dispute resolution offers widely accepted benefits. Yet outside of the online court, cultural, structural and legal (the Court of Appeal decision of Halsey) obstacles have long stymied its normalisation in civil dispute resolution. A long-term ambition for civil justice should be to take the "A" out of ADR.
Andrea Coomber

Breathing Space
Terms of many contracts will not deal fairly with the current dislocation of commercial life. Mediation before litigation should be the norm - should the courts now require/provide this?
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC

4. Teach law in schools

Students should not leave school without a basic understanding of their rights and responsibilities. But it's just as important that they should understand how laws are made and enforced, how they can be challenged and amended, and why the rule of law is essential to a just society.
Joshua Rozenberg QC

5. Brand management of the law

Every trading contract has a governing law which is the Intel Inside of a trading nation- a hidden magnet drawing investment. Other countries spend daily to replace English law with their alternative.
We need a UK legal brand to sustain inward investment and to maintain our financial and insurance industries.
Dame Elizabeth Gloster