A busy week on the blog and at the IICSA…

… with helpful background and analysis from the House of Commons Library, which earlier in the year issued No-deal Brexit and WTO: Article 24 explained for the benefit of MPs and others. This week the importance of reading the full document was not restricted to paragraph 5(c) GATT: Article XXIV, and included the attention paid by commentators to s.20 Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978 to the exclusion of s.2(3), below.

Abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland

On Tuesday, the Commons added two New Clauses to the Northern Ireland (Formation of Executive) Bill the effect of which would be to oblige the Westminster Government to bring forward legislative proposals to reform Northern Ireland’s abortion law and to make provision for same-sex marriage unless a Northern Ireland Executive is formed before 21 October 2019. We noted the details here: The Conversation has a helpful explainer.

Abortion and mental capacity

We noted on 30 June that Lieven J, sitting in the Court of Protection, had ruled in an unreported judgment that a pregnant woman in her twenties with limited mental capacity should have an abortion, on the basis that the balance of the evidence was that termination would be in her best interests and that the Court of Appeal had reversed Lievens J after the woman’s mother had sought a review of her decision. Continue reading →