House Of Lords Committee For Privileges And Conduct The Conduct Of Lord Laird Hl 96

This report arose out of a request by Lord Laird that the Commissioner for Standards should investigate his conduct in connection with two separate sets of allegations. The first arose from the Sunday Times articles in which undercover journalists purported to act for consultants working on behalf of a South Korean solar energy investor. The second set of allegations arose from a BBC Panorama programme in which undercover reporters purported to act on behalf of a group called the Society of Friends of Fiji. The Commissioner found that Lord Laird breached the Code of Conduct in three respects. First, that Lord Laird attempted to negotiate an agreement with the undercover Sunday Times journalists which would have involved him in helping to create an all-party group at the behest of the consultants in return for payment or other reward; secondly, that Lord Laird attempted to negotiate an agreement with the undercover Sunday Times journalists which would have involved him providing parliamentary services in return for payment or other reward; thirdly, that Lord Laird attempted to negotiate an agreement with the undercover Panorama reporters which would have involved him helping to create an all-party group at the behest of the client in return for payment or other reward. The Sub-Committee on Lords' Conduct recommended that Lord Laird be suspended from the service of the House for four months. Lord Laird appealed. The Committee affirmed the Commissioner's findings and confirm the recommended sanction of four months' suspension

This collection of essays by leading academics, lawyers, parliamentarians and parliamentary officials provides a critical assessment of the UK Parliament's two main constitutional roles-as a legislature and as the preeminent institution for calling government to account. Both functions are undergoing change and facing new challenges. Part 1 (Legislation) includes chapters on Parliament's emerging responsibilities for pre-legislative scrutiny of government Bills and for evaluating proposed legislation against explicit constitutional standards. The impact on legislation of the European Union and the growing influence of the House of Lords are also examined. Part 2 (Accountability) investigates how Parliament operates to scrutinise areas of executive action previously often shielded from effective parliamentary oversight, including national security, war-making powers and administrative justice. There are also chapters on parliamentary reform, including analysis of the House of Commons 'Wright reforms', parliamentary sovereignty, privilege and the European Convention on Human Rights, Euroscepticism, and parliamentary sovereignty and the regulation of lobbyists. The book will be of interest to anyone who is curious about the work of Parliament and is aimed at legal academics, practitioners and political scientists.

Patrick Mercer, the MP for Newark, was approached by a journalist purporting to be a public affairs consultant representing a group called 'Friends of Fiji', who wished to campaign for the readmission of Fiji into the Commonwealth, and sought to do so by hiring people to use influence on its behalf. Between the initial approach from the 'consultant' on 6 March and the last meeting between them on 25 April, Mr Mercer tabled five Parliamentary questions and an Early Day Motion (EDM), and actively sought to set up an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fiji. On 31 May 2013 articles appeared in the Daily Telegraph about the case, and a Panorama programme was broadcast on 6 June 2013. As a result, Mr Mercer referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The Commissioner found that Mr Mercer had: failed to register monies received for the provision of consultancy services; failed to deposit an agreement for the provision of services; failed to declare a relevant interest when tabling five parliamentary questions, when tabling an early-day motion, when making approaches to other Members, and, most probably, at a meeting of a prospective All-Party Parliamentary Group; and tabled parliamentary questions and an early-day motion, and taken steps to establish an All-Party Parliamentary Group, at the request of paying clients. The Committee recommend that Mr Mercer be suspended from the House for a period of six calendar months. [Note: Mr Mercer resigned on 29 April 2014, before publication of this report.]

Historically Canadians have considered themselves to be more or less free of racial prejudice. Although this conception has been challenged in recent years, it has not been completely dispelled. In Colour-Coded, Constance Backhouse illustrates the tenacious hold that white supremacy had on our legal system in the first half of this century, and underscores the damaging legacy of inequality that continues today. Backhouse presents detailed narratives of six court cases, each giving evidence of blatant racism created and enforced through law. The cases focus on Aboriginal, Inuit, Chinese-Canadian, and African-Canadian individuals, taking us from the criminal prosecution of traditional Aboriginal dance to the trial of members of the 'Ku Klux Klan of Kanada.' From thousands of possibilities, Backhouse has selected studies that constitute central moments in the legal history of race in Canada. Her selection also considers a wide range of legal forums, including administrative rulings by municipal councils, criminal trials before police magistrates, and criminal and civil cases heard by the highest courts in the provinces and by the Supreme Court of Canada. The extensive and detailed documentation presented here leaves no doubt that the Canadian legal system played a dominant role in creating and preserving racial discrimination. A central message of this book is that racism is deeply embedded in Canadian history despite Canada's reputation as a raceless society. Winner of the Joseph Brant Award, presented by the Ontario Historical Society

This is the Final Report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its six-year investigation of the residential school system for Aboriginal youth and the legacy of these schools. This report, the summary volume, includes the history of residential schools, the legacy of that school system, and the full text of the Commission's 94 recommendations for action to address that legacy. This report lays bare a part of Canada's history that until recently was little-known to most non-Aboriginal Canadians. The Commission discusses the logic of the colonization of Canada's territories, and why and how policy and practice developed to end the existence of distinct societies of Aboriginal peoples. Using brief excerpts from the powerful testimony heard from Survivors, this report documents the residential school system which forced children into institutions where they were forbidden to speak their language, required to discard their clothing in favour of institutional wear, given inadequate food, housed in inferior and fire-prone buildings, required to work when they should have been studying, and subjected to emotional, psychological and often physical abuse. In this setting, cruel punishments were all too common, as was sexual abuse. More than 30,000 Survivors have been compensated financially by the Government of Canada for their experiences in residential schools, but the legacy of this experience is ongoing today. This report explains the links to high rates of Aboriginal children being taken from their families, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and high rates of suicide. The report documents the drastic decline in the presence of Aboriginal languages, even as Survivors and others work to maintain their distinctive cultures, traditions, and governance. The report offers 94 calls to action on the part of governments, churches, public institutions and non-Aboriginal Canadians as a path to meaningful reconciliation of Canada today with Aboriginal citizens. Even though the historical experience of residential schools constituted an act of cultural genocide by Canadian government authorities, the United Nation's declaration of the rights of aboriginal peoples and the specific recommendations of the Commission offer a path to move from apology for these events to true reconciliation that can be embraced by all Canadians.