In the wake of the Metropolitan Police’s announcement that it’s Special Enquiry Team has expanded its criminal investigation into donations made to Reform UK by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of “Posh” George, to include suspected breaches of foreign funding laws based on the Verbatim/C4 undercover sting operation, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC focus on the rise and fall of Dr James Orr, the former Reform UK Head of Policy - or “contractor” as he was contemptuously described by Nigel Farage soon after Orr was indefinitely suspended from the Party.  Just how clever is the Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion in the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity and the man known as “Farage’s Brain”?  And is he as weird as High Anglican Tory AN Wilson has claimed?

Ken and Tim then discuss the potential for the £72m donations to Reform UK made by Thailand based Christopher Harborne and crypto currency businessman Ben Delo to be reversed when the retrospective provisions of the Representation of the People Bill 2026 come into force.  Can we anticipate the delicious prospect of Reform relying on the European Convention on Human Rights to argue that UK law is incompatible with the right to peaceful enjoyment of property?

The duo turn next to debate the defeat of the second attempt to legislate for some form of Assisted Dying legislation in the UK and reflect on the shameful, anti-democratic, filibustering tactics deployed by 7 Peers which meant that the June 2025 House of Commons’ vote in favour of the Leadbeater Bill was frustrated.

They go on to express astonishment and concern at the apparently never ending Undercover Policing Inquiry which is due to lose its second Inquiry Chair, Sir John Mitting, next year some 12 years after it began. After costing £137m, is it time to pull the plug?

And finally Ken and Tim reflect on the new legal risk guidance issued by Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC which reverses the previous guidance issued by Lord Hermer KC (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-attorney-generals-guidance-on-legal-risk--2). Does it undermine the rule of law and what political signal does it send?

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. 

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays. 

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. 

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the Verbatim Investigations/C4 film which shows senior (now ex) Reform UK officials apparently engaged in procuring illegal foreign donations to the Party a “hoax”, as Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick have claimed, or a brilliant example of investigative journalism in the public interest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXut3s90rUI)? And did the undercover operation breach journalistic ethics by crossing the line into “entrapment”, or did the evidence captured on film simply reveal the willingness of Reform’s former Head of Policy, James Orr, and senior aide to Farage, Dan Jukes, to operate an “off the books” illegal donation scheme? What specific criminal offences under UK law are apparent from the broadcast footage and what defences might be run in he event of criminal charges? And is major Reform UK donor Aaron Banks right to say that the public “don’t give a rat’s arse” about the behaviour of Orr, Jukes and Farage as revealed by Verbatim’s investigation?

To debate the fascinating issues generated by the C4/Verbatim sting operation on Double Jeopardy, Tim Owen KC is joined by electoral and media law expert Gavin Millar KC who acted as legal advisor to Verbatim during the year-long undercover operation. In his first public interview since the documentary was published, Gavin explains the ethical principles which guide this kind of investigation, the criminal offences set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and the difference between the role of a journalist as opposed to that of the police when investigating potential wrongdoing by politicians. The duo discuss the weaknesses in current electoral law and the limited powers of the Electoral Commission to tackle dodgy financial dealings by political parties.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. 

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays. 

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. 

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The failure of successive Conservative governments to build sufficient prison capacity to accommodate the growing prison population handed Labour a criminal justice crisis which demanded urgent action. In enacting the Sentencing Act in January 2026, Parliament approved the "earned progression" model recommended by the Gauke Sentencing Review which held out some hope of long term relief from the perma-crisis afflicting our penal system. But in the face of sustained media pressure concerning the release of the killers of PC Harper, Andy Burnham's first major policy decision as PM has been to water down the release scheme in a way guaranteed to sustain the very crisis which the 2026 Act was crafted to resolve (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sentencing-act-offence-exclusions).

For expert legal commentary on the depressing statement delivered to Parliament on 1st September by Labour's third Lord Chancellor in 2 years and its implications for UK law and current political events, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined on Double Jeopardy by the Institute for Government's Associate Director, Cassia Rowland. Why did former Justice Secretary, David Lammy, not prepare the public for the coming into force of the Sentencing Act's release provisions with the result that the summer media frenzy over the release of PC Harper's killers caused Burnham to abandon key features of the early release scheme? What hope is there for achieving a long term reduction in our use of imprisonment if politicians simply collapse in the face of media stories linked to high-profile legal cases?

Ken and Tim also discuss the $17 billion settlement agreed on 26th August between Meta and US States in the federal child safety lawsuit alleging that Meta designed its apps (Facebook and Instagram) to be addictive to children and knew about the risks those platforms posed but hid that information from the public. Finally they discuss the alarming implications of the US government's decision to designate Palestine Action as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organisation in terms of its impact on freedom of expression and on any persons convicted in the future of a Terrorism Act offence related to supporting PA.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. 

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays. 

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. 

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With co-hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC travelling in widely separated time zones, it’s proved impossible to record the weekly episode as normal. But rather than skip an episode altogether we thought that with Parliament due to return next week and with the new Lord Chancellor Alex Norris due to announce major changes to the early release provisions of the Sentencing Act 2026 as a result of public fury at the prospect of the killers of PC Harper benefiting from the scheme, our audience would appreciate a chance to listen (or re-listen) to the 4th June 2025 episode when our guest was David Gauke, the former Conservative Justice Secretary 2018/19. It was the report produced in May 2025 by Gauke’s Independent Review of Sentencing which formed the basis for the (now much reviled) early release provisions of the Sentencing Act - provisions which mark a fundamental change in sentencing policy and which were enacted by Parliament in order to address the deep crisis of prison capacity resulting from the deadly combination of a total failure by consecutive Conservative governments to build sufficient new prison places over the fifteen years they were in power and an ever expanding prison population. In our discussion with David, he explained how his recommendations for what were, in reality, very limited changes to our overly complex, messy and confusing sentencing systems were intended to reduce our use of short custodial sentences, ease the pressure on our overcrowded, collapsing prison system while boosting investment in community penalties and a reinvigorated probation service. With the prospect now of Andy Burnham flinching at the first sign of populist revulsion at the idea of prisoners convicted of violence being granted early release after serving only a third or half of their sentences, our discussion with David Gauke provides helpful context for the next round of political debate around the apparently never ending crisis that afflicts our penal system. It is a salutary reminder of the political challenges that face any government seeking to wean a nation away from a relentless belief that locking people up for years in conditions which make rehabilitation impossible is a sensible use of public money.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With. in-depth discussions and. influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. 

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law.

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Burnham’s decision to pause the emergency early release scheme in order to ensure that the killers of PC Andrew Harper do not benefit from it, is an act of political desperation given the data showing that the UK prison system is at bursting point and can't cope with the rising prison population without a significant, rapid reduction in those currently imprisoned (https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/prison-early-release-scheme). It also demonstrates a grave lack of political judgment by former Justice Secretary David Lammy in failing to anticipate the inevitable public outcry that the scheme would trigger given the range of offenders whose automatic release dates would be significantly advanced at a time when the necessary public protection measures were woefully inadequate.

To understand the implications for UK law and politics and the rule of law of this latest illustration of the disastrous state of our criminal justice and prison system, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC debate the exquisite dilemma which confronts Burnham and his new, inexperienced Lord Chancellor Alex Norris, and pose some basic questions to those urging the abandonment of the early release scheme save in relation to those serving sentences for minor crimes. Given the disastrous record of successive Conservative governments in starving the UK criminal justice system of resources, doing nothing to reduce sentence lengths while failing to build more prison capacity, what was the Labour government expected to do as the prison system became overwhelmed? And what are the prospects of any government communicating a consistent, effective message on the need to reduce our use of imprisonment when Justice Secretaries and Prisons and Probation Ministers rarely last more than a year in office?

Ken and Tim then turn to answer some listeners’ questions on a range of issues including Andy Burnham’s call for a codified written UK constitution; whether sentencing guidelines should be amended to reflect the time that will actually be served in custody; and the implications for UK law and politics of France becoming the latest European country to legalise assisted dying.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. 

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Law Commission for England and Wales is currently consulting on reform of the antiquated common law of homicide (murder and manslaughter) with a view to addressing long-standing criticisms that the current legal system is outdated, overly complex and fails accurately and fairly to distinguish between varying degrees of culpability (https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/law-of-homicide/).

On Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC provide expert legal commentary on the implications for UK law and politics of fundamental change to homicide law and sentencing in discussion with the Law Commissioner for Criminal Law, Professor Penney Lewis.

How many people realise that a person can be convicted of the substantive offence of murder on the basis of an intent merely to cause serious injury whereas the offence of attempted murder requires proof of a specific intention to kill? Will the Law Commission's proposal to replace the current two-tier system with a structured three-tier hierarchy of general homicide offences (first degree murder, second degree murder and manslaughter) make it easier for the public to understand why the mandatory life sentence is reserved for the most serious homicide offences? Should a jury continue to define for itself what degree of carelessness amounts to the serious crime of gross negligence manslaughter? And should the understandable grief and rage of the relatives of victims of homicide influence the difficult charging decisions that the Crown Prosecution Service must make in those cases where mental illness obviously explains the homicidal motive?

Ken and Tim are then joined by former Court of Appeal Judge and President of the Kalisher Trust, Dame Anne Rafferty, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Kalisher Trust which has, for the last three decades promoted social mobility, diversity and excellence at the Criminal Bar (https://www.thekalishertrust.org/).  

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom o expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.    ​

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Burnham purge of the Cabinet has resulted in radical personnel changes in the Ministry of Justice and among the Law Officers, with the departures of David Lammy, Lord Hermer KC, Baroness Levitt KC and Lord Timpson. Their replacements are all less experienced legally and politically, less well known and consequently lacking in political weight.

To discuss the implications of these developments for UK law and politics, the rule of law, sentencing and prisons policy, Double Jeopardy hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by regular guest Danny Shaw, a former BBC journalist and expert on criminal justice, policing, security and immigration.

Who is the new Lord Chancellor, Nottingham MP Alex Norris, and what message does his appointment send to lawyers, the judiciary and the public, when a person with no previous Cabinet experience or legal qualification was the last Cabinet appointment to be announced by Andy Burnham?

Was he appointed because more senior people with Cabinet experience turned down the chance to be Lord Chancellor? If so, what does that say about the long-term demise of a once great Office of State, when the Lord Chancellor is the least experienced member of the Cabinet?

What does the unexpected resignation of Lord Timpson say about the prospects for penal reform in the UK? He is replaced by the 15th Prisons Minister since 2010, Catherine McKinnell MP, someone with no relevant knowledge or experience in this uniquely difficult area of prisons and sentencing policy.

The trio also discuss Andy Burnham’s decision, three days after taking office, to pause the statutory early release scheme due to come into force on 2 September. The decision followed a media onslaught focusing on the grief and rage of PC Harper’s widow at the prospect of her husband’s killers being released halfway through their determinate sentences instead of at the two-thirds point. Is this an example of Burnham’s wish to be popular rather than make tough decisions?

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. 

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and politica system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.    ​

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. 

​​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Double Jeopardy, the 12th June decision of the Trump administration to issue an export control directive forcing AI giant Anthropic to suspend access to its new AI tool Fable 5 "by any foreign national including one in the USA" on the basis of national security concerns triggered a huge current affairs debate in the EU about AI sovereignty, with former French PM Attal likening the shutdown to Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

To offer expert legal commentary on the implications of Trump's approach to AI and cyber-security for UK law and UK politics as well as the broader EU landscape, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are once again joined by their Matrix chambers colleague, AI expert and media/data law barrister Zoe McCallum. The trio also discuss the breakneck speed of developments in AI in terms of its impact on the legal system and the delivery of justice in the UK. They examine the significant recent contributions to this debate by Supreme Court Justice Lord Briggs (https://supremecourt.uk/speeches/speech-lord-briggs-200526) and Dame Victoria Sharp, whose speech addresses judicial independence past, present, and future (https://www.judiciary.uk/speech-by-the-president-of-the-kings-bench-division-without-fear-or-favour-judicial-independence-past-present-and-future/).

Ken and Tim then shift to discuss the extraordinary Judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal on 17th July, presided over by Lady Chief Justice Carr, which contains an unprecedented criticism of the (now former) Attorney General Lord Hermer KC in relation to his public comments following his decision to refer the sentences of the 3 children convicted of rape in Fordingbridge under the Unduly Lenient Scheme (https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Approved-Follow-On-Judgment-R-v-X-Y-Z-2026-EWCA-Crim-913.pdf).

This episode was recorded before Andy Burnham announced the appointment of the new Justice Secretary and Attorney General - Ken and Tim will give their views on Alex Norris and Ellie Reeves KC in next week’s episode.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.    ​

​

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

​

If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today i Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reaction to the damning judgment handed down by Mr Justice Nicklin on 7th July (https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/lawrence-and-others-v associated-newspapers-limited/) dismissing the privacy and unlawful information gathering claims brought by Prince Harry and six other well known individuals against the Daily Mail publishers has been sharply divided. In an extraordinary, potentially reckless statement, given that Nicklin is due to decide the issues of costs later this month, Prince Harry condemned it as "a complete and obvious whitewash", questioning the objectivity and fairness of the Judge while Associated Newspapers welcomed the judgment as "a magnificent vindication" of the freedom of the press and its journalists.

For expert legal commentary on why the claimants lost, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined once again by the leading media barrister Gavin Millar KC, who regularly acts for the media in high profile legal cases. Why did the Judge reject each and every claim despite the Daily Mail admitting it had regularly recruited third party investigators with previous form for phone hacking, "blagging" and other unlawful conduct to assist its journalists in their stories? How could the claimants' legal team have got things so badly wrong? Is the Judge's approach to "propensity" evidence and the strict demand for article-by-article proof, appealable?

Ken and Tim then answer some listeners' questions about last week's episode with Dame Vera Baird KC and the current state of the CCRC, a recurring theme in our legal commentary on the criminal justice crisis, before ending with a tribute to the great former Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern who died on 7th July 2026 at the age of 99.

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.   ​

​

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.    ​

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule o law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

​

Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. ​

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is a vital cog in the UK legal system but both before and after the catalogue of failures in handling of the Andrew Malkinson case were laid out in great detail in Chris Henley KC’s 2024 Report (https://cdn.websitebuilder.service.justice.gov.uk/uploads/sites/5/2024/10 henleyreport.pdf) it was widely regarded as an institution in permanent crisis, badly managed and apparently incapable of fulfilling the goals which lead to its creation via the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 in the wake of a series o high profile legal cases and miscarriages of justice.

In this week’s episode Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the Chair of the CCRC, Dame Vera Baird KC, for expert legal commentary and  ask why she took on the job in 2025 following the resignation of the much criticised former Chair, Helen Pitcher, and whether she is optimistic that she can turn the organisation around despite the numerous structural flaws identified in the recently published Report by His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (https://hmcpsi.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/report/criminal-cases-review commission-casework/).

Does the baleful legacy of remote working contracts – which means that almost all the CCRC’s staff work from home rather than in its Birmingham office – represent a fundamental obstacle to reforming the dysfunctional work environment exposed by the HMCPSI Report? Does the CCRC have enough people with criminal law experience working on its caseload? And are the CCRC Commissioners – intended at the outset to provide real expertise and detailed oversight of casework – too detached and insufficiently involved in day-to-day work to maintain effective scrutiny of case workers? Does the “real possibility” statutory test - which requires the CCRC to predict whether it thinks the Court of Appeal will overturn a conviction – force the CCRC to be overly deferential to the judiciary, raising real questions about correcting miscarriages of justice and effectively turning it into a gatekeeper rather than a bold investigative advocate for justice? Can Dame Vera be confident that there will never be another disaster such as the Malkinson case under a reformed CCRC?

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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.    ​

What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds powerin Britain's legal and political system?  Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.

Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.    ​

Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. ​

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Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades.  Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. 

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If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.

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