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PODCAST

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics

Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC

Covering the critical intersections of law and politics 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 present and future. -What happens when law and politics collide? -How do politics shape the

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All Episodes

35:42

Mandelson’s Vetting in Wonderland, and Victory for...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/04/22

With numerous former senior civil servants attacking Keir Starmer for his decision to sack Sir Olly Robbins – former Cabinet Secretary Lord Gus O'Donnell says the sacking “risks having a serious and sustained chilling effect on serving and prospective civil servants” - Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC examine the claim by those defending Robbins that he was forbidden by law from disclosing to Starmer even the bare outcome of Mandelson’s developed vetting process by UK Security Vetting. Does -

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46:02

Kathleen Stock on the Right to Die, Freedom, Death,...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/04/15

With Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill apparently doomed to extinction thanks to the co-ordinated efforts of a handful of Peers determined to ensure it cannot complete scrutiny in the House of Lords, the future looks bleak for any form of assisted dying legislation to become law in the UK any time soon. To discuss the arguments for and against the Leadbeater Bill, Ken and Tim – both supporters of some form of assisted dying legislation – are joined by philosopher and

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41:27

Prisons in the UK: Violence, Drugs, Squalor, and a...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/04/01

On 19th March 2026 the Chief Inspector of Prisons issued an Urgent Notification placing Woodhill Prison into special measures (https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-woodhill-urgent-notification-2/). On the same day he published a truly shocking report into HMP Swaleside (https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-swaleside-5/), another jail in the long-term high secure estate holding some of the most dangerous men in the country. Coming

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46:34

A World Without Law: Operation Epic Disaster

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/03/25

The 2026 US/Israel war against Iran is a rapidly evolving, multi-front war. What started as a massive joint air campaign (Operation Epic Fury) and involved the execution of Ayatollah Ali Khameini and some 40 other senior Iranian leaders and key military commanders has expanded into a regional confrontation involving cyber warfare, energy blockades and direct missile exchanges without any current sign of an uprising by the Iranian people to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Hormuz

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44:04

Listeners’ Postbag: Iran, Juries, and Too Many Lawyers

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/03/18

With world events continuing to dominate the domestic news agenda, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC respond to a range of listeners’ questions generated by recent episodes. What explains the huge gap which has emerged between the broad consensus among international lawyers that the US/Israel attack on Iran was illegal and the mild or even supportive reactions given to Operation Epic Fury by many States? Ken and Tim respond to the many questions from listeners who disagreed with Shadow AG Lord

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35:51

Lammy Sets Out His Stall - Will Justice Be The Loser?

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/03/11

Undaunted by near unanimous opposition from the legal profession, the Government last week published the Courts and Tribunals Bill which, if enacted, will mean that roughly half of cases currently tried by juries will be decided either by magistrates or a single Crown Court Judge. And to discuss the content and implications of the bill, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the Chief Executive of JUSTICE, Fiona Rutherford who, in a previous life, was the Director of Access to Justice Policy

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42:05

Iran - Bombing International Law?

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/03/04

With Operation Epic Fury, the US/Israel attack on Iran, triggering reprisals by Iran that risk the stability of the entire Gulf Region, what are the shifting international law justifications for the initial attack? And was the Starmer/Hermer explanation for the UK’s cautious approach to involvement in “offensive” action an example of weakness or wise restraint? To answer these and other questions Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the Shadow Attorney General, Lord David Wolfson KC,

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57:36

What is Misconduct in Public Office? And the US...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/02/25

Is Misconduct in Public Office “one of the most notoriously difficult offences to define in England and Wales” as the Law Commission observed in its 2020 Report into the history of the offence? And what reforms are needed for it to satisfy 21st century requirements of legal certainty according to the Commission’s conclusions ?To answer these and other questions, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the former Criminal Law Commissioner and distinguished Professor of Criminal Law, Jeremy

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49:01

Proscribing Palestine Action - Why Was It Unlawful?...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/02/18

Why did the High Court quash the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation? And what are the prospects of the Home Secretary winning on appeal? With Ken Macdonald KC refraining from public comment on public order/protest issues while he leads the independent review commissioned by Shabana Mahmood into existing public order and hate crime legislation, Tim Owen KC is joined by freelance criminal justice and policing expert Danny Shaw to discuss the

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50:20

Can Sir Brian Leveson Save the Criminal Justice System?

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/02/11

The second Part of Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts was published last week but largely overlooked in light of the Mandelson scandal. In this week’s episode Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by Sir Brian to discuss the details of his mammoth, Part 2 Report and to get his response to the very strong criticisms from both the legal profession, the judiciary and politicians from all sides to his first Report on jury reform. Sir Brian’s Second Report

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48:15

SLAPPS, Filibustering Death, and Juries

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/02/04

What is the future of anti-SLAPP laws in the UK? And what are the implications of the recent High Court Judgment in Hurst v Solicitors Regulation Authority (https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/082-Hurst-v-SRA-002.pdf)in which the SRA was heavily criticised for holding that the experienced Osborne Clarke media solicitor, Ashley Hurst, was guilty of professional misconduct on the basis that he had wrongly attempted to deter tax campaigner Dan Neidle from publishing allegations of

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47:37

Why The Lammy Jury Reforms Won’t Work

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/01/28

Are the Government’s plans to reduce the shameful backlog of some 80,000 cases awaiting trial in the Crown Court built on sand? Is the prediction in Part 1 of Sir Brian Leveson's Independent Review of Criminal Courts reliable?Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by Cassia Rowland. Cassia is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government (IFG) and the author of the IFG's Report “Trial and Error? The impact of restricting jury trials on court demand” published on 21st January -

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44:22

Listeners’ Mailbag: Tariffs, Hunger Strikes and...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/01/21

In this week’s episode Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss a wide range of issues affecting UK law and politics and answer some listeners’ questions. Does Elon Musk’s climbdown over Grok’s image generator represent a victory for online safety campaigners and have Ken and Tim been unfair about Ofcom’s record of enforcing the Online Safety Act ? Will the US Supreme Court’s imminent ruling in Learning Resources v Trump declare Trump’s unilateral imposition of tariffs without

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53:50

Venezuela, Greenland and The Donroe Doctrine: Power...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/01/14

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton says of President Trump that “the part he likes about the phrase ‘Donroe Doctrine” is the word ‘Don’ - he doesn’t do doctrine” but the abduction of the sitting Venezuelan President Maduro and repeated explicit threats to acquire Greenland, by force if necessary, from Trump, Vance and the increasingly unhinged US Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller would appear to signal the end of any hope for the continuation of a rules-based global order. To

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61:08

UK Law and Politics 2025-2026: What’s Happened and...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/01/07

To start the New Year, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined once again by the UK’s leading legal journalist and author of the daily blog, A Lawyer Writes, Joshua Rozenberg, to review some key issues in UK law and politics during 2025 and to look forward to likely developments in 2026.Against the background of a polarised, often ill-informed, debate around migration, asylum and Article 8 of the ECHR, where does the embarrassing case of Alaa Abd El-Fattah fit in this confused, fevered

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39:30

Living in the Southern Ocean: Part 2- Empire, Neglect...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2026/01/01

In Part 2 of their discussion with retired New Zealand High Court Judge and former Chief Crown Prosecutor for Auckland, Simon Moore KC, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the extraordinary Pitcairn Island sexual abuse trials which took place between 2004-2006 and in which Simon headed the prosecution team. What finally triggered the investigation into what was eventually revealed to be institutionalised, decades long gross sexual abuse of children and young women on this tiny, remote volcanic

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31:41

Living in the Southern Ocean: Part 1- Blazing a Trail...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2025/12/27

In Part 1 of a special holiday release of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by the former New Zealand High Court Judge and Chief Crown Prosecutor for Auckland, Simon Moore KC. At a time when comparisons are often made between the Leveson/Lammy proposals and the major reforms to New Zealand criminal justice system in 2011 flowing from its Criminal Procedure Act 2011 and the Victims of Crime Reform Act 2011, Simon gives his thoughts on the UK government’s proposed changes

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38:48

Mr Lammy Goes to Strasbourg- and our Christmas...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2025/12/17

As the UK joins 26 other Council of Europe States in calling for a rebalancing of the European Convention on Human Rights as between the individual rights of irregular migrants and the public interest in defending freedom and security, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the political imperatives which drove Justice Secretary David Lammy and Attorney General Lord Hermer to attend a potentially highly significant meeting in Strasbourg designed to head off the rise of populist, anti-ECHR parties

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43:10

Swapping Judges For Juries: Will This Really Be...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2025/12/12

Are the Government’s proposals radically to reduce a citizen’s right to trial by jury a “swift and fair plan to get justice for victims”, as the MoJ press release declared on 2nd December, or a poorly conceived, confused and untested set of measures which will have no real impact on the Crown Court backlog or the general, long term crisis that afflicts our once admired criminal justice system? What is the explanation for the significant difference between the leaked Lammy memorandum - which

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1:18

We'll Be Right Back: This Week's Episode Will Be Out...

Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics ·

2025/12/10

Hello listeners, Thanks to bad weather delaying Tim’s flight from the USA, this week’s episode with Riel Karmy-Jones KC and Chris Henley KC will be released on Friday, 12 December. We appreciate your patience!

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