Joshua Rozenberg KC (hon) is Britain's most experienced commentator on the law. This new podcast complements the daily updates he publishes on A Lawyer Writes. ...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rozenberg.substack.comAriel, the magician’s “trusty spirit”, speaks with Prospero in The Tempest about magic bringing about a “sea change”, a transformative power creating something “rich and strange”.As befits a lawyer who read English at Oxford, Jonathan Kewley drew on Shakespeare to describe artificial intelligence in a lecture earlier this month. The solicitor, who was awarded the title of partner of the year at the British Legal Awards last month, is co-head of the Clifford Chance tech group, a cross-disciplinary team of more than 600 lawyers advising on tech risk and opportunity.“When I use AI in my daily life,” said Kewley, “its power and potential often leaves me in a state of shock and awe. Be in no doubt: we are currently witnessing something quite extraordinary. We’ve evolved through the Stone Age, the Iron Age. We now find ourselves in the Intelligence Age.”But Kewley had a warning for us all. “This modern magic can turn dark,” he said:At the end of The Tempest, Prospero relinquishes his magic and releases his spirit assistant Ariel. “I’ll break my staff,” he says. “I’ll drown my book.” But we cannot walk away from AI now.Let’s not sleep-walk into this. Let’s shape the future of AI by putting humans at the centre. Wake up, embrace the opportunity with our eyes wide open. The real magic rests in getting the balance right.Kewley had been invited to speak at the Central Criminal Court by Alderman Gregory Jones, the first practising KC to serve as one of the City of London’s two sheriffs. His lecture and the discussion that followed were part of the City and Legal programme of events chosen to promote the Old Bailey as an international forum for exploring the rule of law and the interaction between the law and business. I must declare an interest: Jones has invited me to speak at the court in February about freedom of speech and transparency. Other discussions in the new year will cover crypto-assets, smarter financial regulation, infrastructure and climate change.As Kewley said, AI can also be dangerous — just as the first motor cars were created without safety in mind. It is leading to errors in hiring and firing staff in the workplace. It could cause a flash crash in the financial markets. It can even lead to deaths. But, as a solicitor, Kewley deeply believed in the power of law to keep this magic in check.That’s what we discussed in a fascinating episode of A Lawyer Talks. My regular podcast is a bonus for paying subscribers to A Lawyer Writes. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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What would Chalk do?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rozenberg.substack.comHow can we reduce trial delays of two or even three years in the Crown Court?Yesterday, I reported a suggestion from the director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson that was promptly skewered in the comments section by Ian Kelcey and Tom Crowther.Parkinson had also suggested that we might explore some ideas that had recently been backed by Alex Chalk KC, the former Conservative justice secretary. These would involve limiting the right to jury trial — a radical move, but one that might find favour with no less a figure than the lady chief justice of England and Wales, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill.We know from the National Audit Office report yesterday that the Conservative government’s prison building programme will not produce the prison places that are said to be needed. One solution offered by the Ministry of Justice is a sentencing review that’s intended to ensure prisons do not run out of space again. But that review has a fundamental flaw, as Chalk told me when I went to see him at the chambers from which he now practises.You can hear my interview with the former justice secretary — and a brief comment from Parkinson — in the latest episode of A Lawyer Talks.My podcast is a bonus for paying subscribers. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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Deepfakes under fire
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rozenberg.substack.comA bill that would make it illegal to create or solicit sexually explicit or intimate images without the consent of the people in them will be considered by the House of Lords next week. The bill would cover deepfake content, where photos or video are digitally manipulated to make a person appear to be in an intimate situation. Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge, who was the youngest member of the House of Lords when she was nominated in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list in July last year, has sponsored the Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill as a private member’s bill. Its second reading debate is scheduled for 13 December.Owen explained the purpose of her bill in a note to House of Lords library:The problem of sexually explicit deepfakes is one that is inherently sexist and rapidly proliferating. They have been described as the new frontier of violence against women. The content is created using generative AI and can be made in a matter of seconds with easily downloadable nudification apps or online platforms. Whilst it is illegal to non-consensually share sexually explicit deepfakes online, it is still not illegal to create them in the first place.The bill was prepared with the help of Clare McGlynn KC (hon), a solicitor and professor of law at Durham University (pictured in the graphic above) who specialises in the legal regulation of sexual violence, pornography and online abuse.For the latest episode in my podcast A Lawyer Talks, McGlynn spoke to me about Owen’s bill and the chances that it might attract government support.My podcast is a free bonus for paying subscribers. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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Failing to prevent fraud
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rozenberg.substack.comWe are used to the idea of the criminal law penalising us when we do bad things. But there’s an increasing tendency for the state to punish large organisations for doing nothing at all.The latest example of this is the new offence of failure to prevent fraud, which takes effect next autumn. Statutory guidance was issued by the government earlier this month. But it was not as helpful as businesses might have hoped.For the latest episode of my podcast A Lawyer Talks, I have been discussing the legislation — and the guidance — with Nick Vamos, head of business crime at the long-established criminal defence solicitors Peters & Peters. A former head of special crime and head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, Vamos represented Boris Johnson when the former prime minister was accused of misleading parliament over “Partygate” and represented the Post Office in the appeals it faced by former postmasters who were convicted on flawed evidence.My podcast is available to paying subscribers. Every one else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
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Get Carman
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rozenberg.substack.comThe death of George Carman QC at the age of 71 meant — as I told readers of the Daily Telegraph at the beginning of 2001 — that the age of the great advocate was at an end:Until now. The 25 pages Carman managed to complete before his death form the starting point of a new book called Get Carman, which records his casework during the 1980s and 1990s. All the big names of the period are there: Jeremy Thorpe, Geoffrey Prime, Ken Dodd, Sonia Sutcliffe, Elton John, Gillian Taylforth, Jonathan Aitken, Neil Hamilton and Mohamed Al Fayed.The book is written by Karen Phillipps, a fellow barrister who was Carman’s confidante and companion after his three marriages ended in divorce.For the latest episode of my podcast A Lawyer Talks, Phillipps told me about the man she knew and the cases he won. She also answered the question I asked in 2001.The podcast is available to paying subscribers. Every one else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol above.
Joshua Rozenberg KC (hon) is Britain's most experienced commentator on the law. This new podcast complements the daily updates he publishes on A Lawyer Writes. rozenberg.substack.com
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