@davidallengreen@mastodon.green
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davidallengreen

@davidallengreen@mastodon.green

Law and policy commentary from UK.

I also geek out here about lore and fantasy, which are my real interests, as well as about other cultural stuff.

I am often ironic and not always earnest, and so please don't take some of the things I post at face value.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

davidallengreen, to random
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The word atheism should always be in lower-case.

It means a disbelief in gods.

I am such an atheist: I disbelieve in gods generally (and not just in one in particular), like I disbelieve in gnomes and dragons and other supernatural and paranormal things.

And the word does not mean anything more than that.

My a-theism means no more to me than my a-gnomism.

The problem comes when one tries to convert lower-case atheism to upper-case Atheism, with the implications of its own belief system.

davidallengreen, to random
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The foreign court on Parliament Square

Westminster politicians complaining about "foreign courts" in principle do not need to look very far for an example

A post about the the judicial committee of the Privy Council

By me

https://emptycity.substack.com/p/the-foreign-court-on-parliament-square

davidallengreen, to random
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Does international law really exist?

When it is asserted that Israel and Russia are in breach of international law, it means—or should mean—something

By me, at @prospect_uk

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/65614/does-international-law-exist-david-allen-green-israel-russia

davidallengreen,
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@ariaflame

If you read the post I link to, you will see that it says just that.

davidallengreen,
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@ariaflame

I will never understand why people comment on links to things without reading the link first. But that is my problem, not yours.

davidallengreen, to random
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In ten years or so of threats and promises of UK leaving the ECHR, there has never once been an attempt to explain how such a departure can square with the Good Friday Agreement.

The issue is simply ignored - and the threat and promise is simply repeated, for claps and cheers.

davidallengreen,
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@petersketch

Now that is a choice. (I support unification.)

davidallengreen, to random
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The Law of Diminishing Repeals

When a Prime Minister keeps announcing that the UK will leave the ECHR despite:

(a) a diminishing amount of parliamentary time, and

(b) a diminishing parliamentary majority.

davidallengreen, to random
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Once upon a time, pamphleteering was a big thing.

Having the means to print and publish your thoughts beyond your own immediate circle was radical and far-reaching.

So much so, that access to such means was the origin of the phrase "freedom of the press" - a phrase much older than, say, what we call "Fleet Street".

But.

Even though people could have this technology with this reach, they got bored.

I wonder if the same will happen with social media, once the relative novelty wears off.

davidallengreen,
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@maxieq

There have always been limits to a free press - to take a trite example: you could not use your press to counterfeit money.

The question is about where those limits are best placed, not whether there should be limits.

davidallengreen,
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@maxieq

Law is not magic: things don’t cease to exist merely by being prohibited. The key is enforcement.

In that case, enforcement was done at the suit of an aggrieved party. Difficult to see how else it could be done.

davidallengreen,
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@jbenjamint

A good point, well made.

davidallengreen,
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@simon

I think ECo homework enjoy that story!

paraphraser, to random
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@davidallengreen been like this for about a week - were you aware?

davidallengreen,
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@paraphraser

Yes, I am aware - and it should be sorted soon.

davidallengreen,
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@paraphraser

Now fixed - I was away, and I can only do it from my desk

davidallengreen, to random
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NEW

Why senior figures should be very worried about the Afghan war crimes inquiry

A 2011 memorandum reveals serious and high-level concerns about the conduct of special forces during the conflict

By me, at Prospect

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/policy/defence-news/65514/why-senior-figures-should-be-very-worried-about-the-afghan-war-crimes-inquiry

davidallengreen, to random
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Happy birthday to me: cakes are in the kitchen.

davidallengreen,
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@Marktech

And Neil Kinnock and Dame Flora Robson!

davidallengreen,
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@rosamundi @Marktech

Happy birthday to you too!

tomroyal, to random
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@davidallengreen Hello. Apologies if this is the Nth time you've been told this, but your website is broken (nothing bad, just that the SSL certificate has expired).

davidallengreen,
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@tomroyal

On it, it just takes time to update. Thanks for thinking to tell me.

davidallengreen, to random
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Unpacking the remarkable witness statement of Johnny Mercer

A closer look at the extraordinary evidence put before the Afghan war crimes tribunal

My detailed follow-up to that Prospect piece

https://emptycity.substack.com/p/unpacking-the-remarkable-witness

davidallengreen, to random
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Wildly different circumstances, of course, but both Post Office and Afghan war crimes inquiries show how weak ministers are in their own departments.

Post Office ministers were fed false information, Mercer was not given access to information he was asking for.

And as parliamentary accountability requires ministers to be responsible to parliament, there is a huge system failure.

Ministers cannot be meaningfully accountable if they are given false or no information by their departments.

GIGO

davidallengreen,
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@mikegoatly I should read it

davidallengreen,
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@lionelb

Also true, and it should not be made easy for them.

davidallengreen, to random
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The remarkable witness statement of Johnny Mercer

How a government minister tried and failed to get to the bottom of serious war crimes allegations

By me, at Prospect

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/65403/the-remarkable-witness-statement-of-johnny-mercer

davidallengreen,
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@KennyPark

Thank you Kenny

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