Contact

For General Matters:
Email: [email protected]

 

For House of Commons matters:

Email: [email protected]
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, House of Commons, London SW1

For Thomson Reuters/Westlaw UK matters:

For Office Enquiries:

Publications and Comments

Publications and Comments

This page gives details of recent events in my consulting, writing, and training practices.


On 6 November 2024 I led a session for the Centre for Democracy and Peace and the Northern Ireland Audit Office, hosted by the NIAO, on the Nolan Principles of Public Life. An article was published about it – read here.


On 28 October 2024 I was interviewed at Bath Spa University. Watch & Listen to the interview here.


Standards watchdog tells MPs they are not special outside Commons – BBC News

You can hear the full interview on BBC Sounds.


On Monday 8th July, Andrew Marr interviewed me on his LBC show about parliamentary standards: we spoke about the new Parliament being a great opportunity to rebuild trust between politicians and the public, by the politicians showing respect for each other.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/andrew-marr/tonight-with-andrew-marr-08-07-2024-watch-again/

https://x.com/LBC/status/1810378735410909554


On 10 June 2024 I spoke at the McDonald Centre for Theology Ethics and Public Life Annual Conference.

Download my talk here –  Public legitimacy of the Church of England – Transcendence – DG Speech – 10 June 2024.


On 5 June 2024 I took part in the UCL Constitution Unit’s online panel on Priorities for MPs’ Induction in the New Parliament.


On Thursday 28th March 2024 I spoke at the Greenwich Law Society event. I spoke about my many experiences, namely working within the parliamentary counsel and gave insight into the legislation I helped draft such as the terrorism act. I also spoke about my current role as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the House of Commons and gave the students advice on pathways to become future lawyers.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7179182045867212800/


On Thursday 29th February, I presented a session on BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day on the subject of “Sun Versus Moon”. You can read the text here or listen here.


ILCR’S My life in law interview – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7162750579033718784/


On 6 February 2024 I gave public oral evidence to the House of Commons Committee on Standards as part of its inquiry into the Standards Landscape – you can see my evidence here Parliamentlive.tv – Committee on Standards.


On Thursday 14 December 2023 I gave a BBC Radio 4 Today Programme Thought For The Day session on heaven and hell and the importance of lightening each others’ darkness.  You can read the text here.
Listen to the session here.

On Tuesday 12 December 2023 I gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Committee on Standards to answer questions about my Annual Report for 2022-23 as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.  You can see the session here – Parliamentlive.tv – Committee on Standards.


The Chancellor’s Lecture, Hertfordshire University, 2 November 2023 – Is Parliament Fit For Purpose?

The Telegraph wrote an article about me, titled “MPs’ social media conduct turning people off politics, warns standards chief”. Read the full article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/08/26/daniel-greenberg-mps-bad-behaviour-social-media/

On Wednesday 2nd August I presented a session on BBC Radio 4 – Thought for the Day Programme on the topic ‘The Power Of Speech’. Download and listen here. To read & download the script, please click here.


I greatly enjoyed the Speakers Of The Isles 23 conference at Kilkea Castle – stimulating sessions and great meeting colleagues – many thanks to The Ceann Comhairle and everyone involved for superb organisation and hospitality.

This was an enormously valuable exchange of views on a range of practical rule of law issues – reaffirming that parliaments and legislative assemblies around the world have so much in common and so many shared values, challenges and wonderful opportunities – congratulations to the Ceann Comhairle and the Houses of the Oireachtas for having the idea and organising it so effectively, and for their hospitality to us all – we all learned so much from each other and will remember this event for a long time.


Parliament must improve its complaints system following a string of allegations of misconduct by MPs, Westminster’s standards chief has said. Read the full article on BBC News here.


I talked to Sophie Church from “Politics Home” about my mission to support MPs in upholding Parliament’s faltering reputation. Read the full article here.


On Thursday 22nd June I presented a session on BBC Radio 4 – Thought for the Day on the topic ‘It Ain’t What You Do’. Download and listen here. To read & download the script, please click here.


The Times Newspaper Online wrote an article about me titled, “Fresh intake ‘will improve standards’. Read full article here.


 

 


 


I gave a talk to the CPA (COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION UK) – a Westminster seminar on Effective Parliaments – Privilege & Conduct: Standards, Behaviour and Etiquette.

Read and Download the full talk here.


On Thursday 23rd February I presented a BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day session on “Animal Feelings”.

To listen click here

To download the recording click here

To download the script click here


On 7 February 2023 The Jerusalem Post carried an opinion piece by me about the difference between Parliamentary Democracy and Parliamentary Dictatorship – “Will Israel stay a parliamentary democracy or become a dictatorship? – opinion: If an incumbent majority in an elected legislature that forms the government has absolute power to make any changes to the law it wants, it becomes a parliamentary dictatorship.” – read the article here – https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-730786.


Parliamentary Democracy and Parliamentary Dictatorship

A commonly-advanced justification for increasing the powers of an elected parliament or other legislature is that giving power to a democratically elected Parliament cannot be anti-democratic. Governments whose wills have been too often frustrated by judges or by other checks upon their power argue that the more power an elected Parliament has, the more democratic the state must be. Read full article here.


MPs’ reputation is at dangerous low, says standards chief Daniel Greenberg. Read the full article in The Times Newspaper here.


On 17 January 2023 Newsnight on BBC2 carried my first broadcast interview since taking up my role as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards – the clip is from 23:07 to 23:13 on the BBC iPlayer.


I gave an interview to the Religion Media Centre about the interaction between my religious life and my professional life, with a focus on my new role as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards – you can see the interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOIoTZkxXxk and you can read a piece about the interview at https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/decency-above-all-how-jewish-faith-has-shaped-the-life-of-new-parliamentary-commissioner/


On 26 December 2022 The Telegraph carried a piece headlined “Hunting Act driven by moral outrage, not animal welfare, says man who wrote law – Daniel Greenberg talks of ‘unfinished business’ nearly 20 years after he drafted the ban that changed hunting landscape” reporting my views on the importance of Parliamentary democracies respecting minority opinions on moral and ethical issues – see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/25/hunting-act-driven-moral-outrage-not-animal-welfare-says-man/; see also https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11574023/Hunting-ban-driven-moral-outrage-animal-welfare-says-man-wrote-law.html; and https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/labours-fallacious-fox-hunting-battle/.


On Thursday 1st December I presented a BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day live session on War Crimes.

You can listen to the full broadcast here. Or you can download the recording here.

The transcript can be downloaded here.


The Jewish News online carried a piece on 22 November 2022 quoting me on various aspects of rabbinic regulation – New Parliamentary standards commissioner wants rabbis ‘properly regulated’ in wake of assault claims | Jewish News.


I was interviewed by Simon Yaffe of the Jewish Telegraph about my new role as parliament’s new standards commissioner.  Read full article here


I was interviewed by Pippa Crerar for the BBC Radio 4 Programme, The Week in Westminster. We discussed my incoming role as parliamentary commissioner for standards.


I was interviewed by The Guardian Newspaper. Read the full article here – Reputation of UK politicians is at ‘low point’, says standards commissioner


Politicshome website carries a record of a discussion with me about my role in helping to restore trust in politics, once I take up my appointment as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards next year – see New Parliamentary Standards Commissioner sees education and outreach as key to restoring trust (politicshome.com)


I appeared on the Radio 4 Sunday Programme on 23 October 2022 talking about restoring trust in ethical standards for politicians – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dd71 – (piece starts from 33:30).


I gave a short interview to Mark D’Arcy of BBC Parliament which can be heard in Today in Parliament for 21 October 2022https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001d5s1– (piece starts from 20:30).


On 27 July 2022 I gave a session on BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day about reflecting on the value of an apology, arising out of the Pope’s address in Canada. You can listen to the full broadcast here.


On Thursday 14 July 2022 the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum 51st Plenary unanimously adopted the  Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM), drafted by me – (1) SADC Parliamentary Forum on Twitter: “The 51st Plenary of the SADC Parliamentary Forum has unanimously adopted the Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM) development.#SADCPFPublicFinance https://t.co/pyyVLJLjyu” / Twitter


On 06 July 2022 the All Party Parliamentary Group on Get Refusal held a meeting in Parliament and on Zoom during which Lord Mendelsohn and I discussed my new book Getting a Get. Please click here to listen to the recording.
Purchase a copy here.

On 23 June 2022 I was delighted to spend the day in Cambridge to lecture to the professional architecture course in Department of Engineering about the legal implications for the architecture profession of the Building Safety Act’s response to the cladding scandal, and other matters relating to law and architecture.


On 23 March 2022 I gave a session on BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day about the solidarity mission with the Uighur Muslims in the run-up to Passover. You can listen to the full broadcast here.

My pro bono work for leaseholders affected by the flammable cladding scandal culminated in “Polluter Pays” amendments to the Building Safety Bill 2021-22 in Grand Committee in the House of Lords on 24 February 2022.  You can read the Earl of Lytton’s explanation of my amendments, and his references to advice from me on other amendments, at Building Safety Bill – Hansard – UK Parliament.


On 15 December 2021 Thomson Reuters Legal Insights Europe published Empowering change to build back better – a four-step guide for law firm leaders; this practice note is part of the output of the Thomson Reuters Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law project (TWLL), on the Advisory Board of which I serve – you can read the note here https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/legal-uk/2021/12/15/empowering-change-to-build-back-better-a-four-step-guide-for-law-firm-leaders/.


On 14 December 2021 I spoke at the House of Lords presentation of the “polluter pays” amendments for the Building Safety Bill, amendments which I have drafted for leaseholders action groups – you can watch the panel presentation at Polluter Pays Amendment Conference (House of Lords) – YouTube.


Baroness Casey’s Independent Review into Events Surrounding the UEFA EURO 2020 Final at Wembley Stadium, commissioned by the Football Association and published on 3 December 2021, includes my appraisal on football disorder legislation as Addendum 1, and cites my assessment of the lack of coherence of football disorder legislation in a number of places in the Review’s report.


I presented a Thought For The Day session for the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme on the Negotiation and the Power of Speech.
Listen here
A copy of the script can be downloaded here


The transcript of my evidence to the Select Committee on Tuesday 26th October 2021 is available at the link below;
Subsidy Control Bill (Second sitting) – Tuesday 26 October 2021 – Hansard – UK Parliament


UK Jewish Film Festival 2021 – Our Natural Right: It is an enormous pleasure to be part of this year’s UK Jewish Film Festival’s 25th Anniversary programme – the online screening of the film Our Natural Right includes a recorded panel discussion, chaired by me, with director Yulie Cohen and producers Sagi Bornstein and Udi Nir – for details see https://ukjewishfilm.eventive.org/films/613b436f59282b009b53af77


On Tuesday 26 October 2021 I gave oral evidence to the Public Bill Committee on the Subsidy Control Bill, concentrating on the devolution implications and mechanisms for interaction with the devolved institutions – you can hear my evidence here (15:40 – 16:00) – https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/abc08ab2-0e86-422b-b01a-f56dec675b58.


The House of Commons Justice Committee report into COVID-19 and the Criminal Law (HC 71 24 September 2021) quotes my written evidence to the Committee in relation to communication of offences, clarity of offences and the use of civil penalty notices.


On Tuesday 14 September 2021 I gave oral evidence to the Commons Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee about the draft Downstream Oil Resilience Bill – see https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/48315412-f736-4528-a187-6c89c183b68d.


Newsnight on 25 August 2021 ran a short piece about get refusal in the UK, including a brief statement by me to the effect that men who use the get to extort money from women are committing criminal blackmail, and Botei Din that facilitate it are committing the offence of assisting blackmail.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09t8j05


On 6 August 2021 the Financial Times Adviser online mentioned my involvement as drafter for the “polluter pays” campaign to help leaseholders left facing enormous bills as a result of defective constructions works leading to unsafe buildings with fire-risks – see Govt mulls cladding proposal to ‘unlock’ mortgage prisoners – FTAdviser.com.


The Jewish Chronicle quotes me in another article on the subject of Get refusal, continued from last week. Read the full article here:
MPs and Rabbis move to solve divorce crisis – New parliamentary group formed as dayanim meet abuse charities


The Jewish Chronicle quotes me extensively on the move by the Federation of Synagogues to attempt to refuse a Get to women who initiate criminal prosecutions. Read the full article here:  EXCLUSIVE: Chief Rabbi steps in as rabbinical courts accused of siding with domestic abusers


I did a Thought For The Day session for the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme on the ethical implications of cancelling holidays.


My written evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry on COVID-19 and the Criminal Law was published on 21 April 2021 and can be read here https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/25488/pdf/


The Constitution Reform Group published our latest version of the Act of Union Bill on 21 April – you can read it here.


My article Surtees And The Law appears in The Surteesian 2019-20, the magazine of the RS Surtees Society published in April 2021.  I compare the treatment of legal topics in Surtees, Dickens, and Trollope.


My Editorial for Statute Law Review, 2021, Vol. 42, No. 1, v–vii – doi:10.1093/slr/hmab005 is now published.  Entitled Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle: Can Statute Restore a Prerogative It Has Removed? it considers the UK Government’s draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill and discusses whether a prerogative removed by statute can be restored by statute.  It can be accessed at Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle: Can Statute Restore a Prerogative It Has Removed? | Statute Law Review | Oxford Academic (oup.com).


On Sunday 21st February I participated in the Golders Green Synagogue (GGS) online programme as a guest speaker.


The Jewish Chronicle has published an article by me on how the lifestyle of many Charedim has become incompatible with Judaism.

Read my article here: https://www.thejc.com/comment/opinion/the-lifestyle-of-many-charedim-has-become-incompatible-with-judaism-1.511292


A wide ranging discussion on democracy, the rule of law, Brexit, Covid-19, fox hunting, peace on the island of Ireland and more.
30 Years in the Corridors of Power: A perspective on the pressures on Parliament


I am the editor of “Craies on Legislation” and the Twelfth Edition is out today. Craies on Legislation is a practitioners’ guide to the nature, process, effect and interpretation of legislation.


On 18 November 2020 I gave oral evidence to the Policy Exchange Reform of Government Commission – for details of the Commission see https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/policy-exchange-reform-of-government-commission/ – my written evidence focused on the role of advisers in government, and the oral evidence touched on that and other matters relating to the quality of the public service.


On 10 to 12 November 2020, I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with the Union Attorney General Office Legislative Drafters of Myanmar, by way of delivering a series of lectures on legislative drafting.


I have just launched my new book “A Tale of Two Rabbis – Faith and Fraud”. The book can be purchased on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/TALE-TWO-RABBIS-FAITH-FRAUD-ebook/dp/B08MV2MW3V/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=a+tale+of+two+rabbis&qid=1604671723&sr=8-2


On 3 November 2020 I had the honour of being the guest speaker at the RS Surtees Society’s annual dinner, held as a series of dinners around the country linked by virtual connection – the title of my speech was First They Came For the Hunts – Lessons from an Insider’s View of the Hunting Act for the Role of Tolerance in the Rule of Law – you can read my speech here.


My Editorial to the October 2020 issue of the Statute Law Review – entitled Humpty Dumpty Rides Again: Using Voluntary Guidance to Fill Gaps in Legislation – draws attention to the Government’s use of informal guidance to fill in the gaps left by insufficiently certain legislative language.


I spoke at the IALS/WFD Digital Conference on the subject of “Are emergency measures in response to COVID-19 a threat to democracy? Fact and Fiction – Emergency measures as a Chapter in the Development of the Rule of Law”


On 14 July 2020 the Commons Privileges Committee published a memorandum by me on punishing contempt of Parliament: you can read the transcript of my evidence here.


I gave my eighth Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For The Day slot. I talked about the reopening of a number of kinds of business in the beauty industry including nail bars and beauty salons.


I gave my seventh Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For The Day slot. I gave a talk about the Statues.
Prince Harry’s intervention earlier this week continues the debate about the need to confront past and present attitudes to racism, in the course of which statues of public figures continue to come under scrutiny.


On Friday 15 May I gave a chaburah to Magen Avot on the subject of the K’gavna passage on Friday night.

https://www.magenavot.com/shiurim


The latest issue of the Statute Law Review has just published and my Editorial concerns the curiosity of the only Act of Parliament in living or recorded memory to be given Royal Assent twice.


I sit on the Thomson Reuters Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law (TWLL) advisory board for Europe. I am a barrister by training; worked as parliamentary counsel within the UK government for 20 years; and, for over 10 years I have been a lawyer in the UK Parliament—as well as General Editor of Westlaw UK Annotations and Topics for Thomson Reuters. I am also an international legislative drafter and trainer.

Read full Article here:

https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/legal-uk/2020/03/30/author-of-the-equality-act-of-2006-daniel-greeenberg-shares-his-ally-journey/


I delivered a Reading Legislation course via zoom last week, here is what one participant made of learning remotely. Dods Training

“It is easy in these challenging times to put training at the back of the queue of priorities, but taking a day out for a course provided me with the time I knew I needed to develop. A whole day zoom training day was definitely a new experience but it didn’t take long before all of us on the course were treating it just like a normal day of face to face training.”


I delivered another open course for the Civil Service College last week on understanding the legal system for regulators


On Tuesday 3rd March I delivered a DODS training session at Ofgem’s offices in London, covering a range of legislative issues for their policy teams.


On Tuesday 25th February I had the pleasure of working with a delegation of Sri Lankan Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges, in Westminster. We worked through a range of legislation issues and it was an enormously enjoyable day.


On Thursday 30 January I chaired a seminar for Government Legal Department and other public service lawyers on matters of recent interest to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

Click to Watch


On 18 December 2019 I had the pleasure of chairing a panel at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law conference on Law, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science: Challenges and Opportunities – the panel was on Data Science Perspectives on Courts, Legislation and Regulation, and this was a delightful first function for me as a new Visiting Fellow of the University – you can see the conference programme here – https://law.biu.ac.il/sites/law/files/shared/ביג דאטה_3.pdf


On 2 December 2019, City AM quoted me in a piece entitled Brexit Stalls New Laws on Business Being Enforced, commenting on a Thomson Reuters report about the number of business-related laws passed in the last year.


On 13 November 2019 I was delighted to be part of the hosting team at the Thomson Reuters Westlaw UK Research Methods Event held in our Mytholmroyd offices to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Annotated Statutes service. We had guests representing a range of user sectors, whose contributions were enormously valuable; and we had a fantastic set of old and new colleagues from the Westlaw UK team, looking back with fond nostalgia on the days when we put the service together, and planning for exciting developments to come.


On 6 November 2019 I spoke at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights in Mansfield College, Oxford, at a Digital Rights Roundtable – Using AI to Improve Access to Justice; the panel consisted of Professor Jeremias Prassl, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, Joanna Li, Head of Access to Justice Analytics, UK Ministry of Justice, and me. I pointed out that the dangers and weaknesses commonly identified in relation to the use of Artificial Intelligence in the justice system, including bias, discrimination, shallow argumentation and lack of transparency are already key weaknesses of human judges and legal professionals, and that we should be excited at the opportunities to diminish these weaknesses by an increasingly dynamic partnership between machines and humans.


The 5th Edition of Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law was published in October 2019 – I have been the editor of Jowitt since the 3rd Edition; the 5th Edition is available to buy through Thomson Reuters and legal bookshops, and it can also be searched online through Westlaw UK Index of Legal Terms.


On Monday 28 October I had the honour of giving a lecture to the Montefiore Endowment’s Dayanut training course on the subject of the interaction between secular law and halacha – we discussed arbitration challenges, judicial review, mesirah, criminal and regulatory law, and other matters.

Link to the recording of the lecture – https://youtu.be/AQDEVROSwT4
An audio recording is available at this link – https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YEZxW3AKmFbesnlvLz2LhDQrU8Qm_aoQ


On 19 September I gave two talks at the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St Andrews, an interview about the nature and role of lawyers and a talk entitled The Future of the Rule of Law: A Parliamentary Perspective.


In July 2019 my article entitled Lions and Librarians: a Plea for the Intelligent Conservation of an Unnecessarily Endangered Species
was published in the Legal Information Management, 19 (2019), pp. 88–91 by the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
(doi:10.1017/S1472669619000197).  I was asked by the Association to contribute a piece to their 50th anniversary journal, so I focused on something of the history of the law librarian, and some thoughts on the enormous opportunities for the profession opened up by machine learning and other fast-emerging technologies.

In August 2019 a chapter by me entitled The Coherence of Statutory Interpretation: Commentary
appeared as Chapter 7 of The Coherence of Statutory Interpretation published by The Federation Press (ISBN 978 1 76002 209 9 (hbk)) – I argue two points in particular: that consistency in legislative drafting is a much over-rated commodity; and that citizens and not the judiciary should be treated as the primary target audience of legislative drafting..


BBC Radio 4’s Today in Parliament on 26 July 2019 carried an interview of me by the BBC’s Parliamentary Correspondent Mark D’Arcy on the subject of Parliament’s scrutiny of legislation, including ideas I have discussed with Select Committees before about improving stakeholder engagement with legislative scrutiny.


I gave my sixth Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For the Day slot. I talked about Uighar Detentions and how children are apparently being sent in their thousands to massive civic boarding schools, designed to divest them of their language, religion, culture and fundamental identity.


The House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution reported on the Legislative Process: The Passage of Bills Through Parliament in its 24th Report of Session 2017-19 (published 8 July 2019 – HL Paper 393); the Report quotes my oral evidence to the Committee in a number of places, including my proposal for a new kind of intervener status on Bills to allow stakeholder groups a real opportunity to influence the passage of legislation directly, without having to risk the Chinese Whispers game of briefing MPs and peers.


I gave my fifth Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For the Day slot. I talked about Slavery Ancient and Modern and how one of the things I try to take away from Passover is a reminder that slavery and exploitation are unhappily very much not matters of ancient Egyptian past, but are all around us; and that I can use my everyday consumer choices and routine business practices to try to ensure fair and decent treatment and opportunity for all.


As a member of the Advisory Board of Thomson Reuters Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law project, on 2 April 2019 I was delighted to chair the session on Intersectionality and Inclusion at the 2nd Annual Conference. It was a highly stimulating session which was part of a great day, with a mixture of thought-provoking discussion and some important practical pointers.


In my capacity as Counsel for Domestic Legislation, House of Commons, I gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on exiting the European Union – see https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/4b277cc5-df97-4ae9-a1eb-6ecc24cde6be


On Wednesday 13 March 2019 in my capacity as Examiner of Private Bills, House of Commons, I sat on the Private Bill Examination for HS2 (Second Additional Provision to the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Bill) – see https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/9cc8f7a4-1e66-4360-8b9d-a739f5c84ce5.


On 13 March 2019 the Jewish Chronicle online published my opinion piece about the need for a transparent and accountable mechanism for holding our rabbis to account – see https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/we-need-a-proper-transparent-way-of-holding-our-mediocre-rabbis-to-account-1.481395


In March 2019 the article, of which I am a co-author, Explanations by Arbitrated Argumentative Dispute appeared in the journal Expert Systems with Applications​, Volume 127, 1 August 2019, Pages 141-156​
(Elsevier) https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1YipJ3PiGTBUCM; it documents the conclusions of an initial collaboration between Thomson Reuters and Imperial College deploying machine learning to predict the success and failure of legislative proposals. In every way it was a piece of cutting-edge scientific research and it was an enormous pleasure and privilege to be part of it.


In February – March 2019 I spent two weeks training officials of the Legislative Drafting Department of the Sri Lankan Government in Colombo. We covered a wide range of subjects including the implementation of international conventions and complexities of commencement and retrospection, and we went through a number of practical exercises. We also considered the core values and principles of a drafting office with a view to the development of new guidelines for the Department.


On 6 February 2019 I gave oral evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee as part of their pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill.


On Wednesday 30 January 2019 in my capacity as Counsel for Domestic Legislation in the House of Commons I gave oral evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee as part of their pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill.


I gave my fourth Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For the Day slot. I talked about The Etiquette of Accidents and the importance of noting that the Compensation Act and the Biblical principles of accident law is that in a rule of law system there is room to recognise people’s compassionate and other human instincts and to leave them sufficient scope for expression.


I wrote a book ‘Statutes for Students: The Essentials of Statutory Interpretation. How to Read and Apply Legislation in 40 Easy Pages’.


I gave my third Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For the Day slot. I talked about The Dangers of Victory and the importance of remembering that when we engage in conflict of any kind we must conduct it in accordance with core values of decency, dignity, humility and sensitivity.

Listen Here


On 10 January 2019 the Kings College London Cancer Prevention Group Blog published a piece by me entitled Maintaining Independence in a Collaborative Government Structure: I look at the growth of sofa Cabinet informality at all levels of government and the use of advisory committees and business Tzars and the like – you can see the blog here – https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/cancerprevention/2019/01/10/maintaining-independence-in-a-collaborative-government-structure/


From 1 to 3 January 2019 I attended the International Workshop on Omnibus Legislation in Bar-Ilan University – I presented about the political practicalities of portmanteau provisions


On 27 November in my House of Commons capacity I spoke to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Westminster Conference about contemporary issues in legislative scrutiny.


On 23 November I spoke to the Thomson Reuters Student Representatives Conference, on the subject of how artificial intelligence and robotics are likely to change the nature of legal services during their careers; as always, it was great to experience the students’ energy and enthusiasm and I very much enjoyed the session.


On 21 November Private Bill Committee in my House of Commons capacity I advised the Unopposed Private Bill Committee considering the University of London Bill – you can read the transcript of the session here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2017-2019/universityoflondon/University_of_London_Minutes_281118.pdf


On 21 November in my House of Commons capacity I advised the Commons Regulatory Reform Committee at its joint meeting with the Lords Committee considering the Draft Legislative Reform (Horseracing Betting Levy) Order 2018  – you can see details of the inquiry and watch the joint evidence session here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/regulatory-reform-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/draft-legislative-reform-horseracing-betting-levy-inquiry-17-19/.


In September 2018 LexisNexis published the re-issue of Volume 96 of Halsbury’s Laws of England which includes Statutes and Legislative Process, of which I am the Consultant Editor.


In September 2018 University of Wales Press published Legislating for Wales by Thomas Glyn Watkin and me – it has been an enormously enjoyable collaboration and we have been delighted by some very kind early reactions to the book.


On 13 September 2018 I had the pleasure of being a discussant (although really only a minor quibblant) at the launch at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of Professor Andrew Burrows’ wonderful new book based on his Hamlyn Lectures Thinking About Statutes – the discussion on the panel and in the room was very stimulating, and it felt like a great launch for a great book.


I gave my second Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought For the Day slot. I talked about social media and the importance of not allowing comparisons with other people to distract me from being the best me possible; “Zisha, why weren’t you Zisha?”

Listen here


Thomson Reuters published a blog piece by me entitled Implications for Brexit legislation: technical scrutiny of statutory instruments; it provides an analysis of the standard parliamentary processes for technical scrutiny of UK statutory instruments (SIs) by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, and implications for Brexit-related SIs.


I made my debut appearance on Radio 4 Today Programme’s Thought for the Day – I spoke about different attitudes to reclining seats on aircraft.

Listen here


Practical Law published a piece by me entitled Parliamentary technical scrutiny of statutory instruments: implications for Brexit legislation.


On 23 July 2018 Thomson Reuters published a piece by me entitled Cutting through the noise: the key Brexit facts – Daniel Greenberg explains why the enormous amount of day to day political activity makes relatively little difference to the key Brexit facts and position.


On 16 July 2018 The Times carried a piece called Brexit talks send other issues to bottom of pile, quoting me on the impact of Brexit on legislative capability.


On 13 July 2018 the House of Commons Committee on Standards published a note by me, in my capacity as Counsel for Domestic Legislation, Office of Speaker’s Counsel, House of Commons, on the Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy Proposals, as an adjunct to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2017–19; the note deals, in particular, with an analysis of the rules of natural justice; you can read the note here.


On 8 July 2018 I spoke at the celebratory dinner marking the establishment of the Canvey Island Jewish community – you can hear my speech, which was about the future of the Jewish community in the United Kingdom, here.


On 17 June 2018 BBC Parliament’s The Week in Parliament presented by Mandy Baker included a short interview with me about legislative drafting – you can see it here (it starts about 10 minutes into the programme).


On 13 June 2018 I gave oral evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee Inquiry into the legislative process.  I spoke about the myth of the “line by line” scrutiny of Bills in Committee in both Houses, and suggested that members of the public should be able to table amendments to Bills directly.  You can see the evidence session here.


The May 2016 edition of the Bar Council’s Counsel magazine includes a Bar’s Eye View piece by the Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Bar which quotes extensively from my CPS Report (see below) on the quality of legislative scrutiny, and reports my recommendations.


On Saturday 5 May I gave a talk entitled Orthodox Jewish Attitudes to Modern Issues of Gender Identity and Sexuality – the text is available on my blog.


On Monday 23 April 2018 as one of the Examiners of Private Bills in the House of Commons I, together with the other Examiners, held a hearing into the Additional Provisions tabled to the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill 2017 – 2019; the proceedings were recorded on parliamentlive.tv.


The Article 50 with Chris Wright series published an episode on Brexit and Parliament with guests Asa Bennett, Vicky Pryce and me on Wednesday 18th April 2018


My comments in Craies on Legislation on the application of criminal statutes to the Crown are helpfully cited and contextualised in a blog post by David Perry QC and Tom Williams on 17 April 2018 – Legally binding: when do criminal statutes bind the Crown?


Law Commission Consultation Paper No 234 – The Sentencing Code – Disposals relating to children and young persons: Consultation Paper published on 23 March 2018 cites my comments in Craies on Legislation in a number of places on consolidation and other matters.


On 16 March 2018 Thomson Reuters Practical Law published a video discussion between me and Joanna Morris entitled Brexit Update: Spring 2018, dealing with the current status of Brexit legislation including the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill and its current status in the parliamentary timetable, particular issues to look out for in that Bill, the importance of secondary legislation coming out under that Bill, the eventual proposed Implementation Bill and the status of other Brexit legislation. You can see the video here or read the transcript here.


On 13 March 2018 I attended my first meeting as a member of the Thomson Reuters Thought Leadership Advisory Board on Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law.  We were planning the forthcoming conference on Tuesday 1 May 2018 which will focus on practical steps enabling women to successfully progress in law.  This is an enormously important and exciting project and I am delighted to be a part of it.


On 27 February 2018 the BBC cited advice I gave a few years ago about the status of religious institutions for the purposes of obligations under the Education Acts.


On 15 February 2018 The Times’ Edward Fennell quotes me on the issues around tariff-fixing and the challenges ahead for the UK civil service post-Brexit.


On 2 February 2018 Thomson Reuters published a series of FAQs answered by me on Brexit – the intention is to keep them regularly updated.


On 20 December 2017 Thomson Reuters Practical Law Public Sector Blog published a piece by me entitled European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: what does the government’s defeat really mean?.


On 13 December 2017 the Expert Panel on  Assembly Electoral Reform published its report on the way forward for the National Assembly for Wales – A Parliament that Works for Wales.  I gave written evidence to the panel and am delighted that they agree, in particular, with my comments on the importance of building effective post-legislative scrutiny into the future model: the National Assembly is already a world-leader in the methodology of legislative scrutiny and more rigorous post-legislative scrutiny would be a further valuable enhancement.


On 7 December 2017 I spoke in the Israeli Knesset on the second day of a two-day conference on Time and the Law arranged jointly by the Radzyner Law School of IDC Herzliya, the University of Leiden and the Knesset Legal Department.  I spoke about the lifecyle of legislation.


On 1 December 2017 the Jewish Chronicle carried a review of my latest book – What If God’s A Christian?
The reviewer was more than fair and I was delighted with the review.


On 14 November 2017 Practical Law quoted me on the legislative possibilities of a Bill to endorse the final Brexit deal with the EU, in a piece entitled Brexit: Government announces Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill.


On 13 November 2017 at the Annual General Meeting of the Statute Law Society held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Russell Square, I was elected as a Member of the Council.  I am looking forward very much to working with colleagues on the Council to continue the important work of the Society.  After the AGM there was a public lecture, at which the Society heard a fascinating analysis of the concepts of legislative intent and purpose from Sir John Laws who retired recently from the Court of Appeal


On 25 October 2017 the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution published its 4th Report of Session 2017–19 (HL Paper 27) – The Legislative Process: Preparing Legislation for Parliament; I gave oral evidence to the inquiry, and the report quotes me about: unnecessary legislation; the involvement of stakeholders in legislative preparation; policy preparation; publication of legislation; incoherent legislation; the role of Parliamentary Counsel; and the role of Ministers.


On 18 October 2017 I spoke about the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, on a panel chaired by Dinah Rose QC, at a conference organised by the Public Law Project.


On 10 October 2017 Thomson Reuters Practical Law Public Sector Blog carried a piece by me entitled What next for the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill?


On 12 September 2017 the Financial Times online quoted me on the issue of the nature of Henry VIII powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.


On 17 July 2017 Thomson Reuters Practical Law Public Sector Blog carried a piece by me entitled European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: complexity without clarity?


On 14 July 2017 the Financial Times online quoted me in relation to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill – Repeal bill: key legal points on the Brexit measure.


On 5 July 2017 I spoke at a seminar on Gender Neutrality in Legislative Drafting at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London University.


On 3 July 2017 Carolyn Quinn interviewed me about the legislation required for Brexit as part of the Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4.


On 21 June 2017 the Financial Times quoted me in a piece entitled New EU laws make UK’s complex Brexit ever more difficult, about the moving target fr the Brexit deal created by the constantly increasing range of EU laws.


On 20 May 2017 BBC Radio 4 broadcasted a short clip of pre-recorded discussion between Nick Robinson, BBC political editor, and me about the process of converting manifesto commitments into law.


On 2 May 2017 the House of Commons Procedure Committee published written evidence from me to its inquiry into Delegated powers and the ‘Great Repeal Bill’, as part of its 7th Report for Session 2016-17 Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament (HC 1091).


Reuters news item Brexit to dominate as May sets out stall for re-election published on 26 April 2017 quotes me on the expected influence of Brexit on the legislative agenda for some time to come.


On 21 April 2017 the website Brexit Central published my article on behalf of the Constitution Reform Group – We need a new Act of Union to meet the challenges of Brexit.


The National Assembly for Wales’ Expert Panel on Assembly Electoral Reform published two submissions from me which it considered at its meeting on 21 April 2017.


On 18 April 2017 the Financial Times quoted me in a piece entitled Focus on Brexit Slows Law Making, dealing with the expected impact of Brexit on the law-making process in respect of general domestic policy development.


On 4 April 2017 Practical Law published a note by me entitled An analysis of some of the key points of the White Paper on Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.


Eddie Mair interviewed me live on the PM programme on Radio 4 on 30 March 2017 about the title of the Great Repeal Bill announced in the Government’s White Paper that day.


On 29 Mar 2017 Thomson Reuters published a blog on The fate of 50,000+ EU Laws post-Brexit, which includes discussion by me on possible future scenarios.


The Judicial Power Project of the Policy Exchange think tank published an article by me titled Judicial Ignorance of the Parliamentary Process: Implications for Statutory Interpretation on 27 March 2017


On 15 March 2017 I attended the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee as Expert Adviser to brief them on legislative scrutiny.


The Government’s White Paper on Housing issued by DCLG on 7 February 2017 (Cm 9352) mentions my Pink Planning Centre for Policy Studies Report at page 28, as one of the solutions the Government are considering in relation to delivery mechanisms for new communities.


On 2 February 2017 I attended the Finance Committee of the National Assembly for Wales as a Technical Adviser; the Committee considered written evidence submitted by me at their request on the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill following my informal session with them on 11 January.


On 1 February 2017 the Centre for Policy Studies published a Pointmaker Report Housing: Now is the Time to Seize the Opportunity – the fourth in a series of Pink Planning reports co-authored by me and the economist Keith Boyfield; the report was discussed in the Daily Mail on 1 February 2017, the Mail Online on 2 February 2017 and CityAM on 2 February 2017; Thomson Reuters Foundation Place online magazine ran a report about it on 2 February 2017, and the Foundation also discussed the Report on 1 February 2017 here.


On 31 January 2017 Thomson Reuters published a note by me on the form of the Exiting the European Union Bill.


House of Lords Research Paper Publishing Statistics on the Time Spent on Parliamentary Proceedings on Each Part of an Act, prepared for Lord Butler’s Question for Short Debate on 18 January 2017, discusses my earlier suggestion published by the Centre for Policy Studies on which the Question was based; the debate can be read in Hansard


My views on the likely timing and process for the Brexit legislation are reported in a 13 January 2017 article by an Australian online business journal Business Insider, drawing on and expanding earlier views of mine reported in a House of Commons Library briefing.


House of Commons Library Briefing Paper Number 7863 Legislating for Brexit: directly applicable EU law  published on 12 January 2017 quotes my earlier published views of the scale of the Brexit project in legislative terms.


On 11 January 2017 the Finance Committee of the National Assembly for Wales held an informal session with me on the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill.


On 6 January 2017 Thomson Reuters published on YouTube a short explanation by me off the risks of legal research today.


On 1 December 2016 I spoke about the legal and legislative perspective on the regulation of Compassionate Use Access to Investigational Medicines at a conference organised by the Oxford Academic Health Science Centre.


On 23 November 2016 I gave oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution in its inquiry into the legislative process; you can read the transcript of my evidence session here.


In November 2016 I travelled to the Solomon Islands to begin a project designed to enhance public financial management legislation in the Islands.


On 17 and 18 November 2016 I attended a symposium in Melbourne organised by the La Trobe University Law School’s Centre for Legislation, Its Interpretation and Drafting. The symposium was attended by judges, academics and practitioner. I participated as Commentator at a session that heard papers by two legislative drafters on issues including the desirablity of consistency (which I have often argued is an impossible and undesirable aim).


On 24 October 2016 Thomson Reuters published on YouTube a Q & A Session with me on influencing legislation.


The October issue of the Statute Law Review carries my Editorial entitled The Broader the Power, the Narrower the Power, drawing attention to the Supreme Court’s decision in Public Law Project v Lord Chancellor to the effect that unreasonably broadly drafted powers will be read down by the courts.


Thomson Reuters published a Q&A interview with me about Influencing Legislative Change in October 2016: it is available on YouTube.


On 7 September 2016 I spoke at the Society of Legal Scholars’ Annual Conference in St Catherine’s College, Oxford – the session was entitled Modern Statutory Interpretation, chaired by Lady Justice Arden, with Lord Justice Sales and Professor John Bell.  My contribution was an argument that judges have started to look at parliamentary and other materials that are misleading without understanding the political and practical realities – see https://twitter.com/macsithigh/status/773471989457645568.


In September 2016 I visited Sri Lanka to participate in a project considering the revision of the country’s constitution


On 2 August 2016 I was appointed Counsel for Domestic Legislation in the House of Commons. As a result I am now winding up my City practice. I will continue with a number of my writing and teaching editorial and academic activities.


The Law Commission’s Report Form and Accessibility of the Law Applicable in Wales (Law Com No 366 29 June 2016 HC 469–I) quotes my response to their consultation paper in a number of places (but despite my pleas continues to recommend the introduction of a new kind of codification Bill that I fear is likely to contribute to the already intolerable complexity of the statute book)


Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project published a blog piece by me on 3 June 2016 about the importance of balance in the debate over the future of the Human Rights Act – Human Rights and Reductio ad Hitlerem.


Nigel Williams of Breakfast on BBC Surrey interviewed me on 2 June 2016 as part of a news item about erosion of the Green Belt; I explained how my Centre for Policy Studies Pink Planning report could ease pressure on desirable locations by enabling the establishment of new viable communities in other places.


On 21 May 2016 the Centre for Policy Studies released the third Report in the Pink Planning series of which I am the co-author.


The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s 32nd Report of Session 2015-16 (Response to the Strathclyde Review: Effective parliamentary scrutiny of secondary legislation – HL Paper 128 – 14 April 2016) quotes my evidence (para.85) on the difference between the balance of the two Houses and the balance of Parliament and the Executive.


On Friday 8 April 2016 the Centre for Policy Studies published my Pointmaker Report Dangerous Trends in Modern Legislation … and how to reverse them – the report has been noted in a number of places, including The Times on 8 April; you can read the report here.


The Spring 2016 issue of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly (Volume 67 Number 1) publishes at pages 1 – 66 the Stormont House Agreement Model Implementation Bill produced by a group in which I served as Parliamentary draftsman.


The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committe’s 25th Report of Session 2015-16 (Special Report: Response to the Strathclyde Review – HL Paper 119 – 23 March 2016) quotes my evidence to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (para.72) on the difference between the balance of the two Houses and the balance of Parliament and the Executive.


My Editorial to the first 2016 issue of the Statute Law Review published in March is entitled Secondary Legislation and the Primacy of Parliament – it is a critique of the Strathclyde Review (Secondary Legislation and the Primacy of the House of Commons – Cm. 9177).


Thomson Reuters Practical Law published my blog piece Brexit and legislative policy-making: is the government ready to go it alone? on 25 February 2016.


My evidence to the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee on the Strathclyde Review: secondary legislation and the primacy of the House of Commons (Cm 9177) was published by the Committee on 5th February 2016 and can be read here.


In February 2016 I joined the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law as an External Fellow, and am looking forward very much on working with them on constitutional law projects.


On Wednesday 13 January I gave evidence, together with Lord Salisbury and Lord Hain, to the House of Lords Constitution Committee, on behalf of the Constitution Reform Group – you can see the evidence session here.


BBC Radio 4’s programme How to Make a Brexit on 5 January 2016 (Carolyn Quinn explores the practical process by which Britain would exit the EU if UK voters opt to leave) includes a short contribution by me on the legislative complexity of leaving the European Union.


The Centre for Policy Studies issued a Press Release on 4 January 2016 containing the response by me and my co-author of their two papers on Pink Planning (a de-regulatory initiative for new sustainable communities) to the Government announcement on new homes.


Practical Law (Thomson Reuters) published on 10 December my blog piece entitled Brexit – A Parliamentary Counsel’s View.


My new edition of Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law (4th Edition) is published in December 2015 – a particular pleasure is to have my son Yisroel as Assistant Editor for the first time.


On 16 November the National Assembly for Wales’ Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, presented to the Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee inquiry on the Draft Wales Bill her suggestions for improvements to the draft Wales Bill; the Assembly’s website says “The alternative drafts have been worked up by a former parliamentary drafter, and internationally-recognised expert on legislative drafting, Daniel Greenberg, in conjunction with the Assembly’s own lawyers”.


In November 2015 I returned from a two-week mission to Albania on behalf of EURALIUS IV “Consolidation of the Justice System in Albania”.  I was drafting a consolidated version of the Law on the Self-Governing Bodies in the Justice System, drafting law on aspects of the justice system, and advising on constitutional amendments.


My editorial The Evils of EVEL was published in the Statute Law Review vol.36 No.3 in October 2015, exposing the inadequacies of the Government’s attempt to make major constitutional reform by altering the House of Commons’ Standing Orders.


My Third Cumulative Supplement to the Eigth Edition of Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary was published in October 2015.


In October 2015 the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee of the National Assembly for Wales published its Report Making Laws In Wales – the 110 page report contains 34 recommednations for different aspects of the legislative process in Wales.  I advised the Committee on its work (see Chapter 1, para.6).


The Constitution Reform Group published its Discussion Paper Towards a New Act of Union in September 2015; I am a member of the Steering Group of the CRG and drafted the paper in consultation with members of the Steering Group and correspondents.


In August 2015 I was quoted in the Law Society Gazette in their article “Tide of Legislation defeats deregulation drive” on the increase in new laws introduced in the UK.


On 19th June 2015 the Jewish Chronicle quoted my submission to the Department for Education on behalf of a client, dealing with the legal status of certain Jewish educational establishments.


The Politics Plus Blog carried my Reflections on the Consideration Stage of the Justice Bill on 4 June 2015 in the Northern Ireland Assembly, following a reference to my work with the Justice Committee by the Minister of Justice.


The Sunday Times on 24th May 2015 covered a Centre for Policy Studies paper on Pink Planning, authored by me and Keith Boyfield – the idea is to provide a light-touch deregulatory system for large-scale residential developments.  The CPS papers are available here.


On 18th May I attended the launch of the Bill implementing the Stormont House Agreement which I am drafting as part of a committee organised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice together with Queen’s University and Ulster University – you can see relevant papers here.


I spoke at the seminar entitled “Clarification and easification of legislative drafting” held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London on 25 March 2015, a joint project of the Sir William Dale Centre at the IALS, Clarity, the International Association for Plain Legal Language and Dipartimento di Studi e dell’Integrazione Internazionale (DEMS) – University of Palermo.    In a deliberately provocative presentation I explored whether the plain language movement has anything useful to contribute to the development of legislative drafting, and whether the risks of leaving readers thinking they have understood more than they have outweigh the possible benefits.


Based on a talk I gave to a charities seminar, my A guide to lobbying: Ten tips for legislative lobbying in the new Parliament was posted on 4 March 2015 as a blog on the Civil Society website.


I was interviewed on Radio 5 Live on Monday 2 March 2015 about the Liberal Democrat’s refusal to allow the Medical Innovation Bill to be debated in the House of Commons; followed by a local radio interview on Friday 6th.


For Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 on Tuesday 27 January 2015 I took part in an event organised by the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building in Belfast: “Ethics of Memory and Community Recovery: John F. Larkin, QC, Attorney General for Northern Ireland in conversation with Lord Alderdice and Daniel Greenberg”; you can read accounts of the event here or here

Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 ICR Event_edited


I was invited to give written evidence to the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Select Committee’s Inquiry into the Quality of Delegated Powers Memoranda.  Their Special Report published on 31 July 2014 (2014-15 HL Paper 39) includes references to my evidence, which is separately published.


On 29 April 2014 The Times published a letter from me as Parliamentary Counsel to the Medical Innovation Bill Team, responding to a previous letter expressing criticisms of the Bill.


On 17 March 2014 I gave a lecture to the Statute Law Society at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies entitled Dangerous Trends in Modern Legislation.


David Feldman’s book Law in Politics, Politics in Law in the Hart Studies in Constitutional Law series, which came out in January 2014, contains a chapter by me entitled The Realities of the Parliament Act 1911.


In October 2013 I conducted a series of seminars on legislative drafting and statutory interpretation for the Office of the Attorney General of the Union of Myanmar, organised by the United Nations Development Programme.

Union of Myanmar


On 3rd October 2013 I was the guest speaker at the Attorney General of Northern Ireland’s Legislation Colloquium on the theme of Getting Legislation Right.


My role as draftsman of amendments to the Mesothelioma Bill for the British Lung Foundation was referred to in the House of Lords by Lord Alton and Lord Pannick QC at the Report Stage Debate on 17th July 2013.


I took part in a public debate with Dayan Lichtenstein and Rabbi Michael Pollack in July 2013 on the subject of whether rabbinic authority can be restored after recent events in the UK and abroad – you can see a brief account of the debate on the United Synagogue website.


The First Report of Session 2013-14 of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee of the House of Commons – “Ensuring standards in the quality of legislation” (HC 85) 20 May 2013 – quotes my oral and written evidence to the Committee in a number of places.  Click here to see the Report on Quality of Legislation and the Report on Quality of Legislation Additional Evidence.


The Financial Times ran a report about the volume of legislation on 6th May 2013 which quotes me as the author of a report on recent developments; you can read the report by clicking on the picture below; the story also ran on the Global Legal Post.


The newspaper of the Falkland Islands – Penguin News – carried a report on 22nd February 2013 about my visit to the Islands as part of the preparation of a report, commissioned by the Attorney General of the Islands, into the revision of their legislation.


My role as draftsman to the Hacked Off group for their draft Bill to implement the Leveson Report into press intrusion was mentioned on the BBC news website, in the Guardian and in various other papers and sites on 6th and 7th January 2013.


I gave a public inaugural Wilmot Lecture at Derby University in November 2012.


The New Law Journal carried a comment article by me on 26th October 2012 called How to Stem the Flood? Lawyers & citizens suffer from the rush to legislate.


Accountancy Age carried a piece by me and a BLP colleague on 23rd October 2012 called GAAR proposals could be unconstitutional.


The Times online published a piece by me on 6th September 2012 entitled Lawyers and citizens suffer from rush to legislate; for non-subscribers, the text has also been published by the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association.


On 10th May 2012 I gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee in their inquiry into the quality of legislation.  This followed my written evidence to the inquiry.


On 31st October 2011, I was quoted by The Guardian in their lead story on Prince Charles and his influence on legislation.


Carolyn Quinn interviewed me for BBC Radio 4′s Westminster Hour on 13th February 2011 – How to Make a Law.


I gave written and oral evidence to the National Assembly for Wales’ Constitutional Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into the Drafting of Welsh Government Measures.  My oral evidence session was on 3rd November 2010.  The Committee’s Report of February 2011 draws on my evidence in a number of places.


In 2010 I gave a seminar to the Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University and recorded an interview about the illusion of plain language in legal contexts.