* The law lords rarely make personal comments but Baroness Hale of Richmond, the only woman among them, is not averse to doing so — and they add a welcome human touch. Her latest was in the decision in which the House of Lords upheld the Serious Fraud Office’s halting of its corruption inquiry into the BAE Systems arms deal with Saudi Arabia. She said: “I confess that I would have liked to be able to uphold the decision . . . of the Divisional Court. It is extremely distasteful that an independent public official should feel himself obliged to give way to threats of any sort . . . The great British public may still believe that it was the risk to British commercial interests that caused him to give way, but the evidence is quite clear that this was not so.” She goes on: “Although I would wish that the world were a better place where honest and conscientious public servants were not put in impossible situations such as this, I agree that decision was lawful.”

* Mr Justice Eady may be the judicial target of the moment among the tabloid press — and a series of profiles have exposed his perceived character defects, including being described as “cold as a frozen haddock”. But he has a (hidden?) sense of humour, points out Mark Stephens, the media lawyer. In evidence Stephens cites paragraph 53 of Eady’s judgment on Max Mosley. The judge said: “The claimant, for reasons best known to himself, enjoyed having his bottom shaved — apparently for its own sake rather than because of any supposed Nazi connotation. He explained to me that while this service was being performed, he was (no doubt unwisely) ‘shaking with laughter’. I naturally could not check from the DVD, as it was not his face that was on display.”

* Meanwhile, the lawyer of that match must be barrister David Sherborne, who was in Max Mosley’s team. The win for Mosley made five privacy victories in a row for Sherborne, coming after Naomi Campbell (just for the start of the case), Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, Loreena McKennitt, Sienna Miller and now Mosley. Always for the claimant, though — perhaps newspapers should brief him next time. But the all-round winners must be 5 Raymond Buildings: both QCs, James Price, with Sherborne, for Mosley as well the other side — Mark Warby, QC, came from 5RB. Warby’s junior, Anthony Hudson, was the only outsider — from Doughty Street.

* Paying tribute to the outgoing senior law lord, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, at a retirement dinner at Lancaster House recently, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, cited The Times recent top 100 most influential lawyers. “Naturally,” Straw said, “Tom topped the poll. A verdict met with widespread approbation . . .” Straw continued: “And, you should know, that the good judgment of those who placed Tom first, and ranked other distinguished lawyers between 3 and 100, is NOT marred by an extraordinary typing error at No 2 — me.” The Justice Secretary reveals: “The solitary word on my comments page: ‘outrageous’.”

* It won’t be high on the list of Gordon Brown’s woes, but a cross-party committee of MPs and peers last week published a report on his Constitutional Renewal Bill — and a significant minority denounced the Bill as a “retreat” from the Prime Minister’s earlier promises. Six of the 17 members who scrutinised the Bill say that it fails to establish independence in the office of the Attorney-General. Their minority report, drafted by Lord Tyler, the Liberal Democrat peer, calls for separating the political and legal functions of the Attorney; publishing his or her legal advice where used in support of a political case being made by the Government; preventing the Attorney sitting in either House of Parliament; excluding him or her from Cabinet meetings, except where legal advice is required; and ending the Attorney’s role in formulating criminal justice policy. The legal advice given to government on issues such as the Iraq war would come from an independent lawyer — and be public. Unfortunately for the minority they did not carry the day on what they call a “ragbag of retreats”. The majority praised the Bill as a “step in the right direction”, although “more progress is needed”. On the Attorney, the committee is unpersuaded by the case for splitting the office’s legal and political functions and says that the Attorney should retain both roles as well as the power to direct the prosecution of any case that should go ahead.

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