Deprivation of Liberty: current approach leaves vulnerable clients with limited protection, writes Laura Davidson – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in detention, disabled persons, freedom of movement, mental health, news by sally

‘In P and Q v Surrey County Council & Others [2011] EWCA Civ 190, the Court of Appeal approved Parker J’s suggested new “relative normality” test for assessing whether or not someone was being deprived of their liberty. If someone’s disabilities and difficulties necessitate assistance which is a significant interference in their life regardless of where they reside, then they are living a relatively normal life ‘for them’. Thus the circumstances are unlikely to amount to a deprivation. This concept purports to emanate from Engel v Netherlands (1976) 1 EHRR 647, despite its focus on the limitations of the army regime upon a soldier’s lifestyle, rather than a person’s individual characteristics (see ‘Turning back the clock’, SJ Vol. 156, No. 22, 10-13).’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 9th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

Lawyers want whistleblowing rules simplified – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in employment, legal profession, news, whistleblowers by sally

‘The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) has called for changes to the law on whistleblowing.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

Gay discrimination and Christian beliefs – Bull v Hall in the Supreme Court – Legal Week

‘The recent confirmation by the Supreme Court that it was unlawful discrimination for Christian hotel owners to refuse a double-bedded room to a same-sex couple was of considerable interest as the latest in a string of high-profile cases involving religious belief and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and the first such judgment involving the highest court in the land).’

Full story

Legal Week, 12th December 2013

Source: www.legalweek.com

Case Law developments on recusal – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in judges, news, recusal by sally

‘The circumstances in which a Judge or a Tribunal Member might be requested or required to recuse themselves is considered by Gemma Roberts together with the relevant case law.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

EVENT: IALS – Scrutiny of terrorism laws: searchlight or veil?

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘Organised by the Statute Law Society (www.statutelawsociety.org) and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Speakers: David Anderson QC, Brick Court Chambers and the Government’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.’

Date: 24th February 2014, 6.00-7.00pm

Location: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR

Charge: Free, registration required

More information can be found here.

EVENT: UCL CLP – Charitable Purposes and Activities

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘When determining whether a civil society organisation has charitable status, the orthodox position has it that the activities carried on in pursuit of its purposes are not relevant, save in very limited circumstances. This lecture will consider the extent to which this is correct, and whether the reluctance to consider the nature of the activities carried on by a potential charity should be revisited in light of the regulatory consequences of charitable status, outside of which the legal definition of charity has no real meaning.’

Date: 6th February 2014, 6.00pm

Location: UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG

Charge: Free, registration required

More information can be found here.

309 offences including ‘incorrigible rogue’ taken off statute book – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 12th, 2013 in crime, news, repeals by sally

‘”Being an incorrigible rogue”, under the Vagrancy Act 1824, is one of 309 offences to be repealed and removed from the statute book in the year up until May.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 12th December 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

EVENT: IALS – Human Rights Lawyering in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Human Rights Lawyers and Access to Justice in England and Wales and Germany

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘The professional attitude towards promoting national and international justice differs strongly between English and German lawyers: In England and Wales, legal professionals are highly committed to providing free legal assistance to disadvantaged groups while in Germany there is a lack of legal practice of human rights law and defence of those in need. The seminar therefore aims to analyse under which prerequisites legal professionals are able and willing to practice human rights law and support the rights of those in need at domestic and international level from a comparative view.’

Date: 20th January 2014, 6.00-7.30pm

Location: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR

Charge: See website for details

More information can be found here.

Government publishes TUPE amendment regulations – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in employment, news, redundancy, regulations, transfer of undertakings by sally

‘As predicted in our autumn newsletter, the Government has now published its proposed amendments to TUPE.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

Corporate failure and its implications for professionals advising before insolvency – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted December 12th, 2013 in accountants, insolvency, negligence, news, professional conduct, solicitors by sally

‘Professional negligence cases frequently deal with claims that arise after an insolvency occurs. During a recent 11 SB insolvency seminar, Lexa Hilliard QC focused on problems that can arise for accountants and solicitors prior to a company entering into a formal insolvency process. This is an area that has attracted little attention but it can be full of pitfalls that we professionals ignore at our peril. In
this ‘Insider’ she summarises herthoughts on what is becoming a very topical issue.’

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, December 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

What role does mediation play in social housing? – Hardwicke Chambers

‘At a case management hearing in the LVT (as it then was) back in March 2013, the chair said that, whilst normally he would direct that the parties to that dispute should attempt mediation, he was aware that it was “usually pointless” doing so where public funds are at stake as public bodies generally cannot justify the arbitrary reductions that can be necessary for a mediation to succeed, and fear creating some form of precedent. Misguided as I thought the chair was, it did seem likely that he might have been speaking from many years of experience.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

When private counselling is a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act? – No. 5 Chambers

‘The case of Crofts Vets and others v Butcher 2013 UKEAT/0430/12/LA and UKEAT/0562/12/LA is perhaps an unusual but important illustration of how far the duty to make reasonable adjustments under disability discrimination legislation goes (now Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010).’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

Short Cuts – London Review of Books

Posted December 12th, 2013 in bills, charities, elections, lobbying, news by sally

‘The Lobbying Bill – due to complete the Lords committee stage before Christmas – is intended ‘to ensure that people know whose interests are being represented by consultant lobbyists who make representations to government’. Part One provides that lobbyists must disclose the names of their clients four times a year in a public register; there will be a registrar to enforce compliance, and sanctions for non-compliance. This should make ministers more cautious about promoting policies that favour special interests, and should make special interest groups more cautious in their dealings with ministers. Those who want to engage in this type of lobbying, and can afford it, can properly be expected to bear the costs of regulation.’

Full story

London Review of Books, 19th December 2013

Source: www.lrb.co.uk

EVENT: UCL CLP – Mistaken Gifts after Pitt v Holt

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events, gifts by sally

‘The recent Supreme Court decision in Pitt v Holt [2013] UKSC 26 has put into sharp focus a question which has vexed English lawyers for some time: when can a donor recover a gift mistakenly made? Their Lordships ruled that there had to be a ‘causative mistake of sufficient gravity’. In the light of this ruling, the lecture will explore and try to systematise the principal competing approaches towards the recovery of mistaken gifts and to assess their underlying assumptions. How can we distinguish between mistakes which are sufficiently serious and those that are not, and what are the implications of Pitt v Holt for the law of gifts more generally? It will be argued that a pure causative mistake test may in fact be preferable to the two-stage inquiry adopted by Pitt v Holt. Properly handled, such a test could accommodate many of the concerns that often drive the call for an additional criterion of ‘sufficient gravity’.’

Date: 13th February 2014, 6.00pm

Location: UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG

Charge: Free, registration required

More information can be found here.

Unfair dismissal complaint ‘not reasonably practicable’ despite lack of medical evidence – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in appeals, employment tribunals, news, time limits, unfair dismissal by sally

‘The EAT, Mr Justice Langstaff sitting alone, has recently looked again at the application of the ‘reasonably practicable’ test in circumstances where a claim for unfair dismissal was lodged after the three month deadline had expired.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.no5.com

A note on equitable rectification – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in equity, mistake, news, rectification by sally

‘Equitable rectification provides a separate, distinct and interesting remedy that is available to cure errors in executed agreements. The availability of the remedy can often be critical in circumstances, for example, where the transaction requires registration at the Land Registry or third party rights and interests are affected by the agreements. In landlord and tenant and real estate transactions the remedy has been granted in a myriad of circumstances ranging from disputes about break clauses, rent review, real estate transfers or sale and leaseback agreements. Rectification in these is therefore of more than passing academic interest, its grant nullifying potentially disastrous consequences when an executed agreement incorrectly records the agreement made between the parties. ‘

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 5th December 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Unfair dismissal claims and competing jurisdictions – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in employment tribunals, jurisdiction, news, unfair dismissal by sally

‘When do Employment Tribunals have jurisdiction to hear unfair dismissal complaints brought by employees who work outside Great Britain? Nigel Brockley highlights the recent caselaw on this topic.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 4th December 2014

Source: www.no5.com

EVENT: IALS – Ex post facto law

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘Organised by the Statute Law Society (www.statutelawsociety.org) and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Speakers: Professor Neil Duxbury, London School of Economics.’

Date: 27th January 2014, 18.00-19.00

Location: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR

Charge: Free, registration required

More information can be found here.

EVENT: Gresham College – The Sanctity Of Life Law Has Gone Too Far

Posted December 12th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘Professor Gillon would argue that the judgment in the case of a patient in prolonged and incurable ‘minimally conscious state’, that she must continue to be kept alive with artificial nutrition and hydration, despite the evidence from her loved ones that she would have rejected such treatment, manifests an excessive concern for the ‘sanctity of life’ and inadequate concern both for patients’ prior views values and autonomy and about the use of scarce health service resources on patients whose loved ones reliably report that they would have rejected those resources had they been able to do so.’

Date: 12th February 2014, 1.00pm

Location: Barnard’s Inn Hall

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

Susan Fricker comments on Court of Appeal judgment on jurisdictional issues – Sovereign Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in appeals, care orders, jurisdiction, news by sally

‘Where the jurisdiction of the court is in issue the court should make a prompt determination of jurisdiction at or near the start of proceedings. In this case that determination of jurisdiction should have concluded with a declaration pursuant to BIIR, Article 17, that the English court had no jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction to make short term, provisional protective measures pursuant to BIIR, Article 20.’

Full story

Sovereign Chambers, 4th December 2013

Source: www.sovereignchambers.co.uk