Should the veil always be allowed in court?- The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2012 in Islam, juries, news, religious discrimination, women by sally

“The curious episode of the juror asked to withdraw from a crown court case because she was wearing a niqab, or full veil, raises a number of questions.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Eco-friendly’ fur ad banned – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2012 in advertising, complaints, news, ombudsmen by sally

“An ad campaign claiming that it is ‘eco-friendly to wear fur’ has been banned, after the advertising watchdog dismissed assertions that choosing fur is good because it ‘lasts a lifetime’ and ‘helps conservation’.”

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The Guardian, 21st March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Employed Bar Looks to the Future at Annual Conference – The Bar Council

Posted March 21st, 2012 in barristers, legal profession, news by sally

“The Employed Barristers’ Committee (EBC) of the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, hosts its annual conference in London tomorrow, entitled “A Week in the Life of an Employed Barrister”. This year’s conference will focus on the effect of the changing legal and regulatory landscape on the day-to-day work of an employed barrister, and will include a keynote address by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 20th March 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Females make up just 20 per cent of honorary silk nominations – The Lawyer

Posted March 21st, 2012 in diversity, legal profession, news, queen's counsel, women by sally

“Just 20 per cent of the people nominated for the honorary QC title in the past three years were women, The Lawyer can reveal.”

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The Lawyer, 20th March 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Work and Pensions and Health prosecutors to join Crown Prosecution Service – Attorney General’s Office

Posted March 21st, 2012 in attorney general, Crown Prosecution Service, news by sally

“The Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC MP has agreed to transfer the conduct of prosecutions from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health (DH) to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).”

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Attorney General’s Office, 20th March 2012

Source: www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk

Free speech on Facebook: unless you offend! – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted March 21st, 2012 in freedom of expression, internet, news, public order by sally

“No sooner had HLE published a post on the joke (in every sense) trial of Paul Chambers than another story appears which leaves one wondering how many in officialdom have even heard of free speech, let alone understood it.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 20th March 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Pregnant Briton wins appeal against extradition to Argentina – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2012 in appeals, drug trafficking, extradition, human rights, news by sally

“A pregnant British woman who was arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine through a South American airport has won her high court battle against extradition to Argentina on human rights grounds.”

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The Guardian, 20th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted March 20th, 2012 in parliamentary papers by sally

Tenth Report from the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2010-12: Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, Cm 8324 (PDF)

National Minimum Wage, Cm 8302 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted March 20th, 2012 in law reports by sally

High Court (Administrative Court)

Long v Rodman & Ors [2012] EWHC 347 (Ch) (23 February 2012)

High Court (Technology and Construction Court)

Phaestos Ltd & Anor v Ho [2012] EWHC 668 (TCC) (16 March 2012)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Euroption Strategic Fund Ltd v Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB [2012] EWHC 584 (Comm) (15 March 2012)

Source: www.bailii.org

JD (Congo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Public Law Project intervening); WN (The Gambia) v Same; ES (Iran) v Same; MR (Bangladesh) v Same – WLR Daily

Posted March 20th, 2012 in appeals, asylum, law reports, news, tribunals by sally

JD (Congo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Public Law Project intervening); WN (The Gambia) v Same; ES (Iran) v Same; MR (Bangladesh) v Same [2012] EWCA Civ 327; [2012] WLR (D) 85

“Where a claimant who had succeeded before the First-tier Tribunal but failed in the Upper Tribunal sought permission to appeal from the Upper Tribunal, not on the ground of an important point of principle or practice, but for some other compelling reason within section 13(6)(b) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, the test to be applied was stringent but flexible, taking into account the particular circumstances of the case. The procedural history and extreme consequences for the claimant if he were refused permission to appeal were relevant factors to be taken into account by the court in deciding whether the threshold for a second-tier appeal had been reached.”

WLR Daily, 16th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

BESTrustees plc v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted March 20th, 2012 in insolvency, law reports, pensions, valuation by sally

BESTrustees plc v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Ltd [2012] EWHC 629 (Ch); [2012] WLR (D) 84

“Where an insolvency event had occurred in relation to an employer, thereby triggering a calculation of the deficiencies in the assets of a pension fund under section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995, the time at which both the value of the pension scheme assets and the cost of the notional acquisition of annuities in the market to match its liabilities should be assessed was the ‘applicable time’ within the meaning of regulation 5 of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005, which, in the form which the regulation 5 had taken as at 8 October 2008, was the date of the insolvency event.”

WLR Daily, 16th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Forget Tesco law, this legal education review will transform the legal market – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2012 in legal education, news by sally

“The problems of the legal education and training system have been well documented on this website over recent months, dominated in particular by too many law students chasing too few jobs, the debt they accumulate in the process and the impact on diversity.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The evolved mind: rising to the environmental challenge – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 20th, 2012 in environmental protection, news by sally

“In my 2011 post Why be nice? Human rights under pressure I explored the extent to which our limited tendencies to altruism, insofar as they have survived natural selection, could be institutionalised and enforced. In this article I apply the scientific learning on our cooperative instincts to the question of environmental regulation. I argue that whilst we seem to be hard-wired to cooperate, environmental responsibility will only be instilled under certain conditions that resonate with our evolved psychology, and that most modern environmental law fails to acknowledge these conditions.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 20th March 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Campaigners call for new homicide law for inciting suicide – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2012 in domestic violence, harassment, homicide, incitement, news, suicide, women by sally

“Growing concerns about the failure of police to properly investigate cases of women who have killed themselves after violence or abuse have led to a campaign for a new homicide law of ‘suicide aggravated by harassment or violence’.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Muslim juror removed from jury after refusing to take off veil – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 20th, 2012 in Islam, juries, news by sally

“A Muslim juror has been excused from sitting on a case because her veil concealed her facial expressions.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 20th March 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Briton Graham Mitchell faces Portugal extradition – BBC News

Posted March 20th, 2012 in attempted murder, attempts, evidence, extradition, murder, news by sally

“A Briton arrested over a Portuguese attempted murder case he thought he had been acquitted of 17 years ago says his world has been ‘turned upside down’.”

Full story

BBC News, 20th March 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

County Court money claim service launched – Ministry of Justice

Posted March 20th, 2012 in claims management, county courts, news by sally

“From today all designated money claims in civil cases in England and Wales will be dealt with at one business centre. The centre will be supported by a dedicated contact team that deal with all telephone queries relating to claims.”

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 19th March 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Drug and Alcohol Misusing Families – BBC Law in Action

Posted March 20th, 2012 in alcohol abuse, courts, drug abuse, families, news by sally

“For the last four years, London’s family drug and alcohol court has been trying to get drug and alcohol misusing families back on track. It has done so by following a different approach from the traditional, more punitive measures adopted by the mainstream courts. Joshua Rozenberg visits the court to find out how effective its pioneering work has been and what those who use it think of it. He speaks to those involved in the day-to-day work of the court – including the district judge, the principals of the main charity involved in its creation, legal representatives and others with expert knowledge of the problems which the court’s family users must tackle to put their lives back in order – and talks to observers of the court who have reservations about its approach. Law in Action discovers how far this innovative – but expensive – legal model is one which can realistically be emulated elsewhere in the UK when public funds are under such pressure.”

Podcast

BBC Law in Action, 13th March 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Duress, abuse of process and erasing convictions: the questions raised in Regina v A – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted March 20th, 2012 in abuse of process, appeals, duress, news, perverting the course of justice, rape by sally

“It seems remarkable that if a woman tells a lie when living in permanent fear of being attacked and stabbed she would probably be able to put forward the defence of duress (if that lie tended to pervert the course of justice), but it seems such a defence does not apply if the woman is living in fear of being raped.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 19th March 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Former law lord opposes ‘two strikes and you’re out’ sentencing – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2012 in bills, judges, news, sentencing by sally

“A former law lord will attempt to amend the government’s controversial legal aid bill to throw out a ‘peculiar provision’ which would introduce a ‘two strikes and you’re out’ approach to sentencing.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk