Day: 11 April 2012

Jail for Muamba Twitter abuse – was 56 days imprisonment justified? – Legal Week

Posted April 11th, 2012 in internet, media, news, racism, sentencing by sally

“Liam Stacey – a 21-year-old student – was recently sentenced by a District Judge (Magistrates’ Court) to 56 days imprisonment for his tweets in relation to Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba (pictured). The Guardian reported that Stacey entered a guilty plea to a charge of racially aggravated disorderly behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress contrary to Crime and Disorder Act 1998 s.31 (as read with Public Order Act 1986 s.4A)”

Full story

Legal Week, 11th April 2012

Source: www.legalweek.com

Blogger’s publication of Motorman records may have breached data protection laws, says watchdog – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 11th, 2012 in data protection, interception, media, news, privacy by sally

“A political blogger may have breached UK data protection laws after posting a list of journalists and the requests they allegedly made to a private detective to ‘blag’ information for stories.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th April 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Lost and Found: the Tenancy Deposit Scheme – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in deposits, housing, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) legislation, set out in sections 212 to 215 of the Housing Act 2004, came into force in 2007 in respect of tenancy deposits paid by assured shorthold tenants. Essentially, it imposes two requirements on landlords:
(1) protection of the deposit paid in respect of such tenancies by paying it into an authorised scheme within 14 days of receipt of the deposit; and
(2) provision to the tenant of prescribed information, again within 14 days of the receipt of the deposit.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 5th April 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Seven jailed for burglary in which man was crushed to death – The Guardian

Posted April 11th, 2012 in burglary, homicide, news, sentencing by sally

“Seven men have been jailed for their part in a burglary during which a businessman was crushed to death.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Making the most of stress claims – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in employment, health & safety, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

“At a time when 1 in 4 workers are now affected by work-related stress, it is unsurprising that lawyers too are seeing more occupational stress claims than ever before. Kate provides some timely guidance on how to sort the wheat from the chaff and considers whether McLennan v Hartford [2012] EWHC 346 amounts to a change in the landscape or more of the same.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 3rd April 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Jailhouse rock: man has diamond ring in court to propose to his attacker – The Guardian

Posted April 11th, 2012 in grievous bodily harm, marriage, news, sentencing by sally

“A man who forgave his partner for nearly killing him when she plunged a kitchen knife into his back brought an engagement ring to court in the hope a judge would let her walk free.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Water part of contamination land definition is changed – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 11th, 2012 in environmental protection, news, planning, pollution, water by sally

“The statutory contaminated land regime has changed, with the principal change being to the definition of contaminated land. The changes took effect on 6 April.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th April 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

London riots: Gordon Thompson jailed for Reeves store arson – BBC News

Posted April 11th, 2012 in arson, guilty pleas, news, sentencing, violent disorder by sally

“A looter has been jailed for 11-and-a-half years for starting a fire which destroyed a family-run furniture shop in south London in the summer riots.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th April 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Bundled Feeds: Environmental Law

Posted April 11th, 2012 in news by sally

All of the posts on the Current Awareness blog are indexed using a controlled vocabulary.

This means that users are able to filter what they receive by subscribing to individual category feeds. A full list of category feeds can be found here.

Since category feeds are designed to be quite specific we have decided to introduce bundled groups of feeds under broader subject areas.

We are treating this as an ongoing project and will be adding more groups of bundled feeds in the future.

More information can be found on the Bundled Feeds page.

Environmental Law

The latest bundle we have put together is for Environmental Law.

Environmental Law RSS.

Environmental Law Email.

The Battle Goes On – The Bar Council

Posted April 11th, 2012 in criminal justice, Crown Prosecution Service, diversity, legal services, news by sally

“A look at the continuing cuts to CPS fees and the effect on the criminal Bar; and a call for
support from within the Bar itself in dealing with the challenges now facing it.”

Full story (PDF)

Chairman of the Bar Council, April 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

A Perception on Deception – Part I – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in compensation, fraud, news, personal injuries by sally

“No legal practitioner will have failed to note that in recent years personal injury claims have attracted a great deal of attention in the media; similarly, the government’s1 increasing involvement due to the dramatic increase in the number of such claims and the cost to the insurance industry, especially arising out of road traffic accidents, has been palpable. Although consideration has to be given to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of cars on the roads which will have contributed to the increase in road traffic accidents and subsequent personal injury claims, there also appears to have been an escalation in the propensity to make a claim and not simply arising out of road traffic accidents. Some have argued this is potentially due to the advent of no win no fee arrangements, but there is a firm belief that there has also been a significant rise in fraudulent PI claims.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 3rd April 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Drinking and casual sexism still institutional in top firms, LSB research claims – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 11th, 2012 in equality, law firms, news, professional conduct by sally

“The legal profession’s culture of ‘casual sexism’ and high levels of drinking has led women and ethnic minority solicitors to adopt special strategies to overcome institutional discrimination in law firms, researchers funded by the Legal Services Board claim today.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 11th April 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Vinnie Jones CPR advert cleared by watchdog – The Guardian

Posted April 11th, 2012 in advertising, complaints, health, news by sally

“A TV campaign featuring Vinnie Jones teaching people how to resuscitate someone, set to the rhythm of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive, has been cleared by the advertising watchdog despite complaints it featured a medically unsafe technique.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Fatal accidents and fatal errors – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in damages, duty of care, misfeasance in public office, negligence, news, professional conduct by sally

“Gordon Exall looks at the lessons that practitioners undertaking fatal accident cases can learn from the recent professional negligence case of Amin –v- Imran Khan.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 3rd April 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Set Aside or Appeal? Choose your Remedy with Care – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in appeals, civil procedure rules, default judgments, news by sally

“The interrelation between a party’s right to apply to set aside an order made in his absence and his right to appeal is one of recognised difficulty. Until recently, it had received little attention: a decision at first instance in Tennero Ltd v Arnold [2007] 1 WLR 1025 and one on appeal in Attorney General of Zambia v Meer Care & Desai [2008] EWCA Civ 754 (the ‘Boutique Basile’ case). In 2011, however, the Court of Appeal had cause to reconsider the interplay of Civil Procedure Rules (‘CPR’) 39.3 and 52 in Bank of Scotland plc v Pereira [2011] EWCA Civ 241 [2011] 1 WLR 2391.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 10th April 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Am I my brother’s keeper? – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2012 in appeals, assault, employment, news, vicarious liability by sally

“On 24th January the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the joined appeals of Weddall -v- Barchester Healthcare Limited and Wallbank -v- Wallbank Fox Designs Limited. The common issue was: in what circumstances might an employer be vicariously liable for an assault committed by one of its employees.
In both cases the assault was in fact committed upon a fellow employee, although as the Court recognised, the same principles would normally be applicable to a case where an employee assaults a third party.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 3rd April 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Four Articles on Local Government Law – 11 KBW

Posted April 11th, 2012 in local government, news by sally

Local Government Law Update: 4 April (PDF)
Local Government Law Update: 2 April (PDF)
Local Government Law Update: 10 April (PDF)
Local Government Law Update: 10 April (PDF)

11 KBW, April 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

New Planning Policy on Site Provision for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted April 11th, 2012 in local government, news, planning, travellers by sally

“On 25 March 2012 the government issued its new planning policy on the provision of caravan sites for Gypsies and Travellers: Planning policy for traveller sites (‘PPFTS’). The policy document replaces both Circular 1/2006 Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Sites and Circular 04/2007 Planning for Travelling Showpeople and should be read in conjunction with the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (‘NPPF’) which was published on 27 March 2012. Both policy documents came into force on that date.”

Full story

Garden Court Chambers Blog, 11th April 2012

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Lawyer for terror suspects hits out at ECHR decision in extradition case – The Lawyer

Posted April 11th, 2012 in appeals, extradition, human rights, news, terrorism by sally

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s legal advisers have secured a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that will see the extradition of five alleged terrorists, prompting the lawyer representing three of them to slam the judgment.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 10th April 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Fighting miscarriages of justice in the age of reality TV – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted April 11th, 2012 in appeals, evidence, miscarriage of justice, news by sally

“What is your idea of a miscarriage of justice? Is it that Laura Johnson is likely to go to prison for ferrying rioters about or that the Guantanamo five will be executed if (most think when) found guilty by a military court. For some it is that people are sent to prison on weak or uncorroborated evidence. For others it is the limitations placed by the Court of Appeal on reviewing convictions.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 10th April 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk