Supreme Court reverses CoA ruling on the legal definition of a house – The Lawyer

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, housing, leases, news, precedent, Supreme Court by sally

“The Supreme Court has ended years of legal uncertainty by ruling on what constitutes a house in the contest of leasehold enfranchisement.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 11th October 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

An obvious observation about obviousness – ICLR Blog

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, news, patents by sally

“The law of patents is not always patently clear, but one point is obvious. The question of obviousness is not one that admits of endless elaboration. It is, in fact, obvious.

In a judgment handed down yesterday, MedImmune Ltd v Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1234, the Court of Appeal, dismissing appeals from Arnold J [2011] EWHC 1669 (Pat) and [2012] EWHC 181 (Pat) made a number of observations on the matter.”

Full story

ICLR Blog, 11th October 2012

Source: www.theiclr.blogspot.co.uk

Barry Thew jailed for T-shirt mocking PCs deaths – BBC News

Posted October 11th, 2012 in news, public order, sentencing by sally

“A man from Greater Manchester who wore a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments about the killing of two police officers has been jailed.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th October 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Board minutes of a public/private joint venture confidential and commercially sensitive – Panopticon

“Joint ventures between the public and private sectors are increasingly common. They are often a focus for vigorous political debate over issues such as the costs involved, the savings to the public purse, the profit to the private sector partner, and allegations of conflicts of interest. While those are political arguments on which Tribunals take no view, they do point to the significant public interests that are engaged when considering access to information. So said the Tribunal in David Orr v IC and Avon and Somerset Police Authority (EA/2012/0077), a recent decision notable for grappling with access to information about such a public/private joint venture.”

Full story

Panopticon, 11th October 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Subway loses legal challenge over VAT on hot food – The Lawyer

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, food, news, taxation, VAT by sally

“Mr Justice Arnold has thrown out an appeal bid by a franchisee of sandwich chain Subway to challenge HM Revenue & Customs’ VAT policy on hot food.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 11th October 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted October 11th, 2012 in legislation by sally

The Scotland Act 2012 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2012

The Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted October 11th, 2012 in law reports by sally

Supreme Court

Varma, R. v [2012] UKSC 42 (10 October 2012)

Day & Anor v Hosebay Ltd [2012] UKSC 41 (10 October 2012)

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ 1288 (10 October 2012)

Tinkler & Anor v Elliott [2012] EWCA Civ 1289 (10 October 2012)

SB v A Local Authority & Ors [2012] EWCA Civ 1269 (10 October 2012)

Medimmune Ltd v Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1234 (10 October 2012)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

John v Times Newspapers Ltd. [2012] EWHC 2751 (QB) (10 October 2012)

High Court (Family Division)

KH (A child), Re [2012] EWHC B18 (Fam) (05 October 2012)

Source: www.bailii.org

More on more on damages – NearlyLegal

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, damages, insurance, news by sally

“As you may know, the original Court of Appeal decision in Simmons v Castle on the 10% uplift in general damages was revisited after representations by the ABI and APIL.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 11th October 2012

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

SFO removes preference for civil settlement from Bribery Act self-reporting guidance – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 11th, 2012 in bribery, news, prosecutions, Serious Fraud Office by sally

“Businesses that ‘self-report’ illegal acts of bribery to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) could still face prosecution in cases where there is a ‘reasonable prospect of conviction’ and if it is ‘in the public interest’ to do so, the SFO has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th October 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

GCSE English marking faces high court challenge – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2012 in examinations, judicial review, news by sally

“The GCSE English fiasco that meant thousands of teenagers missed out on C grades this year faces a high court challenge, it was announced on Wednesday.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Abuse in care homes: corporate liability – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 11th, 2012 in care homes, corporate manslaughter, elderly, negligence, news, wilful neglect by sally

“It has been reported that three healthcare assistants have been charged with wilful neglect and ill treatment of patients following an investigation into the alleged abuse of elderly patients at Whipps Cross Hospital in north London.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 10th October 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Cimade v Ministre de l’Intérieur, de l’Outre-mer, des Collectivités territoriales et de l’Immigration – WLR Daily

Posted October 11th, 2012 in asylum, EC law, immigration, law reports by sally

Cimade v Ministre de l’Intérieur, de l’Outre-mer, des Collectivités territoriales et de l’Immigration
(Case C-179/11); [2012] WLR (D) 268

“A member state in receipt of an application for asylum was obliged to grant the minimum conditions for reception of asylum seekers laid down in Directive 2003/9/EC even where it decided, under Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003, to call upon another member state, as the member state responsible for examining the application for asylum, to take charge of or take back that applicant. This obligation ceased when that same applicant was actually transferred by the requesting member state, and the financial burden of granting those minimum conditions was to be assumed by that requesting member state, which was subject to that obligation.”

WLR Daily, 27th September 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Gore v Stannard (trading as Wyvern Tyres) – WLR Daily

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, causation, fire, insurance, law reports, strict liability by sally

Gore v Stannard (trading as Wyvern Tyres) [2012] EWCA Civ 1248; [2012] WLR (D) 266

“Where a party brought a claim relying on the strict liability rule under Rylands v Fletcher (1868) LR 3 HL 330, the claim being founded on an outbreak of fire said to be caused by another party having brought a ‘thing’ on to his land which then ‘escaped’, close attention would have to be given to the precise ‘thing’ which was said to have ‘escaped’ when analysing whether the principles relied on in fact applied. It remained a moot point whether there was any room for the classic principles to be reformulated in fire cases.”

WLR Daily, 4th October 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

In re G (Children: Religious upbringing) – WLR Daily

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, education, Judaism, law reports, parental rights by sally

In re G (Children: Religious upbringing) [2012] EWCA Civ 1233; [2012] WLR (D) 265

“In a case in which a marriage had irretrievably broken down, and the parents were unable to agree as to the precise religious nature of their children’s future education, care was required in looking to the welfare of the children and weighing up the relevant factors.”

WLR Daily, 4th October 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Flexible courts to open in dozens of areas – Ministry of Justice

Posted October 11th, 2012 in courts, criminal justice, magistrates, news, pilot schemes by sally

“Thousands more people will benefit from flexible courts, Criminal Justice Minister Damian Green said today as he unveiled a list of dozens of new pilot areas.”

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 11th October 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Parts of evidence against Abu Qatada are ‘a bit thin’, says judge – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, deportation, evidence, extradition, immigration, news, terrorism by sally

“Parts of the evidence against the terrorist suspect Abu Qatada are ‘a bit thin’, according to the judge considering his deportation to face trial in Jordan.”

Full story

The Guardian, 10th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In the name of God: ultra-orthodox Jewish education not in children’s best interest, rules Court of Appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, education, Judaism, news, parental rights by sally

“What is happiness? If you thought this most philosophical inquiry was beyond the remit of the judicial system then you should read this case.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 11th October 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

R v Varma – headnotes – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2012 in appeals, conditional discharge, confiscation, customs and excise, news by sally

“Courts have the power to make confiscation orders where an offender is absolutely or conditionally discharged.”

Full story

The Guardian, 10th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New film for victims and witnesses – Sentencing Council

Posted October 11th, 2012 in news, sentencing, victims, witnesses by sally

“The Sentencing Council has launched a short animated film for victims and witnesses of crime explaining how sentencing works and the types of sentence offenders can get. As well as being available to view online, it will also be used by Victim Support’s Witness Service volunteers at courts when they are helping victims and witnesses.”

About sentencing

Sentencing Council, 10th October 2012

Source: http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk

Charity served with monetary penalty notice – Panopticon

Posted October 11th, 2012 in charities, data protection, fines, news, penalties, social services by sally

“Today (10 October), the Commissioner served – for the first time – a monetary penalty notice on a charity. The charity in question, Norwood Ravenswood Ltd, is a social care charity. One of its social workers had attempted to deliver to the home of prospective adopters certain background reports containing highly confidential sensitive personal data on four young children. Finding the couple out, and unable to fit the package through the letterbox, the social worker left the package in a concealed area at the side of the house. When the prospective adopters returned home, the package had disappeared. It was never recovered.”

Full story

Panopticon, 10th October 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com