Unclear judgment on unclear occupancy – NearlyLegal

Posted March 25th, 2013 in appeals, landlord & tenant, local government, news, repossession by sally

“This was an appeal of a Circuit Judge’s finding that LB Brent’s possession claim under Ground 16, Schedule 2 Housing Act 1985 failed because the property was reasonably needed to accommodate those living there. Very unusually, the appeal was in large part a challenge to the Judge’s findings of fact.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 24th March 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Legal aid is being ruled out of court – The Guardian

“From the beginning of April 2013 the chances of getting help with legal bills will be slim. The Law Society estimates 650,000 cases will no longer qualify, including 20,000 employment cases and 200,000 in family law.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Fake vicar jailed for charity fraud – BBC News

Posted March 25th, 2013 in charities, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

“A conman who posed as a vicar and tricked Merseyside charities out of about £90,000 has been jailed for five years.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Legal aid: Lawyer’s strike warning over reform plans – BBC News

Posted March 25th, 2013 in barristers, bills, budgets, costs, industrial action, legal aid, news, solicitors by sally

“A Welsh barrister has warned that lawyers could go on strike against the UK government’s latest plan to cut the legal aid bill in England and Wales.”

Full story

BBC News, 24th March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New rules to cut unfair dismissal payments – The Guardian

Posted March 25th, 2013 in bills, compensation, news, redundancy, unfair dismissal by sally

“A raft of changes to the way your employer can treat you will be introduced this summer in a bill that, critics say, will make it quicker and cheaper to sack staff.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Border agency condemned over backlog – BBC News

Posted March 25th, 2013 in delay, housing, immigration, news by sally

“MPs say the UK Border Agency is still plagued by backlogs of unresolved immigration cases.”

Full story

BBC News, 25th March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ken Clarke ‘misled’ parliament over secret courts bill – The Guardian

Posted March 25th, 2013 in bills, closed material, habeas corpus, news by sally

“Conservative cabinet minister Ken Clarke has been accused of misleading parliament as confusion mounts over the government’s plans to introduce secret courts ahead of this week’s crucial vote in the House of Lords.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Six months, no jail sentences: call for controversial squatter law to be axed – The Independent

Posted March 25th, 2013 in homelessness, legislation, news, sentencing, squatting, statistics by sally

“Six months after new laws were introduced to ‘protect homeowners’ from squatters, police have not arrested a single person for displacing residents from their home, leading to calls for the legislation to be scrapped.”

Full story

The Independent, 24th March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Blogs likely to be excluded from press reforms by House of Lords – The Guardian

Posted March 25th, 2013 in bills, damages, freedom of expression, inquiries, internet, media, news, regulations by sally

“Fears that bloggers and small-scale news websites will be dragged into the new proposed system of press regulation, so facing crippling costs, appeared to be lifting on Friday when Labour and the Liberal Democrats agreed to table last-minute amendments in the Lords to make it clear they will be excluded.”

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Canterbury court sentences royal car protester Jonathan Elliott – The Independent

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in demonstrations, fines, news, public order, royal family, sentencing by sally

“A protester has been bound over to keep the peace for 12 months after he lunged at a car carrying the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall before the Archbishop of Canterbury’s enthronement.”

Full story

The Independent, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Independent ordered to pay damages for Nazi war criminal error – The Guardian

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in damages, media, news, photography, war crimes by sally

“A Croatian actor has accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over an article in the Independent which wrongly identified him as a Nazi war criminal.”

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jail for soldier who terrorised bus with fake gun – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in armed forces, firearms, news, sentencing, violence by sally

“A former soldier who left bus passengers fearing for their lives after he pointed a replica gun at them has been jailed for five years.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Hillsborough inquest hearing date set – BBC News

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in health & safety, inquests, news, sport by sally

“A hearing to decide the date and location of a fresh inquest into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims will take place next month.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Christian B&B owners sued over refusing gay guests can now turn away homosexual couples – The Independent

“A Christian couple who broke equality laws when they refused to let a gay couple stay in a double room in their bed and breakfast will now be able to legally turn away homosexual couples after becoming a not-for-profit organisation.”

Full story

The Independent, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Ex-gay’ London bus advert ban ruled lawful – BBC News

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in advertising, homosexuality, news, transport by sally

“A ban on a Christian group’s proposed bus advert suggesting gay people could be helped to change their sexuality has been ruled as lawful.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Nightingale, R. v – Temporary BAILII Citation Number: [2013] EWCA Crim B3 (13 March 2013)

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

P -S (Children) [2013] EWCA Civ 223 (21 March 2013)

Whitehead v Bruce & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 229 (21 March 2013)

Nelson’s Yard Management Company & Ors v Eziefula [2013] EWCA Civ 235 (21 March 2013)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Chandra & Anor v Brooke North & Anor (Rev 3) [2013] EWHC 417 (QB) (08 March 2013)

Serious Organised Crime Agency v Azam & Ors [2013] EWHC 627 (QB) (21 March 2013)

High Court (Family Division)

Arif v Anwar & Anor [2013] EWHC 624 (Fam) (21 March 2013)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Buckinghamshire County Council & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Transport [2013] EWHC 481 (Admin) (15 March 2013)

McDaid v Nursing & Midwifery Council [2013] EWHC 586 (Admin) (21 March 2013)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Versloot Dredging BV v HDI Gerling Industrie Versicherung Ag & Ors [2013] EWHC 581 (Comm) (08 February 2013)

Griffon Shipping LLC v Firodi Shipping Ltd [2013] EWHC 593 (Comm) (21 March 2013)

High Court (Patents Court)

Glaxosmithkline Biologicals SA v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2013] EWHC 619 (Pat) (21 March 2013)

Source: www.bailii.org

Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death – Law Commission

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in intestacy, Law Commission, news, reports, trusts by sally

“Government has accepted, in part, the recommendations we made in our report Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death.”

Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death

Law Commission, 21st March 2013

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk

Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in parliamentary papers by sally

The work of the UK Border Agency (April – June 2012), Cm 8591 (PDF)

The Supplementary List of Ratifications, Accessions, Withdrawals, etc., Cm 8589 (PDF)

Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses , Cm 8590 (PDF)

The Government’s Response to the Health Select Committee’s Eighth Report of Session 2012-13 on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Cm 8568 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

Hayes v Willoughby – WLR Daily

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in crime, defences, harassment, law reports, Supreme Court by sally

Hayes v Willoughby [2013] UKSC 17; [2013] WLR (D) 110

Where a person whose conduct would amount to harrassment of another within section 1(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 sought to rely on the defence under section 1(3)(a) of the Act of having acted for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, he had to show that he had thought rationally about the material suggesting the possibility of criminality and had formed the view that the conduct said to constitute harassment was appropriate for the purpose of preventing or detecting it.

WLR Daily, 20th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

No consultation on principle of criminal legal aid tendering – LAG News Blog

Posted March 22nd, 2013 in consultations, criminal justice, legal aid, news, tenders by sally

“It was clear from the meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid yesterday evening that there is a wide gulf between legal aid practitioners and the government on the issue of competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services. Members of the audience, many of whom were solicitors and barristers specialising in criminal work, were shocked to hear Dr Elizabeth Gibby, the senior official at the Ministry of Justice responsible for the policy, declare that the consultation on competitive tendering planned for next month ‘will be on the model only and not the principle’.”

Full story

LAG News Blog, 21st March 2013

Source: www.legalactiongroupnews.org.uk