Legal aid chief promises smooth transition to new agency – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in competition, legal aid, legal services, news by sally

“The chief executive of the new Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has promised practitioners that they will experience ‘minimal’ impact from the change in machinery.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

How the law views cats – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in animals, criminal damage, news, theft by sally

“The law regards cats as property, or ‘chattel’, so any offence against owned felines can be classed as criminal damage.”

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Daily Telegraph, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

High Court smoothes out Greek yoghurt food fight – The Lawyer

“When is Greek yoghurt legally Greek yoghurt? That was the question put to Mr Justice Briggs in a major IP battle between the makers of Total Greek Yoghurt, Fage UK, and New York-based Chobani.”

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The Lawyer, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Gagging orders explained – Daily Telegraph

“Almost 5,000 council workers and civil servants across Britain have been gagged, The Telegraph has learned. But what are gagging orders and how do they work?”

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Mick Philpott was loving father, lawyer tells court in mitigation – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in arson, conspiracy, families, homicide, news by sally

“The sentencing of Mick and Mairead Philpott, who killed their six children in a house fire, has been adjourned until Thursday.”

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The Guardian, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Joss Stone death plot: Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool convicted – BBC News

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in conspiracy, mental health, murder, news, sentencing, theft, weapons by sally

“Two men have been convicted of plotting to kill singer Joss Stone.”

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BBC News, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

HS2 ruling: time to scale back on judicial reviews? – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in fees, judicial review, local government, news, time limits by sally

“It looks like it’s all systems go for HS2. The recent ruling on the high-speed rail from London to Birmingham and Manchester to Leeds gave the green light to the project. The government won nine out of the 10 points being challenged by various local authorities and action groups. It fell down on one area and has taken it on the chin agreeing to re-run its compensation consultation process.”

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The Guardian, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Day and another v Day – WLR Daily

Day and another v Day [2013] EWCA Civ 280; [2013] WLR (D) 129

“For the purposes of the doctrine of rectification in the case of a voluntary settlement it was the subjective intention of the settlor that was of relevance in determining whether the court should order rectification and an outward expression or objective communication of that intention was unnecessary in such a case.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Patel) v General Medical Council – WLR Daily

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in appeals, doctors, education, judicial review, law reports, universities by sally

Regina (Patel) v General Medical Council [2013] EWCA Civ 1938; [2013] WLR (D) 128

“A professional medical body with responsibility for registering doctors was not entitled to defeat the legitimate expectation of registration of a British resident who had undertaken a long course of study by distance learning at an overseas university, relying on e-mail assurances from the defendant body that he would be entitled to register his medical qualification once awarded on completion of all the clinical requirements. The decision to refuse him registration because the criteria for accepting overseas qualifications had since changed could not stand.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Dowsett) v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily

Regina (Dowsett) v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] EWHC 687 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 126

“The Secretary of State’s policy that male prisoners could not normally object to “rub-down” searches being conducted by a female prison officer except on genuine religious or cultural grounds was not discriminatory on grounds of sex or lack of religion. The exceptions to the policy were a proportionate way of dealing with genuine objections by male prisoners to being searched by female officers and the width of the exceptions to the policy did not lead to an unacceptable risk of unlawful decision-making.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Cautions for serious and repeat offenders under review – Ministry of Justice

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in cautions, courts, news, police, recidivists by sally

“Serious and repeat criminals should not expect to escape with a caution, Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling announced today with the launch of a Government review into cautions. ”

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Ministry of Justice, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in parliamentary papers by sally

CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism, Cm 8583 (PDF)

Patients First and Foremost: The Initial Government Response to the Report of The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, Cm 8576 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

Police cautions to be reviewed by government – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in cautions, courts, news, police, recidivists by sally

“The government is launching a review of the use of police cautions in England and Wales, amid fears that they are being used to punish serious offences that should be dealt with by the courts.”

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The Guardian, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Craig Prescott: The Union, Constitutional Change and Constitutional Conventions (and English Regionalism?) – UK Constitutional Law Group

“Last week, the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee published their report, Do We Need A Constitutional Convention For the UK? (HC 2012-13 371). It is an interesting document, mainly because its very existence shows that the idea of a constitutional convention is becoming more mainstream within Westminster. But the report raises many questions, not all of which are fully answered. The central thrust of the report is that considering the raft of changes made to the constitution since 1997, particularly devolution, ‘it is time to conduct a comprehensive review so that the Union can work well in the future’ (para 111), and that this review should take the form of a ‘constitutional convention to look at the formal constitutional structure of the UK’.”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

New regulatory regime in place in financial services sector – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in banking, financial regulation, insurance, news, regulations by sally

“A new system of regulation will oversee businesses in the financial services sector after reforms to the previous regime took effect on Monday.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Google facing legal threat from six European countries over privacy – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in data protection, EC law, internet, news, privacy by sally

“Google could face fines from six European countries’ privacy regulators, including the UK and Germany, after refusing to reverse changes to its privacy policies made in March 2012.”

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The Guardian, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

SAS sniper Danny Nightingale retrial to be challenged – BBC News

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in armed forces, firearms, news, public interest, retrials by sally

“Lawyers for an SAS sniper are to challenge whether it is in the public interest to retry him for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition.”

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BBC News, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mick and Mairead Philpott convicted of manslaughter over Derby house fire – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in arson, conspiracy, families, homicide, news by sally

“The parents accused of killing six children in a house fire have been convicted of their manslaughter.”

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The Guardian, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Improving the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime – Ministry of Justice

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in codes of practice, consultations, criminal justice, news, victims by sally

“This consultation sets out the Government’s plans to reform the Victims’ Code to give victims clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and to better tailor service to individual need. It is aimed at all criminal justice agencies, victims of crime and businesses.”

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Ministry of Justice, 29th March 2013

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

SSE fined record £10.5m by Ofgem over ‘prolonged and extensive’ mis-selling – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2013 in energy, fines, news, unfair commercial practices, utilities by sally

“The utility giant SSE is to be fined £10.5m for ‘prolonged and extensive’ mis-selling in what will be the largest ever penalty imposed on an energy provider.”

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The Guardian, 3rd April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk