Verdict on juries: placing blind trust in them helps no one – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2013 in internet, juries, jury directions, news, statistics by sally

“Almost a quarter of jurors in England and Wales currently misunderstand the restrictions on internet use during a trial, according to research just published.”

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The Guardian, 15th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Housing benefit changes legal test to begin at High Court – BBC News

“A legal test is set to begin into the government’s decision to cut housing benefit for recipients living in properties that have a spare room.”

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BBC News, 15th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Proposal to legalise outdoor weddings: Legislation ending need for licensed venue or religious ceremony is discussed by ministers – The Independent

Posted May 15th, 2013 in legislation, licensing, marriage, news, registrars by sally

“Outdoor weddings could become an option for thousands of couples, after the Government agreed to consider allowing groups, including humanists, to conduct legally-binding ceremonies in England and Wales.”

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The Independent, 14th May 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Theresa May: murderers of police to receive whole-life jail sentences – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2013 in murder, news, police, sentencing by sally

“Murderers of police officers are to be given whole-life sentences and be left to die in prison, the home secretary, Theresa May, is to reveal at the Police Federation conference.”

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The Guardian, 15th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Oxford gang found guilty of grooming and sexually exploiting girls – The Guardian

“A gang of abusers who subjected vulnerable girls in Oxford to years of rape, torture and extreme sexual violence has been convicted at the Old Bailey in one of the biggest child sexual exploitation trials in recent years.”

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The Guardian, 14th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

EVENT: Gresham College – The UK and the New Face of Europe

Posted May 14th, 2013 in Forthcoming events by sally

“How will the Eurozone crisis impact on the UK’s relationship with the EU?
In the past, the UK has always insisted on keeping a seat at the heart of the system. But it now suggests that it would be happy for Eurozone members to integrate more closely in order to withstand the crisis, without joining in itself.”

Date: Thursday, 6 June 2013, 6.00pm

Location: Guildhall

Charge: Free event, booking required

More information is available here.

Classifieds

Posted May 14th, 2013 in news by sally

Recently added:

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted May 14th, 2013 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Dossett, R v [2013] EWCA Crim 710 (14 May 2013)

Turnbull, R. v [2013] EWCA Crim 676 (18 April 2013)

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Hamid (t/a Hamid Properties) v Francis Bradshaw Partnership [2013] EWCA Civ 470 (02 May 2013)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

The Serious Organised Crime Agency v Namli & Ors [2013] EWHC 1200 (QB) (10 May 2013)

ABK v KDT & Anor [2013] EWHC 1192 (QB) (13 May 2013)

Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning Ltd v Hall [2013] EWHC 1185 (QB) (10 May 2013)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Golstein v Bishop [2013] EWHC 881 (Ch) (02 May 2013)

High Court (Family Division)

DR v GR & Ors (Financial Remedy: Variation of Overseas Trust) [2013] EWHC 1196 (Fam) (10 May 2013)

High Court (Commercial Court)

West Is West Distribution Ltd v Icon Film Distribution Ltd [2013] EWHC 1181 (Comm) (10 May 2013)

Source: www.bailii.org

One of Britain’s most prolific burglars jailed for 6 years – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 14th, 2013 in burglary, elderly, news, recidivists, sentencing by sally

“One of Britain’s most prolific house burglars has been jailed for six years after being caught targeting vulnerable elderly people in his 160th break-in.”

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Daily Telegraph, 14th May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Stuart Hazell will serve at least 38 years for murder of 12-year-old Tia Sharp – The Independent

Posted May 14th, 2013 in guilty pleas, murder, news, sentencing, sexual offences by sally

“Stuart Hazell was jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 38 years today after finally admitting the murder of schoolgirl Tia Sharp.”

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The Independent, 14th May 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Taking responsibility – New Law Journal

Posted May 14th, 2013 in families, guardianship, local government, news, supervision orders by sally

“Special guardianship orders have become an increasingly popular means of resolving family proceedings. They have found favour with local authorities as a means of securing kinship care placements and have been described as a half-way house between a residence order and an adoption order.”

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New Law Journal, 10th May 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Does the need for sensation justify the public’s right to be informed? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted May 14th, 2013 in anonymity, media, news, public interest, victims by sally

“The need for sensation alone has placed Jimmy Tarbuck’s name in the press for being questioned regarding an alleged sexual offence dating back to the 1970s. Jimmy Tarbuck is one of a seemingly never-ending stream of household names being questioned regarding historic sexual offences. Jimmy Tarbuck has merely been questioned. We do not know what the evidence is against him but we know it is insufficient at present to sustain a criminal charge. Why then are we even aware of this story?”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 13th May 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Bar Council Publishes Legal Aid Consultation Core Case – Family Law Bar Association

Posted May 14th, 2013 in barristers, consultations, fees, legal aid, news, tenders by sally

“The Bar Council has published a document summarising it’s core case in respect of the current consultation in respect of legal aid. Read that document here. The proposals include the introduction of Price Competitive Tendering in criminal work and further fee cuts to solicitors (10%) and experts (20%) in family cases.”

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Family Law Bar Association, 8th May 2013

Source: www.flba.co.uk

Why We Need an Animal Abuser Registry – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly

Posted May 14th, 2013 in animal cruelty, child abuse, crime prevention, news, sexual offences by sally

“Criminals generally grow out of offending with the onset of a delayed maturity or when they become too old to accept the prospect of another spell in prison. However, one group of criminals are constant in their failure to change whatever their age: sex offenders. Although it is a cliché relied upon by defence counsel on behalf of every priest who molests a choirboy or teacher who robs a schoolgirl of her innocence that he acted “out of character”, each advocate is wrong. The reason is for pederasts and rapists and their ilk, their offences are not out of character, but part of their character.”

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Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 10th May 2013

Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk

Software Patents: HTC Europe Co Ltd v Apple Inc – NIPC Law

Posted May 14th, 2013 in appeals, computer programs, EC law, news, patents by sally

“In HTC Europe Co Ltd v Apple Inc [2013] EWCA Civ 451 (3 May 2013), the Court of Appeal (Lord Justices Richards, Lewison and Kitchin) ventured again into what Lord Justice Lewison described at paragraph [140] of the Court’s judgment as “the minefield of the exclusion from patentability of computer programs ‘as such’.”

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NIPC Law, 13th May 2013

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Interesting times – New Law Journal

Posted May 14th, 2013 in agreements, consumer credit, costs, interest, law firms, loans, news by sally

“In Jeffrey Jones v SoS for Energy and Climate Change [2012] EWHC 2936 (QB) the High Court considered the use of credit agreements between a law firm and its clients.”

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New Law Journal, 13th May 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Pitt and another v Holt and another; Futter and another v Futter and others – WLR Daily

Posted May 14th, 2013 in financial advice, law reports, mistake, Supreme Court, taxation, trusts by sally

Pitt and another v Holt and another; Futter and another v Futter and others [2013] UKSC 26; [2013] WLR (D) 172

“The court’s jurisdiction to intervene in a decision made by trustees who were acting within their power arose only if they could be shown to have acted in breach of duty. Trustees who wished to exercise a discretion which was within their powers and sought and acted on the advice of apparently competent professional advisers not in breach of duty merely because the professional advice turned out to be incorrect.”

WLR Daily, May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Taylor v Chief Constable of Hampshire Police – WLR Daily

Taylor v Chief Constable of Hampshire Police [2013] EWCA Civ 496; [2013] WLR (D) 171

“The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 were engaged with respect to risks from sharp edges in a claim for damages for personal injury once such a risk was shown to be more than de minimis, and the employer had to provide suitable equipment to protect against that risk unless working methods could provide equal or more effective protection.”

WLR Daily, 9th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Family law: a “time-consuming and morally shadowy activity”? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted May 14th, 2013 in family courts, legal profession, news by sally

“Recently an article in the Guardian described family law as a ‘time-consuming and morally shadowy activity’ and suggested that family lawyers ‘sleep in a bed that has been paid for by the unhappiness of others’. This was an article on ‘gold diggers’, a group hardly representative of the general population. But if ever a profession needed good PR, it’s family lawyers. The legal profession as a whole gets a pretty bad press, making it a fairly easy task for the government to promote other methods of obtaining legal advice and dispute resolution, as if entering the office of a lawyer who works with individual clients is something to be avoided, an easy way to empty your wallet with no obvious benefits.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 14th May 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Sun on Sunday pays damages to man wrongly linked to serial killer – The Guardian

Posted May 14th, 2013 in costs, damages, media, news by sally

“The Sun on Sunday ran a front page ‘world exclusive’ last November headlined ‘I’m Fred West’s love child’.”

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The Guardian, 13th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk