Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted October 9th, 2013 in parliamentary papers by sally

Reports from the Business, Innovation and Skills, Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Development Committees, Cm 8707 (PDF)

Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands amending the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands relating to the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf under the North Sea between the Two Countries, done at London on 6 October 1965, as amended by the Protocol of 25 November 1971 and the Exchange of Notes of January and June 2004, Cm 8724 (PDF)

Exchange of Letters between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium amending the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium relating to the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf under the North Sea between the Two Countries, done at Brussels on 29 May 1991, as amended by the Exchange of Letters of 21 March and 7 June 2005, Cm 8723 (PDF)

Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, Cm 8715 (PDF)

Level Crossings, Cm 8711 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted October 9th, 2013 in legislation by sally

The Retention of Knives (Supreme Court) Regulations 2013

The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2013

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted October 9th, 2013 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Finnigan v Northumbria Police [2013] EWCA Civ 1191 (08 October 2013)

Otkritie International Investment Management Ltd & Ors v Urumov (aka George Urumov) & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 1196 (08 October 2013)

Buck, R (on the application of) v Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council [2013] EWC Civ 1190 (08 October 2013)

MF (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 1192 (08 October 2013)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Sargespace Ltd v Eustace [2013] EWHC 2944 (QB) (03 October 2013)

Cuccolini S.R.L v Elcan Industries Inc [2013] EWHC 2994 (QB) (08 October 2013)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Walton Homes Ltd v Staffordshire County Council [2013] EWHC 2554 (Ch) (08 October 2013)

Source: www.bailii.org

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and others v European Parliament, Commission of the European Union and another intervening – WLR Daily

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and others v European Parliament, Commission of the European Union and another intervening (Case C-583/11P); [2013] WLR (D) 370

“An action for annulment of a ‘regulatory act’ within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of article 263FEU of the FEU Treaty was available to an individual with a direct concern in an act of general application which was not a legislative act.”

WLR Daily, 3rd October 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The BSB responds to the Legal Education & Training Review – Bar Standards Board

Posted October 9th, 2013 in barristers, legal education, legal services, news by sally

“The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a framework for the development of its future approach to legal education and training, following the publication of the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) in June.”

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 8th October 2013

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) v Al-Jedda (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Posted October 9th, 2013 in appeals, citizenship, immigration, Iraq, judicial review, law reports, Supreme Court by sally

Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) v Al-Jedda (Respondent) [2013] UKSC 62 | UKSC 2012/0129 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th October 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Osborn (FC) (Appellant) v The Parole Board (Respondent); Booth (FC) (Appellant) v The Parole Board (Respondent); In the matter of an application of James Clyde Reilly for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) – Supreme Court

Osborn (FC) (Appellant) v The Parole Board (Respondent); Booth (FC) (Appellant) v The Parole Board (Respondent); In the matter of an application of James Clyde Reilly for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) | [2013] UKSC 61 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th October 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Analysis: HMP Oakwood report – BBC News

Posted October 9th, 2013 in budgets, drug offences, health & safety, news, prisons, rehabilitation, reports, standards by sally

“The official website for HMP Oakwood says that it wants to ‘inspire, motivate and guide prisoners to become the best they can be.'”

Full story

BBC News, 8th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court grants injunction to losing bidder over £1bn waste contract award – Local Government Lawyer

“A High Court judge has granted an energy company an injunction preventing a waste authority from entering into a £1bn+ resource recovery contract (RRC) with a rival business.”

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 8th October 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Parties to civil litigation need more guidance on costs, says expert, as High Court declines to approve “disproportionate” budgets – OUT-LAW.com

“Parties to litigation in the civil courts need more guidance about what constitutes an ‘appropriate’ costs budget and the consequences of not meeting the requirements of the new costs management regime, an expert has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 8th October 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

LSB sparks fresh independence row with call for regulators to have lay chairs – Legal Futures

“The frontline regulators need lay chairs at the helm so as to cut the ‘overly strong ties’ that still exist with their branches of the profession and have held back change, the Legal Services Board (LSB) said yesterday.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 9th October 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Failure to respond to FOI request more promptly than ‘long stop’ 20 days deadline needs to be justified, says watchdog – OUT-LAW.com

“Public authorities may need to maintain a record to justify why they are unable to respond to freedom of information (FOI) requests more promptly than within 20 working days after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released new guidance.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 8th October 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Watchdog warning over ‘unnecessary’ gagging clauses – BBC News

“The use of ‘gagging clauses’ risks stopping employees from speaking out about failures in the public sector, the National Audit Office has warned.”

Full story

BBC News, 8th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Why Mrs Litvinenko did not get her PCO – but what if it had been an environmental claim? – UK Human Rights Blog

“An extraordinary story which would have raised our eyebrows at its implausibility had it come from our spy novelists. In late 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was murdered by polonium-210 given to him in London. He was an ex-Russian Federation FSB agent, but by then was a UK citizen. He had accused Putin of the murder of the journalist Anna Politovskaya. He may or may not have been working for MI6 at the time of his death. The prime suspects for the killing are in Russia, not willing to help the UK with its inquiries. But rightly, in one form or another, we want to know what really happened.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 9th October 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Refusal of relief from sanctions also highlights negligence risk for solicitors, warns QC – Litigation Futures

Posted October 9th, 2013 in disclosure, negligence, news, sanctions, solicitors, time limits by sally

“The latest High Court decision refusing relief from sanctions shows how tough the courts are becoming in implementing the Jackson reforms, a QC has warned.”

Full story

Litigation Futures, 9th October 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Wife of Gurkha soldier murdered by serial sex attacker on hunt for woman to rape – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 9th, 2013 in murder, news, rape, sentencing by sally

“A serial sex attacker, who went looking for a woman to rape before murdering the wife of a Gurkha soldier, has been jailed for life by a judge who described him as a ‘very dangerous man’.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 9th October 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

House of Lords reform – time for evolution rather than revolution? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 9th, 2013 in bills, news, parliament, peerages & dignities, statistics by sally

“When the House of Lords returns from recess in October, they will begin to welcome the 30 new peers announced at the beginning of August, including such diverse figures as paralympian Chris Holmes, racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence and Ministry of Sound co-founder James Palumbo. These 30 new peers (14 Conservative, ten Liberal Democrats, five Labour and one Green) will see the Conservatives again become the biggest bloc (with 222 peers, one ahead of Labour) and take the number of currently eligible sitting peers to 783. While such a size led to many comments about the ballooning size of the House (such as ‘New faces push the supersized House of Lords towards 1,000’ The Times August 2, 2013), this figure – which excludes those on leave of absence and those ineligible due to offices held – is actually lower than the figures as at March 2011 and March 2012. However, the annual reports of the House do show average attendance has increased by over a third in the last decade (from the mid-300s to the high 400s) and reflecting changing party balance in the House of Commons through creations is undoubtedly set to increase the size of the House of Lords (particularly if the parties fortunes ebb and flow; on this point see, eg, Michael White (Guardian, 17/5/2010) and the Electoral Reform Society 2013 report ‘The Super-Sized Second Chamber’). Thus among the Bills set to be scrutinised in the remainder of this session are no fewer than three House of Lords Reform Private Members’ Bills (PMBs) which seek to restrict the size of the House, Nick Clegg’s revolutionary – and much criticised – reform having been abandoned last year (at least until the next election).”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 8th October 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Who, what, why: What’s behind the idea of banning 10-packs of cigarettes? – BBC News

Posted October 9th, 2013 in EC law, news, regulations, sale of goods, smoking by sally

“Euro MPs have voted to ban the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes as part of a general tightening of the law. Why?”

Full story

BBC News, 8th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Criminal law – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 9th, 2013 in appeals, barristers, criminal justice, defence, incitement, judges, news, sentencing, terrorism by sally

“Defendants being charged with a number of terrorism-related offences – First defendant’s trial counsel’s conduct at trial being criticised by judge and prosecution counsel on numerous occasions during trial.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 8th October 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Baby P’s mother Tracey Connelly to be released from prison – The Guardian

“The mother of Peter Connelly, the toddler known as Baby P who died with more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register, has been recommended for release from prison by the Parole Board.”

Full story

The Guardian, 8th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk