Month: March 2015

Heron Bros Ltd v Central Bedfordshire Council – WLR Daily

Posted March 27th, 2015 in civil procedure rules, contracts, law reports, public procurement, service, time limits by sally

Heron Bros Ltd v Central Bedfordshire Council [2015] EWHC 604 (TCC); [2015] WLR (D) 137

‘The term “service in accordance with rules of court” in regulation 47F(5) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended, meant that valid service was achieved when the relevant step for service of a claim form, set out in CPR r 7.5(1), was completed within the seven-day time limit prescribed by regulation 47F(1).’

WLR Daily, 20th March 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court charge of up to £1,200 for criminals revealed – BBC News

Posted March 27th, 2015 in costs, criminal courts charge, guilty pleas, news, trials by sally

‘Convicted criminals in England and Wales will have to pay up to £1,200 towards the cost of their court case under new rules, it has been revealed.’

Full story

BBC News, 27th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

FCA plans to ban ‘opt-out’ sales of add-on insurance products –

Posted March 27th, 2015 in consumer protection, financial regulation, insurance, internet by sally

‘UK financial services firms will be banned from using pre-ticked boxes and other methods to sell customers additional ‘add-on’ products when they are purchasing regulated financial products under plans published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 26th March 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Secret trial: Six unanswered questions – BBC News

Posted March 27th, 2015 in closed material, conspiracy, explosives, murder, news, private hearings, retrials, terrorism by sally

‘An important principle in the British legal system is that “not only must justice be done, it must also be seen to be done”.’

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BBC News, 26th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Secret trial clears man of plotting to kill Tony Blair – The Independent

Posted March 27th, 2015 in closed material, conspiracy, explosives, murder, news, private hearings, retrials, terrorism by sally

‘A British law student has been cleared of targeting Tony Blair and his wife Cherie as part of a terrorist plot, following the UK’s first secret terror case.’

Full story

The Independent, 26th March 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Are too few convictions overturned? – BBC News

Posted March 27th, 2015 in appeals, Criminal Cases Review Commission, Law Commission, miscarriage of justice, news, select committees by sally

‘There is room for argument over whether the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is too cautious in referring suspected miscarriages of justice to the Court of Appeal, as the Commons Justice Committee has said.’

Full story

BBC News, 27th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Why Evans gets the spiders – Panopticon

Posted March 27th, 2015 in disclosure, documents, freedom of information, ministers' powers and duties, news, royal family, Supreme Court, veto by sally

‘The Supreme Court’s judgment in R (Evans) v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 has received vast amounts of media coverage – more in a single day than everything else about FOI has received in ten years, I reckon. No need to explain what the case was about – the upshot is that Rob Evans gets Prince Charles’ ‘black spider’ letters. Here’s why.’

Full story

Panopticon, 26th March 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Buying web addresses best protection for brands in light of expansion of domains – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 27th, 2015 in domain names, internet, news, trade marks, trade names by sally

‘Businesses should respond to the growing number of domains by buying up the web addresses that pose a risk to their brands.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 26th March 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Struck off and now disbarred: lawyer who defrauded the Law Society – Legal Futures

Posted March 27th, 2015 in assault, barristers, criminal records, disciplinary procedures, disclosure, fraud, news, solicitors by sally

‘A former solicitor and non-practising barrister who was convicted of a string of offences – including assaulting two police officers and defrauding the Law Society of £23,000 while a member of its council – has been disbarred two months after she was struck off the roll of solicitors.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 27th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

LSB: regulators better on diversity but barristers still coy about backgrounds – Legal Futures

Posted March 27th, 2015 in barristers, diversity, news, statistics by sally

‘More than 80% of barristers have declined to disclose information about their socio-economic backgrounds when asked to do so by their professional regulator, it has emerged.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 27th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Ian Watkins: Misconduct case for two police officers – BBC News

Posted March 27th, 2015 in child abuse, misfeasance in public office, news, police by sally

‘Two detectives who worked on the Ian Watkins child abuse investigation have cases to answer for misconduct, a police watchdog has recommended.

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BBC News, 26th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Supreme court clears way for release of secret Prince Charles letters – The Guardian

Posted March 26th, 2015 in appeals, attorney general, disclosure, documents, news, royal family, Supreme Court, veto by sally

‘The UK supreme court has cleared the way for the publication of secret letters written by Prince Charles to British government ministers, declaring that an attempt by the state to keep them concealed was unlawful.’

Full story

The Guardian, 26th March 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Do not-so smart pension reforms mean FCA wants pensioners to be ScamSmart? – RPC Financial Services Blog

Posted March 26th, 2015 in consumer protection, financial regulation, news, pensions by sally

‘Less than two weeks after Martin Wheatley’s speech identifying April’s ‘big bang’ pension reforms as “[t]he defining challenge of our time”, the FCA has launched a website called ‘ScamSmart’ dedicated to helping retail investors identify fraudulent investment scams. Martin Wheatley’s keynote speech and the launch of the ScamSmart website indicate the level of concern in the FCA about the impact of the reforms on UK pensioners. The strength of these concerns is confirmed in today’s Business Plan which includes plans for the FCA to carry out a thematic review (with, presumably, intense supervisory and enforcement work to follow) into the suitability of pensions and retail investment advice.’

Full story

RPC Financial Services Blog, 24th March 2015

Source: www.rpc.co.uk

Save Legal Aid, Save Lives – Family Law Week

Posted March 26th, 2015 in domestic violence, evidence, legal aid, news, reports, select committees by sally

‘Ruth Tweedale, a law lecturer at the University of Roehampton and former solicitor at Rights of Women, describes recent developments in the campaign to preserve family law legal aid for victims of domestic violence.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 24th March 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Supreme court to rule on publishing Prince Charles’ ‘black spider memos’ – The Guardian

Posted March 26th, 2015 in appeals, disclosure, documents, freedom of information, news, royal family, Supreme Court by sally

‘The supreme court will rule on Thursday on whether highly sensitive secret correspondence between Prince Charles and government ministers should at last be released in the public interest.’

Full story

The Guardian, 25th March 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Contractual discretion – lost at sea? – Technology Law Update

Posted March 26th, 2015 in compensation, contract of employment, contracts, news, suicide by sally

‘Contracts often include terms that give discretion to one of the parties to make a decision affecting the other party. Does that mean that the party with the discretion can use it freely? Apparently not, according to a recent Supreme Court case.’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 25th March 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

Grooming bans could stop child sex abuse say councils – BBC News

Posted March 26th, 2015 in local government, news, sexual grooming, social services by sally

‘Councils in England and Wales want new powers to combat predatory men suspected of grooming children for sex.’

Full story

BBC News, 26th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Too little progress on stop and search, says police watchdog – The Guardian

Posted March 26th, 2015 in news, police, race discrimination, reports, stop and search by sally

‘Police forces have made too little progress on improving their use of stop and search powers, with too many officers lacking any understanding of their impact on the lives of young black people, an official watchdog has said.’

Full story

The Guardian, 24th March 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

How to sue in respect of abusive comments on the Internet – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 26th, 2015 in defamation, internet, law firms, news by sally

‘The facts of this case are simple. A defamatory comment was posted on the claimant’s Google maps directional page, implying that he was a “loser” as a lawyer and that his firm lost “80%” of cases brought to them. The defendant claimed that someone must have hacked in to his own Google account to put up the post.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 25th March 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Cheating Premier League footballer at centre of one-night stand blackmail plot should be named, says judge – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 26th, 2015 in anonymity, appeals, blackmail, costs, injunctions, news by sally

‘Justice Warby rules an anonymity order protecting a wealthy well-known defender who had a one-night stand despite having a long term partner and child should be lifted.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 25th March 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk