Head of Legal loses employment tribunal claim against local authority – Local Government Lawyer

‘A council head of legal services has lost an employment tribunal case against the authority for which she previously worked.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th September 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

First ever convicted cross-border sex-trafficker has sentence increased – Attorney General’s Office

Posted September 21st, 2018 in appeals, news, prostitution, sentencing, trafficking in human beings by tracey

‘The first person to be convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for human trafficking outside the UK has today had her sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, personally argued that her sentence was too low in the Court of Appeal.’

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Attorney General's Office, 20th September 2018

Source: www.gov.uk

Consent Orders: Triumph or Disaster? Working towards best practice in reaching consent orders – Family Law Week

Posted September 21st, 2018 in consent orders, families, family courts, news by tracey

‘Following a multi-professional seminar, David Pitcher, Family Court Adviser, Cafcass and Carol Mashembo, barrister, Magdalen Chambers, Exeter with Dr Anna Gough and Sarah Evans consider the issues concerning best practice in consent orders in family proceedings.’

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Family Law Week, 11th September 2018

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Myra Hindley’s private documents reveal graphic details of Ian Brady’s sadistic abuse and violent rapes – The Independent

Posted September 21st, 2018 in child abuse, murder, news, rape, wills by tracey

‘Private documents handed over by Myra Hindley just hours before her death reveal the hatred between her and Ian Brady – as she accused him of drugging, raping and beating her.’

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The Independent, 21st September 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Pheasant shooting to be banned on public land in Wales – The Guardian

Posted September 21st, 2018 in animal cruelty, birds, news, sport, Wales by tracey

‘Pheasant shooting is set to be banned on public land in Wales following sustained campaigning by animal welfare organisations who consider the practice to be cruel.’

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The Guardian, 20th September 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Three men jailed for this shocking daylight machete fight in a Luton shopping mall – Daily Telegraph

‘Families and young children looked on in horror as teenagers lashed out at each other with blades including a machete and a large serrated hunting knife at a busy shopping mall, a court has heard.’

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Daily Telegraph, 21st september 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Croydon cat killer: Mystery solved by police after three years amid 400 mutilations – The Independent

Posted September 21st, 2018 in animal cruelty, animals, forensic science, news, police by tracey

‘Police have revealed the identity of the so-called Croydon cat killer. Experts ruled foxes or other wildlife were likely behind the mutilations of several hundred cats that died in the south London borough and beyond, the Metropolitan Police said. There is no evidence of human involvement in the grisly incidents, the force said following an investigation lasting nearly three years, adding that it had informed the RSPCA and campaign group South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (Snarl) of its findings.’

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The Independent, 20th September 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Police ‘aware’ undercover officer was in relationship – BBC News

Posted September 21st, 2018 in news, police, spying by tracey

‘Police have admitted for the first time that an undercover officer had a sexual relationship with an environmental activist with the knowledge of bosses.’

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BBC News, 21st September 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NHS trust’s letter of apology after a patient died from drinking cleaning fluid criticised by senior coroner – The Independent

Posted September 21st, 2018 in elderly, hazardous substances, health & safety, hospitals, inquests, news by tracey

‘The chief nurse at the NHS trust responsible for the hospital where a pensioner died after drinking Flash floor cleaner has apologised after a coroner’s strident criticism of its “serious failings”.’

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The Independent, 21st September 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted September 20th, 2018 in law reports by tracey

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

SW v Department for Work And Pensions No 2 [2018] EWHC 2282 (QB) (14 September 2018)

Source: www.bailii.org

Organ preservation, cryonics and charity law: Hipkiss – Law & Religion UK

Posted September 20th, 2018 in charities, human tissue, news, rectification, tribunals by tracey

‘In November 2016, the BBC carried the story Terminally-ill teen won historic ruling to preserve body, following the lifting the territorial reporting restrictions which existed until one month after the death of the teenager concerned, a girl referred to as “JS”: see JS (Disposal of Body), Re [2016] EWCH (Fam). We noted the case here and looked at some of the more general practicalities of regulating cryogenic preservation – the storage of the brains and/or bodies of legally-dead humans at low temperatures. In the aftermath of the ruling in JS, the Charity Commission for England and Wales decided in 2017 to remove the Human Organ Preservation Research Trust (HOPRT) from the Register; and in Hipkiss v Charity Commission for England & Wales [2018] FTT (Charity) CA/2017/0014, Mr Graham Hipkiss, its sole remaining trustee, succeeded in an appeal to the First Tier Charity Tribunal against the order of the Commission.’

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Law & Religion UK, 17th September 2018

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Arbitration clause “trumps” Part 8 application to overturn adjudicator’s decision – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted September 20th, 2018 in arbitration, construction industry, contracts, costs, news, stay of proceedings by tracey

‘When I was a kid, Top Trumps were all the rage. I know from my own boys that they still are. Back then, it was all about whether you had the fastest car or the most popular footballer (even Star Wars characters featured, but how did you decide if Hans Solo was better than Princess Leia?). Now, just about every topic is covered by a set of cards.
I mention this because a recent TCC judgment demonstrates that the arbitration clause in the JCT standard building contract can “trump” a Part 8 application for declaratory relief, with the court granting a stay of those Part 8 proceedings.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 18th September 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Tanzil Chowdhury: Statutorising UK Military Deployments and Assessing Anxieties of Their Justiciability – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted September 20th, 2018 in bills, constitutional law, international law, news, parliament, war by tracey

‘The paramount anxieties that emerge from attempts to statutorising Parliament’s role in making decisions on whether to commit military action abroad has not just been to do with deferring power from the executive to the Commons, but also with the potential justiciability of such decisions. While frequent attempts to table such bills are often accompanied with assurances that these fears are misplaced, this post argues that putting Parliament’s role in deployment decisions, considered a matter of high policy, on a statutory footing could pierce the seemingly impermeable veil of non-justiciability that attend them and subject these decisions to common law review – a development that ought to be welcome.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th September 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal over ‘dishonest’ costs claims – Litigation Futures

Posted September 20th, 2018 in appeals, costs, law firms, news, Supreme Court by tracey

‘The Supreme Court has refused permission for a third appeal by a Leeds law firm against a ruling that it submitted ‘dishonest’ costs claims.’

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Litigation Futures, 19th September 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Speech by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court: Certainty v. Creativity: Some pointers towards the development of the common law – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted September 20th, 2018 in judges, judiciary, speeches by tracey

‘Speech by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court: Certainty v. Creativity: Some pointers towards the development of the common law.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 17th September 2018

Source: www.judiciary.uk

‘Don’t swell the ranks with solicitors’ – bar fights training reforms – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 20th, 2018 in barristers, legal education, legal profession, news, solicitor advocates, solicitors by tracey

‘Proposed reforms to barristers’ training would “unacceptably dilute” the bar’s standards by giving solicitors an easy route to entry, the Bar Council has said. In its response to proposals for reforming the education and training requirements for barristers, the representative body says that exempting solicitor advocates from parts of the qualification process would “be attractive to solicitors who regard admission to the bar as a badge of achievement, and who will recognise that this route to that badge is fundamentally less arduous than the route barristers currently take.”‘

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Law Society's Gazette, 19th September 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

A fairer deal for leaseholders of houses and flats – Law Commission

‘The Law Commission has proposed a series of radical reforms designed to provide a better deal for leaseholders who want to purchase the freehold or to extend the lease of their home.’

Full press release

Law commission, 20th September 2018

Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk

Woman pretended daughter was injured in Manchester attack for insurance claim – The Independent

Posted September 20th, 2018 in fraud, insurance, news, personal injuries, proceeds of crime, sentencing by tracey

‘A woman who pretended her fake daughter was injured in the Manchester attack to make an insurance claim has been jailed for fraud. Susan Pain, who worked in insurance herself, posed as a dentist and said her daughter “Sophie” had sustained serious injuries needing two operations following the bombing that left 22 people dead last year. But AXA could not trace a victim under the name given in the £2,500 claim for loss of earnings, and alerted the police after uncovering years of false claims by Pain.’

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The Independent, 19th September 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Brecon Beacons SAS deaths: Call for MoD to face courts – BBC News

Posted September 20th, 2018 in armed forces, courts martial, criminal justice, immunity, negligence, news, prosecutions by tracey

‘The Ministry of Defence has not learned lessons from the deaths of three men on an SAS march and should lose its immunity from prosecution, an MP says.’

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BBC News, 19th September 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Equifax fined by ICO over data breach that hit Britons – BBC News

Posted September 20th, 2018 in consumer credit, data protection, fines, news by tracey

‘Credit rating agency Equifax is to be fined £500,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after it failed to protect the personal data of 15 million Britons.’

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BBC News, 20th September 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk