Campaigners launch legal challenge against UK’s green recovery plans – The Guardian

Posted July 22nd, 2020 in airports, climate change, coronavirus, environmental protection, news by sally

‘Climate campaigners have launched a formal legal challenge against the government’s green recovery plans, claiming they are inadequate and “clearly unlawful” in light of the UK’s obligations to reduce emissions.’

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The Guardian, 21st July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Lawyers have become “de facto agents of Russian state” – Legal Futures

‘Lawyers have become “de facto agents of the Russian state” by helping to smooth the way of Russian money entering the UK, according to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.’

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Legal Futures, 22nd July 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Universal Credit: Mum wins High Court fight against DWP – BBC News

Posted July 22nd, 2020 in benefits, employment, government departments, news, remuneration by sally

‘A single working mother has won a High Court challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over “irrational” universal credit rules.’

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BBC News, 20th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Clearer guidelines issued in UK for sentencing offenders with mental health disorders – The Guardian

‘Clearer guidelines have been published for courts sentencing offenders who have schizophrenia, depression or other mental disorders.’

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The Guardian, 22nd July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Hindsight bias in health and safety – Six Pump Court

Posted July 21st, 2020 in bias, health & safety, news, statutory duty by sally

‘In this interview with Pietra Asprou for Lexis Nexis, David Travers QC considers the impact of hindsight bias in health and safety cases, and what can be done to avoid it.’

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Six Pump Court, 21st July 2020

Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk

Uber v Heller and the Prospects for a Transnational Judicial Dialogue on the Gig Economy – II – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘In the coming days, labour lawyers from around the world will be tuning in to watch the arguments in Uber v Aslam. In terms of the wider ramifications of the reasoning in Heller, what are the prospects for the ‘contractual’ and the “constitutional” approaches in Aslam? As already noted, the wider doctrine of unconscionability in Heller is unlikely to find favour in the English courts. More importantly, disputes about the employment contract in English courts are rarely about the contract rights themselves. The (private) contract is a gateway into a suite of (public) statutory employment protections. It would make little sense for a worker to seek to set aside the contract by using unconscionability as a vitiating factor, when the statutory protections depend upon the contract being valid and enforceable. This limits the practical relevance of Heller’s expanded unconscionability doctrine, given the statutory context to most employment litigation in the UK.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 20th July 2020

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Uber v Heller and the Prospects for a Transnational Judicial Dialogue on the Gig Economy – I – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘Across the world, Gig employers are now facing a legal reckoning in the highest courts. On 21st July, the issue of whether Uber drivers are “workers” will be considered by a seven-member panel of the UK Supreme Court. This follows on from Mr Heller’s momentous victory in a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller which involved a legal challenge to a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract between Uber and an UberEATS driver. The arbitration clause required disputes to be referred to arbitration in Amsterdam, which would be subject to the law of the Netherlands. The clause also required the payment of US $14,500 as an upfront administrative cost. The appellant earned $20,800–$31,200 per year before taxes and expenses were deducted. Nor did the fee include other costs likely to be incurred in an arbitration, such as travel to Amsterdam, accommodation, and legal representation. Students of transnational labour law of a certain generation cut their teeth on great debates about “offshoring” and the disintegrative risks to labour standards posed by capital mobility. The Heller case is an important reminder that we are now in an era of juridical mobility: employing entities seek to escape national labour law systems without the cost and inconvenience of spatial mobility.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 19th July 2020

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Raves, laughing gas and drink: a nuisance in Hackney – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 21st, 2020 in injunctions, local government, news, nuisance by sally

‘This case involved the ancient tort of public nuisance. Such a claim is addressed to behaviour which inflicts damage, injury or inconvenience on all members of a class who come within the sphere or neighbourhood of its operation.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 20th July 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Copyright – Performing Right Society Ltd v Qatar Airways Group QCS – NIPC Law

‘This was an application by the defendant airline to stay an action for copyright infringement on grounds of forum non conveniens and case management. The action has been brought by the Performing Right Society which alleges that the inflight entertainment systems of the defendant’s aircraft infringe the copyright laws of the countries in which those aircraft are present at any one time. The application came on before Mr Justice Birss on 18 June 2020. He handed down his judgment in Performing Right Society Ltd v Qatar Airways Group QCS [2020] EWHC 1872 on 17 July 2020.’

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NIPC Law, 20th July 2020

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.com

‘Fighting to prove we’re British’ – BBC News

Posted July 21st, 2020 in citizenship, deportation, news by sally

‘Remi, Sharon and Leonardo are all struggling to secure their lives in the UK after learning they’re not legally British.’

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BBC News, 21st July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Government admits breaking privacy law with NHS test and trace – The Guardian

‘The UK government broke the law in rolling out its test-and-trace programme without a full assessment of the privacy implications, the Department of Health and Social Care has admitted after a legal challenge.’

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The Guardian, 20th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Could This Emergency Law Prevent Thousands Becoming Homeless? – Each Other

Posted July 21st, 2020 in bills, coronavirus, housing, news, repossession by sally

‘Housing campaigners are urging the government to introduce emergency legislation to protect tens of thousands of private renters at risk of being made homeless.’

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Each Other, 20th July 2020

Source: eachother.org.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted July 21st, 2020 in legislation by tracey

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (Commencement No. 12) Regulations 2020

The Enterprise Act 2002 (Turnover Test) (Amendment) Order 2020

The Direct Payments Ceilings Regulations 2020

The Criminal Procedure Rules 2020

The Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2020

The Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations 2020

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Defamation Trumps Data Protection? Steele Yourselves! – Panopticon

Posted July 21st, 2020 in chambers articles, data protection, defamation, news by sally

‘It is a common trope of media lawyers that defamation claims have been on the wane since the Defamation Act 2013, and that data protection law might be the way to fill the gap. (We at Panopticon scorn such arriviste tendencies.) And in Warby J, there is a willing champion of alignment of legal principles between defamation and data protection. He particularly emphasised the read-across in the context of complaints of inaccurate data processing in NT1 v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB) (see here) and he has done so again in his very interesting judgment in Aven v Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd [2020] EWHC 1812 (QB).’

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Panopticon, 20th July 2020

Source: panopticonblog.com

Legal aid minister under fire from practitioners – Legal Futures

Posted July 21st, 2020 in coronavirus, criminal justice, legal aid, legal profession, news by sally

‘Criminal lawyers took their fight for government support direct to the legal aid minister yesterday, haranguing him mercilessly during an online meeting and complaining that barristers were operating on “petrol fumes” due to the absence of jury trials.’

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Legal Futures, 21st July 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted July 21st, 2020 in law reports by tracey

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Payne & Ors v Revenue And Customs [2020] EWCA Civ 889 (20 July 2020)

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Newby v R. [2020] EWCA Crim 937 (20 July 2020)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Wawrzyniak v District Court In Legnica, Poland [2020] EWHC 1955 (Admin) (20 July 2020)

Robinson, Review of the tariff in the case of [2020] EWHC 1935 (Admin) (20 July 2020)

Prince, Review of the tariff in the case of [2020] EWHC 1936 (Admin) (20 July 2020)

Pantellerisco & Ors, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 1944 (Admin) (20 July 2020)

Sarkar v The General Medical Council (GMC) [2020] EWHC 1896 (Admin) (20 July 2020)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Phones 4u Ltd v EE Ltd & Ors [2020] EWHC 1943 (Ch) (20 July 2020)

Paragon Offshore Plc, Re [2020] EWHC 1925 (Ch) (20 July 2020)

Paragon Offshore Plc, Re (Costs) [2020] EWHC 1945 (Ch) (20 July 2020)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Elite Property Holdings Ltd & Ors v BDO LLP [2020] EWHC 1937 (Comm) (20 July 2020)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Surrey Heath Borough Council v Robb & Ors [2020] EWHC 1952 (QB) (20 July 2020)

Source: www.bailii.org

Uber drivers’ fight for workers’ rights reaches supreme court – The Guardian

Posted July 21st, 2020 in news, self-employment, Supreme Court, taxis by sally

‘A five-year battle over the status and rights of Uber drivers reaches the supreme court in a case that lawyers believe has the potential to transform the gig economy in Britain.’

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The Guardian, 21st July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Women’s fears as rape prosecutions stay at 10-year low – The Guardian

Posted July 21st, 2020 in news, prosecutions, rape, statistics by sally

‘The number of rape cases being charged by prosecutors remains among its lowest for a decade, according to figures due to be released this week that will dismay campaigners.’

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The Guardian, 19th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law firm’s head of BD jailed over indecent images – Legal Futures

Posted July 21st, 2020 in indecent photographs of children, news, sentencing by sally

‘The former head of business development at a leading defendant law firm has been jailed for four years after a police raid discovered 6,000 indecent images of children on his computer and other devices.’

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Legal Futures, 21st July 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Cardiff man given ‘life sentence by back door’ for phone theft – BBC News

Posted July 21st, 2020 in news, parole, release on licence, robbery, sentencing by sally

‘A woman who says her son was effectively given “a life sentence” for stealing a mobile phone is calling on the UK government to change the rules.’

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BBC News, 20th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk