Month: September 2025
Public access barristers used mainly for advice, not representation – Legal Futures
‘People who instruct barristers through the public access scheme are much more likely to be seeking advice than representation in court, new research has indicated.’
Legal Futures, 4th September 2025
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Judge quashes planning permission over failure to take into account rebuttal report on right to light – Local Government Lawyer
‘The High Court has quashed planning permission given by South Norfolk District Council for a new house, which a neighbour complained would have a detrimental impact on their property.’
Local Government Lawyer, 3rd September 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Gareth Evans: The Devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘On 22 July 2025, the Crown Estate (Wales) Bill passed unopposed through report stage in the House of Lords. The Bill, which seeks to devolve the management of the Crown Estate in Wales, was introduced as a Private Members’ Bill in the Lords by the former leader of Plaid Cymru, Lord Wigley. This is by no means the first attempt at such a scheme – Plaid Cymru introduced an identical Bill in the Commons in 2021, as well as tabling amendments to the Crown Estate Bill 2024-25 to attempt to effect devolution to Wales – but serves as an important moment in recent developments on the devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales. At the time of writing, the UK Government remains opposed to the devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales. This short analysis will consider the increasing territorialisation of the Crown Estate, will assess the arguments for and against its devolution in Wales, and will analyse the scheme for devolution put forward under the Bill.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, September 2025
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Man jailed for sexually assaulting girls, 11 and 15 – BBC News
‘A man who admitted sexually assaulting two girls aged 11 and 15 has been jailed for 23 months.’
BBC News, 3rd September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
UK court freezes £150m of assets of collapsed Prax Lindsey oil refinery owner – The Guardian
‘A court has frozen £150m of assets belonging to the owner of the collapsed Prax Lindsey oil refinery, an oil tycoon whose whereabouts have been a mystery since the plant’s sudden financial implosion earlier this year.’
The Guardian, 4th 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
Judiciary silent on justice secretary’s sentencing veto – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The judiciary is staying silent on lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood’s decision to grant herself a veto on sentencing guidance amid concern the new ministerial power threatens judges’ independence.’
Law Society's Gazette, 3rd September 2025
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
English water firms spend £16.6m on legal fees over environmental breaches – The Guardian
‘English water companies have spent £16.6m fighting legal action against regulators and campaigners over environmental breaches such as illegal sewage spills.’
The Guardian, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
David Erdos: How Exposed? The Information Commissioner’s Office and the Afghan Spreadsheet Data Breach – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘On 17 August 2023 the Ministry of Defence (MoD) put the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on broad notice about the devastating failure of data protection that is now generally known as the Afghan data breach (although sadly there have been many others). This involved the illegal release of some 33,000 lines of gravely sensitive personal spreadsheet data which put almost 100,000 people – up to 25,000 Afghans applying for relocation to the UK as well as their family members, many of whom were also identified in the data – at grave risk of harm and may even have resulted in some of their deaths. However, despite details of this egregious and illegal exposure of data subjects being immediately required by law and subsequently coming into view, the ICO decided not to carry out any investigation and therefore not to take any enforcement action, such as issuing a fine, enforcement notice or even a mere reprimand. Astonishingly, the ICO also made no contemporaneous record whatsoever of the rationale for these critical decisions or even the bare fact that they had been made. Given the exacting supervisory requirements set down in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), these subsequent (in)actions expose further serious failings in UK data protection. These failings point to the need for an in-depth independent investigation of UK data protection regulation, which should also explore the serious gap between the UK GDPR’s promises and the ICO’s hyper-discretionary and hyper-selective track-record and approach and what might be done to address this. What follows merely provides a partial indication of some of the particular issues which arise in relation to Afghan spreadsheet data breach itself. It is based on the (still very limited) information which has come into public view so far and builds on a previous blog post on the same subject posted last month.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 3rd September 2025
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Epping council eyes Supreme Court over hotel – BBC News
‘Epping Forest District Council has asked for permission to take its case against a hotel housing asylum seekers to the Supreme Court.’
BBC News, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Anonymous, Again – 1 QMLR
‘The Court of Appeal allowed the Claimant’s appeal against the decision of Nicklin J in PMC -v- A Local Health Board [2024] EWHC 2969 (KB). The judgment was written by Sir Geoffrey Vos MR, with whom Warby LJ and Whipple LJ agreed. Nicklin J had doubted the Court of Appeal’s decision in JX MX -v- Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 96.’
1 QMLR. 2nd September 2025
Source: 1corqmlr.com
Toddler murdered by grandparents ‘failed’ by system – BBC News
‘The aunt of a toddler murdered by his grandparents has said he was failed by social services, who she believes should have done more to check on his welfare.’
BBC News, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
High Court refuses local authority application for extension of deprivation of liberty order for 16-year-old convicted offender – Local Government Lawyer
‘The High Court has refused a local authority’s application for the extension of a Deprivation of Liberty order in relation to a 16-year-old young offender, finding that the management of the young person by the Youth Offender Team is “sufficient to exclude any reasonable cause for belief that [he] might suffer significant harm.”’
Local Government Lawyer, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘No place in children’s hands’: under-16s in England to be banned from buying energy drinks – The Guardian
‘Under-16s in England will be banned from buying energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster because they fuel obesity, cause sleep problems and leave them unable to concentrate.’
The Guardian, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
“Weed out chancers” with £50 Legal Ombudsman complaint fee – Legal Futures
‘The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) should introduce a nominal complaint fee of £50 to “weed out those whom one might describe as ‘chancers’”, Birmingham Law Society has proposed.’
Legal Futures, 3rd September 2025
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
A scheme helped prevent sex offenders committing more crimes – then it closed. Why? – BBC News
‘In May 2025, the government announced it was considering the roll-out of voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders and also looking at whether this could be made mandatory.’
BBC News, 3rd September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Prisoner rehabilitation and liberty deprivations – Administrative Court Blog
‘This case concerns prisoners’ right to access rehabilitation courses under Article 5 ECHR. In short, European and domestic case law has established that in some circumstances, where a prisoner is serving a sentence which has a length determined by their degree of rehabilitation, providing no effective access to rehabilitation opportunities would mean they would be arbitrarily detained. This makes intuitive sense: how can the state detain an individual, subject to a single condition of release, but provide no opportunity for a prisoner to demonstrate that this condition has been satisfied?’
Administrative Court Blog, 2nd September 2025
Justice secretary to get power to veto sentencing guidance – BBC News
‘The government is changing the law to stop the Sentencing Council issuing new guidelines to courts in England and Wales without the explicit approval of the justice secretary.’
BBC News, 2nd September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
UK suspends refugee family reunion applications – BBC News
‘The government is temporarily suspending new applications for a scheme allowing refugees to bring their family members to the UK.’
BBC News, 1st September 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Family of man whose body was found after being ‘cremated’ call for tighter regulation – The Guardian
‘The family of a man whose body was found in a Hull funeral home after he was supposed to have been cremated have said it is “easier to open a funeral directors than it is a sandwich shop”, as they urged the government to regulate the industry.’
The Guardian, 29th August 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
