‘Deport first, appeal later’ measures start to bite – Home Office

Posted January 8th, 2015 in appeals, deportation, immigration, news by sally

‘Nearly 800 foreign criminals are being kicked out of the country as tough new ‘deport first, appeal later’ measures start to have an impact.’

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Home Office, 6th January 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

The Law and Artificial Intelligence – BBC Unreliable Evidence

‘Clive Anderson ask how our legal system will cope in a fast-approaching world of autonomous cars, care-bots and other machines using artificial intelligence to make judgments normally made by humans.’

Listen

BBC Unreliable Evidence, 7th January 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

EVENT: UCL – Reforming Offences Against the Person

Posted January 8th, 2015 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘This lecture will discuss the Law Commission’s recent scoping consultation paper, Reform of Offences Against the Person. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 is in daily use in the criminal courts in England and Wales, but there have been many calls over the years for its replacement. The scoping paper examines the case for reform and present numerous important questions for consultation.’

Date: 19th January 2015, 6.00-7.30pm

Location: UCL Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, UCL Main Quad, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

Charge: See website for details

More information can be found here.

Monitoring of sex offenders by home visits does not breach human rights – Court of Appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 8th, 2015 in appeals, human rights, news, police, sexual offences by sally

‘The law governing the monitoring of sex offenders, allowing police officers to visit the homes of registered offenders, did not constitute an unlawful interference with the offenders’ privacy rights under Article 8 of the ECHR.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 7th January 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Munby: legal aid system ‘neither compassionate nor humane’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 8th, 2015 in adoption, delay, judges, learning difficulties, legal aid, news by sally

‘The president of the Family Division has described as ‘unconscionable’ delays over legal aid funding which have held up a case concerning the removal of a child from his parents.’

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7th January 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Judgment published where court rejected attack on conduct of ward election – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 8th, 2015 in appeals, elections, news by sally

‘The written judgment has been published this week setting out why an Election Court dismissed a challenge to the validity of an election for a ward in the London Borough of Hackney.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th January 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Pro bono – what lies ahead in 2015? – The Future of Law

Posted January 8th, 2015 in law centres, law firms, legal aid, news, pro bono work by sally

‘2015 looks set to be a critical year for the pro bono movement and its uneasy relationship with legal aid. The well-worn pro bono mantra – that pro bono is “an adjunct to and not a replacement for legal aid” – has been challenged in recent years. The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) effectively scrapped public funding for much of social welfare law advice in April 2013 and the legal profession is finally beginning to rethink the formula. Legal aid lawyers are rightly sceptical about ministers trying to co-opt pro bono – but LASPO 2012 is a game-changer.’

Full story

The Future of Law, 7th January 2015

Source: http://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk

Ched Evans: the legal issues – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘The “innocent man wrongly imprisoned who fights a valiant struggle to secure his freedom” is a long used trope in our culture. The hero is normally a sympathetic figure, heroically taking on the establishment.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 7th January 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Woman brings boyfriend to justice after remembering attack with hypnosis – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 8th, 2015 in assault, domestic violence, news, psychiatric damage by sally

‘Zoe Dronfield only remembers brutal attack by Jason Smith in Coventry, West Midlands, after she was hypnotised into reliving traumatic ordeal.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 6th January 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Parents’ legal aid wait to fight enforced adoption of son inhumane, says judge – The Guardian

Posted January 8th, 2015 in adoption, delay, learning difficulties, legal aid, legal representation, news by sally

‘A couple left in “agony” to fight against the enforced adoption of their three-year-old son could be forgiven for thinking they are trapped in a system which is “neither compassionate nor even humane,” the most senior family court judge in England and Wales has said.’

Full story

The Guardian, 7th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Detention: the black hole at the heart of British justice – The Independent

Posted January 8th, 2015 in asylum, bills, detention, immigration, news, time limits by sally

‘It has been described as the “black hole at the heart of British justice”. Thousands of people, most of whom have been convicted of no crime, detained for as long as government officials wish.’

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The Independent, 6th January 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Rape trials rise by 30% as courts fight to clear caseload – The Guardian

Posted January 8th, 2015 in Crown Prosecution Service, news, police, prosecutions, rape, victims by sally

‘Prosecutors are experiencing a 30% surge in the number of rape trials as courts struggle to cope with a backlog of historical allegations and fresh cases.’

Full story

The Guardian, 8th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Gypsies and Travellers: “A litmus test not of democracy but of civil society” – No. 5 Chambers

Posted January 6th, 2015 in equality, housing, human rights, news, planning, race discrimination, travellers by sally

‘“[T]here is force in the observation attributed to Václav Havel, no doubt informed by the dire experience of central Europe: “The Gipsies are a litmus test not of democracy but of civil society”.” So said Lord Bingham of Cornhill in the House of Lords in South Buckinghamshire DC v Porter (No 1).’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 18th December 2014

Source: www.no5.com

Further appeal against European Commission ‘pay for delay’ patent settlement decision – Zenith Chambers

Posted January 6th, 2015 in appeals, delay, EC law, medicines, news, patents by sally

‘The European Commission’s controversial infringement decision relating to ‘pay for delay’ pharmaceutical patent settlements is subject to a further challenge.’

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Zenith Chambers, 23rd December 2014

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Service Charge Disputes in the First Tier Tribunal – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted January 6th, 2015 in evidence, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Over many years of representing landlords (usually by their appointed property management company) in leasehold service charge disputes before the Tribunals, various themes have developed. One of them is my frustration, in the majority of cases, at the quality of evidence with which I must present my client’s case. It actually isn’t that difficult to get your best evidence before the Tribunals and secure the best possible recovery. Especially with the benefit of hindsight!’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 17th December 2014

Source: www.hardwickec.co.uk

CC & C Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs – WLR Daily

Posted January 6th, 2015 in appeals, customs and excise, jurisdiction, law reports, tribunals by sally

CC & C Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs [2014] EWCA Civ 1653; [2014] WLR (D) 557

‘In exceptional cases, the court could entertain a claim for judicial review of a decision, under section 100G(5) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, to revoke the registration of a registered excise dealer and shipper and could make an order for interim re-registration pending determination of that claim where it was arguable that the decision was not simply unreasonable but was unlawful on some other ground, such as being an abuse of power or improper or taken in bad faith.’

WLR Daily, 19th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board v Doogan and another – WLR Daily

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board v Doogan and another [2014] UKSC 68; [2014] WLR (D) 550

‘The right of conscientious objection under section 4(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 extended to the whole course of medical treatment which brought about the ending of a pregnancy including the medical and nursing care connected with the process, but only in relation to the actual looking after and treatment of the patient rather than the host of ancillary, administrative and managerial tasks associated with it.’

WLR Daily, 17th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Horton v Henry – WLR Daily

Posted January 6th, 2015 in bankruptcy, insolvency, law reports, pensions, trustees in bankruptcy by sally

Horton v Henry [2014] EWHC 4209 (Ch); [2014] WLR (D) 551

‘There was no power vested in the court pursuant to section 310 of the Insolvency Act 1986 to make an income payments order in respect of an uncrystallised pension not yet in payment.’

WLR Daily, 17th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Delezuch) v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police; Regina (Duggan) v Association of Chief Police Officers – WLR Daily

Posted January 6th, 2015 in appeals, complaints, human rights, law reports, police by sally

Regina (Delezuch) v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police; Regina (Duggan) v Association of Chief Police Officers [2014] EWCA Civ 1635; [2014] WLR (D) 560

‘The College of Policing guidance relating to post-incident management of investigations into deaths that followed the use of force by police officers met the procedural requirements of article 2 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and so was lawful.’

WLR Daily, 19th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Gudanaviciene and others) v Director of Legal Aid Casework and another (British Red Cross Society, intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted January 6th, 2015 in appeals, charities, human rights, immigration, law reports, legal aid by sally

Regina (Gudanaviciene and others) v Director of Legal Aid Casework and another (British Red Cross Society, intervening) [2014] EWCA Civ 1622; [2014] WLR (D) 547

‘Provisions in the Exceptional Funding Guidance (Non-Inquests), issued by the Lord Chancellor under section 4 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, although correctly identifying many of the particular factors which were to be taken into account by the Director of Legal Aid Casework and legal aid caseworkers in deciding whether to make an exceptional case determination for legal aid in a particular case, mis-stated the discretion conferred by section 10(3)(b) of the 2012 Act, and failed to comply with both article 6(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, by impermissibly sending a clear signal to the director and the caseworkers that the refusal of legal aid would amount to a breach only in rare and exceptional cases.’

WLR Daily, 15th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk