“The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is to begin work on what types of complaints it should accept from non-clients amid reports of lawyers harassing third parties over alleged debts, violating their privacy and doling out abusive treatment in court.”
Legal Futures, 24th September 2013
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
“Law can be expensive.
This is particularly so in relation to the process of law, i.e. the costs of going to the law. By this I mean things such as the court or tribunal fees, but particularly the costs of the lawyers. If you lose in civil litigation, the normal rule is that you’ve got to pay not just for your own lawyers, but for the other side’s too. Due to the way that costs are assessed and recovered, even the winner often has to foot the bill for some their own lawyers’ fees. It is fair to say that the general public doesn’t think too highly of the fees charged by lawyers. Now, a lot of the criticism is unfair (‘If you think a professional is expensive, wait ’til you try an amateur’) and based on misinformation and misunderstanding. Nonetheless, there is force in some of the criticism.”
NearlyLegal, 24th September 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
“Vicky Ling and Andrew Otterburn have been commissioned by the Law Society and MoJ to carry out a survey of firms to try to assess the impact that the government’s revised proposals will have on criminal defences practices.”
Legal Aid Handbook, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.legalaidhandbook.com
“Introducing a proposed residence test for legal aid will lead to local authorities paying tens of millions of pounds to support children in care and prevent increased homelessness, campaigners have warned the Ministry of Justice.”
The Guardian, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A violent offender who doused his victims in petrol has been sentenced to life in prison for a string of violent and sexual assaults.”
The Independent, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The investigation into the Mid-Staffs scandal was branded a ‘whitewash’ after regulators abandoned efforts to pursue the last of 44 doctors accused of failing patients.”
Daily Telegraph, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Two prisoners who bound and strangled to death a fellow inmate in a high-security prison have been told they will serve the rest of their lives behind bars. Gary Smith, 48, and Lee Newell, 44, who were already serving life for killings, were both given whole-life sentences by a judge for the ‘chilling’ murder of Subhan Anwar.”
The Guardian, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The debate about the future of probation services rages on. As a previous ‘service user’, otherwise known as an offender, I can look at my experience of my regional probation service, but I can also highlight the importance of not selling this vital institution to private organizations.”
Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 20th September 2013
Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk
CHS Tour Services GmbH v Team4 Travel GmbH (Case C-435/11); [2013] WLR (D) 355
“If a commercial practice satisfied all the criteria set out in article 6(1) of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/29/EC (‘the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) for being categorised as a misleading practice in relation to the consumer, it was not necessary to determine whether such a practice was also contrary to the requirements of professional diligence as referred to in article 5(2)(a) of the Directive in order for it legitimately to be regarded as unfair and, therefore, prohibited in accordance with article 5(1).”
WLR Daily, 19th September 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Betriu Montull v Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) (Case C-5/12); [2013] WLR (D) 354
“Council Directives 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding and 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions did not preclude a national measure which provided that the father of a child, who was an employed person, was entitled, with the consent of the mother, who was also an employed person, to take maternity leave for the period following the compulsory leave of six weeks which the mother had to take after childbirth except where her health would be at risk, whereas a father of a child who was an employed person was not entitled to take such leave where the mother of his child was not an employed person and was not covered by a State social security scheme.”
WLR Daily, 19th September 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“A payment made at the behest of debtor subject to insolvency proceedings to one of the latter’s creditors did not fall within the scope of article 24(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings. That provision enabled a person who honoured an obligation ‘for the benefit of’ a debtor, who was subject to insolvency proceedings opened in another member state , when it should have been honoured for the benefit of the liquidator, to be deemed to have discharged it if he was unaware of the opening of proceedings.”
WLR Daily, 19th September 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Brey (Case C-140/12); [2013] WLR (D) 352
“European Union law—in particular, articles 7(1)(b), 8(4) and 24(1) and (2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states—precluded national legislation which, even in relation to the period following the first three months of residence, automatically barred the grant of a social security benefit to a national of another member state who was not economically active, on the grounds that, despite having been issued with a certificate of residence, he did not meet the necessary requirements for obtaining the legal right to reside on the territory of the first member state for a period of longer than three months, since obtaining that right of residence was conditional upon that national having sufficient resources not to apply for the benefit.”
WLR Daily, 19th September 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“Reforming the law on the inheritance of an aristocratic title was never really going to be a popular rallying cry, but it’s in the news again. The Earldom of Northesk is one of the great titles (albeit with no huge estate or wealth) that by a curious twist of fate has passed to a male descendent of the cadet branching of the family from 1654 rather than the 14th Earl’s daughter, Lady Carnegie. What is now more interesting about this is we now have a contrasting legal position to compare it with, s 1 of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 which removes gender from the question of who inherits the Throne. Primogeniture, the benefit of the eldest male child for centuries, has been changed and so – ask a number of Lords and Ladies – should this not be changed for them as well?”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 20th September 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“The judiciary is undertaking a review of those recommendations made by Lord Justice Jackson that have not yet been implemented, it has emerged.”
Litigation Futures, 23rd September 2013
Source: www.litigation.com
“Smoking could be banned across all prisons in England and Wales by 2015, amid fears that prisoners could begin rioting over the change.”
The Independent, 20th September 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“For those of you who had been pondering about the applicability of Re B [2013] UKSC 33 to private law cases – Re A (A Child) [2013] EWCA Civ 1104 goes some distance towards providing an answer. It concerns exceptionally long running private law proceedings, of the ‘implacable hostility’ variety, which the Circuit Judge acknowledged on concluding them had been characterised by systemic failure. The order was for no direct contact between the girl and her father and a s91(14) order until the child’s 16th birthday (she was 13 at the time). The father appealed and did so in person. He criticised the manner in which the entire proceedings had been conducted. He did not accept that the Circuit Judge was right to draw a line under the proceedings, now that the child was 13 years old and firmly expressing her opposition to contact and the proceedings.”
Pink Tape, 22nd September 2013
Source: www.pinktape.co.uk
“The lecture will be delivered by Lord Justice Floyd on the topic ‘What has IP done for the law?'”
Date: 14th November 2013, 6.00-9.00pm
Location: Central London
Charge: Free
More information can be found here.
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