Author: sally

‘When does an individual lack mental capacity? Section 2(1) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) says ‘a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain’. And (per section 2(2)), it matters not whether the impairment or disturbance is permanent or temporary. Nevertheless, the capacity principles in section 1 of the MCA require (per section 1(2)) that a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity. Moreover (per section 1(4)): “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.” ‘

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th April 2025

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Winston Jones, who for a decade was unable to return home from Jamaica, almost didn’t apply for compensation, fearing it was a trap.’

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The Guardian, 14th April 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘A woman described as a “devoted daughter” has received a suspended prison sentence after she admitted the manslaughter of her terminally ill father.’

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BBC News, 11th April 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has been fined £200,000 after an employee was injured while installing the town’s 20-foot Christmas tree.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 11th April 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Proposals to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe blast furnaces have been granted royal assent after an extraordinary parliament sitting on Saturday.’

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The Gurdian, 12th April 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘This case note considers the Supreme Court judgment in RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV [2024] UKSC 18.’

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St John's Buildings, April 2025

Source: stjohnsbuildings.com

‘There is little dispute that AI should be regulated. The UK government agrees,1 divisive tech moguls like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree,2 even AI itself agrees that “regulating Artificial Intelligence is crucial.”3 The perennial problem, is how. The following paper will argue that the UK should create a dedicated domestic AI Regulator (‘the Regulator’) which categorises AI systems based on their potential risk, concluding that the UK would derive significant benefits from shaping international regulatory standards.’

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St John's Buildings, 9th April 2025

Source: stjohnsbuildings.com

‘What can you do if an employment claim would be jeopardised unless a person was granted anonymity?

The answer may be to apply for an anonymity order under Rule 49 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024. Those applications, however, face procedural and substantive hurdles as illustrated by the recent EAT decision in F v J.’

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St Philips, 9th April 2025

Source: st-philips.com

‘Ceri Edmonds discusses applying to vary a lease under section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and considers the decision in 56 Westbourne Terrace RTM Co Ltd v Polturak and others [2025] UKUT 88 (LC).’

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Tanfield Chambers, 10th April 2025

Source: tanfieldchambers.co.uk

‘Since January the transparency order is ‘a thing’, in that courts will usually make one in every case where a reporter attends a hearing. Such orders allow the anonymised reporting of a hearing or a case by the media.’

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Transparency Project, 10th April 2025

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

‘On 9 April 2025, new Immigration Rules under Appendix Skilled Worker came into force.’

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Richmond Chambers, 10th April 2025

Source: immigrationbarrister.co.uk

‘On 10 April 2025 the Court of Appeal handed down judgement in Re M (A Child: Intermediaries) [2025] EWCA Civ 440 in respect of an appeal arising from the refusal of a Mother’s application for intermediary assistance in care proceedings. For the purposes of the appeal, the Association of Lawyers for Children and the Family Law Bar Association were intervened.’

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St Ives Chambers, 10th April 2025

Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk

‘Coleen Rooney’s lawyers did not commit misconduct over her costs in the so-called Wagatha Christie row with Rebekah Vardy, a High Court judge has ruled.’

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BBC News, 10th April 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘The High Court has confirmed that duties in section 189A of the Housing Act 1996 apply to homelessness applications under its Part 7 even when made before the section came into force in April 2018, lawyers involved in a case brought against the London Borough of Hillingdon have said.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th April 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘In recent years, Wales and England have introduced so-called ‘opt out’ organ donation systems with the passing of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 and Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019, respectively. Both Acts stipulate various excepted persons, including based on age, residency, and mental capacity. The mental capacity exception raises concerns as it is, we argue, at odds with our ordinary understanding of mental capacity per the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Whilst the Mental Capacity Act 2005 commits to a functionalist approach, the same cannot be said for the opt out legislation. Rather, both the opt out Acts create mental capacity exceptions that tacitly require the adoption of a status-based approach, which is reinforced by the accompanying Codes of Practice. This article therefore contributes to a body of literature that questions the supposed legal commitment to functionalism and to an aspect of the organ donation debate that has been neglected. We argue that the move to a status-based approach is a significant deviation and requires a clear supporting argument that remains absent. There is a short-term need, then, for the Codes of Practice relating to both the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and both opt out Acts to be revised and reduce the risk of confusion and error.’

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Medical Law International, 28th February 2025

Source: doi.org

‘Birmingham City Council’s financial turmoil meant it was entitled not to reduce its charges for adult social care and the local authority did not breach the public sector equality duty, the Court of Appeal has found, declining to overturn a ruling last year by Mrs Justice Collins Rice.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th April 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Re C (Surrogacy: Consent) and Re Z (Surrogacy: Step-Parent Adoption) recount one non-traditional family’s struggle for formal legal recognition. The subject child was born pursuant to a surrogacy arrangement entered into in the UK by a male couple and a woman. Post-birth, the surrogate maintained her agreement to the couple raising the child as their own but wanted more involvement in his life than the intended parents would support. Relations soured, and when the intended parents applied to be formally legally recognised as the child’s parents, the surrogate refused to give her consent – which is required by statute. In Re C (Surrogacy: Consent), the intended parents brought a human rights challenge to the statutory scheme for surrogacy, arguing that its absolute requirement for a surrogate’s consent interfered with theirs and the child’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This being unsuccessful, in Re Z (Surrogacy: Step-Parent Adoption) they made a second bid to become their child’s legal parents, this time through adoption. Again, their application was unsuccessful. Taken together, these case outcomes and their ratio decidendi reveal the tenacious hold of motherhood on the legal imagination, and the problems this poses for non-traditional families.’

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Modern Law Review, 19th March 2025

Source: doi.org

‘English partnerships are transparent for tax purposes, but there is no legislation outlining the tax rules besides a Statement of Practice (SP) (1975). Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are treated the same for tax purposes but are bodies corporate. This has led to concerns over employment and partnership status being confused and highlights the necessity for specific anti-avoidance legislation for LLPs. Partnerships and LLPs can also be regarded as (bare) trusts for tax purposes, potentially leading to confusion and disputes as to beneficial ownership. These problems would largely disappear if members of LLPs chose to treat their partnership as a separate legal entity for tax purposes. If they did so, LLPs could be subject to corporation tax; otherwise, they and general partnerships should be subject to tailored, dedicated primary legislation governing the tax treatment—instead of that covering a mere SP.’

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Amicus Curiae, Spring 2025

Source: journals.sas.ac.uk

‘In Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, the Supreme Court held that a secondary victim cannot recover damages for psychiatric harm caused by witnessing a primary victim’s medical crisis. This note examines the ratio of the majority’s judgment, that the secondary victim must witness an accident (or its immediate aftermath) to successfully recover damages. It argues that the majority’s accident requirement is problematic for three reasons: it was not required by the case law; it is not as certain or intelligible as the majority suggest; and it treats clinical negligence as a subclass of personal injury. The note also suggests that the common law has, contrary to the majority’s analysis, started to develop a doctor’s duty of care to a patient’s family member. This would have provided the conceptual foundation upon which to treat the deaths as the relevant event in Paul. The note also considers the court’s helpful clarification that the accident need not be sufficiently horrifying, and that the secondary victim need not suffer a sudden shock, as well as the Supreme Court’s application of the scope of duty principle more broadly.’

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Modern Law Review, 10th February 2025

Source: doi.org

‘The issue of whether the criminal law should consider consent in determining offences related to harm inflicted for sadomasochistic pleasure has once again been highlighted by the courts in the recent sentencing of individuals in the UK involved in the creation and distribution of extreme ‘eunuch’ pornography. The article explores this case within the context of legal limits placed on consent to sadomasochistic sex first set down by R v Brown, a decision which has received much criticism. It concludes by defending some limits on consensual sadomasochism in light of the recent case, while acknowledging the need to decriminalise more ‘mainstream’ acts of sadomasochistic sex.’

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Alternative Law Journal, 13th March 2025

Source: journals.sagepub.com