Pregnant offenders in England and Wales could be spared jail under new guidelines – The Guardian

‘Pregnant women should not be sent to jail unless it is “unavoidable”, according to new sentencing guidelines.’

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The Guardian, 5th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Stamp duty: What is it, how much is it and how is it changing? – BBC News

Posted March 6th, 2025 in housing, mortgages, news, stamp duty, taxation by sally

‘Home buyers in England and Northern Ireland will pay more stamp duty after 1 April, when two key thresholds are reduced.’

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BBC News, 6th March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Terence Daintith: Attacking the Attorney General: Some constitutional and administrative context – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted March 6th, 2025 in attorney general, constitutional law, government departments, news by sally

‘Identifying the rules and practices that should properly be regarded as part of our flexible and uncodified constitution is nowhere more difficult than in relation to the internal workings of the executive. At one time this difficulty was normally attributed to a culture of secrecy within government that kept information about its internal organisation out of the public domain. But as Alan Page and I document in our forthcoming Executive Self-Government and the Constitution (OUP, expected April 2025), which shows how constitutionally significant rules and practices within the executive have evolved over the course of this century, a far greater volume of material about such rules and practices is now published – a response, one might surmise, not so much to the formal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act as to the informal pressures and expectations fuelled by the internet, social media and the 24-hour news cycle.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 6th March 2025

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

High Court judge gives permission to bring legal challenge against Welsh council over Article 4 direction on holiday homes – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 6th, 2025 in housing, judicial review, local government, news, planning, Wales by sally

‘A local objector to Gwynedd Council’s policy on planning for holiday homes has won the right to take the authority to judicial review after a judge said he was “just persuaded” this was the right course.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th March 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MJF: a re-emphasis on statements of case and evidential rigour – 1 QMLR

‘The Claimant, MJF, alleged that her surgery had been conducted negligently, causing a severe deterioration in her condition. The importance of the case to practitioners lies not in its determination on substantive law, but in the Judge’s observations on (i) statements of case; (ii) witness statements and witness evidence; and (iii) expert evidence.’

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1 QMLR, 6th March 2025

Source: 1corqmlr.com

Ministers criticise ‘two-tier’ sentencing changes in England and Wales – The Guardian

‘Ministers have criticised plans to make the ethnic background of offenders a greater factor in determining whether to jail them, saying they amounted to a “two-tier system” of justice.’

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The Guardian, 6th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Mind the Empathy Gap: An Analysis of Agency and Emotional Encounters in the Asylum Appeals of Former Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors – Mental Capacity Law and Policy

Posted March 6th, 2025 in appeals, asylum, children, immigration, news, young persons by sally

‘The role of emotion in asylum processes is one that has gained attention in recent years. This article situates itself as a response to this emerging body of literature by shedding new light on how emotions shaped the asylum appeals of a group of former unaccompanied minors in England through the application of the new concept of “empathy gap.” Five socio-legal themes are used to structure the analysis: (i) age disputes, (ii) credibility, (iii) affective ties, (iv) right to voice, and (v) precarious legal status. It is the first article to explore in depth what happens during the asylum appeals process for former unaccompanied minors in Britain and the first to consider how questions of emotion affect their lived experiences of, and the process of, legal proceedings. The article has wider implications for how social processes and relations and informal processes, in particular emotions, influence formal legal proceedings leading to potential for unfair outcomes. The article finds that, to avoid empathy-enhanced reasoning becoming yet another variable leading to inconsistency in the judicial process, systematic training and monitoring are required. These findings carry implications far beyond the immediate context of UK asylum tribunals by offering empirically informed insights for theory and practice regarding the role of emotion in judicial proceedings, and therefore have enduring relevance.’

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EIN Blog, 5th March 2025

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Paddleboard firm owner admits manslaughter of four – BBC News

Posted March 6th, 2025 in accidents, guilty pleas, health & safety, homicide, negligence, news by sally

‘A paddleboard tour company owner has admitted to gross negligence manslaughter after the deaths of four people.’

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BBC News, 5th March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

One in eight women killed by men are over 70, report reveals – The Guardian

Posted March 6th, 2025 in charities, domestic violence, elderly, families, homicide, murder, news, statistics, women by sally

‘One in eight women killed by men in the last 15 years were aged over 70, figures show, with a specialist charity reporting a growing number of older victims of domestic abuse seeking help.’

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The Guardian, 6th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Guidance on citation of judgments as ‘authorities’ – Transparency Project

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in family courts, judgments, news by sally

‘Not all judgments are created equal. Some, by more senior judges or courts (essentially High Court judges or above), may be regarded as primary or binding ‘authority’ for the propositions of law which they contain. They lay down the law, which lesser courts and judges must follow. Courts of the same or equivalent standing must think twice before departing from those rulings, but more senior courts can, and sometimes do, decide differently and may even ‘over-rule’ them. In such a case, it will be the higher court’s ruling, or precedent, that takes precedence.’

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Transparency Project, 28th February 2025

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

Does the Court of Protection have jurisdiction over children? Answer yes – up to a point (even when they have moved abroad) – Mental Capacity Law and Policy

‘In Irwin Mitchell Trust Corporation Ltd v KS & Ors [2025] EWCOP 7 (T2), Senior Judge Hilder had to grapple with a question that had not been the subject of a previous reported decision: what can the Court of Protection do in respect of a child, whose property and affairs (including assets in England & Wales) are subject to deputyship, but who is no longer habitually resident in England & Wales? The Official Solicitor argued that the court no longer had jurisdiction to determine the deputy’s request for authorities in respect of expenditure from her funds. The deputy sought to argue that it did, either by virtue of the operation of s.47 MCA 2005 (importing the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court), or on a pragmatic basis.’

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Mental Capacity Law and Policy, 1st March 2025

Source: www.mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.org.uk

Revealed: at least 25 UK ‘spy cops’ had sex with deceived members of public – The Guardian

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in deceit, families, inquiries, news, police, sexual offences, spying by sally

‘At least 25 undercover police officers who infiltrated political groups formed sexual relationships with members of the public without disclosing their true identity to them, the Guardian can disclose.’

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The Guardian, 2nd March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Woman loses £400k injury claim after being filmed walking ‘strong’ husky – The Independent

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in accidents, damages, deceit, disabled persons, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A doggy daycare boss who sued for over £400,000 after injuring her arm in a fall from a horse has lost her case after being videoed holding a “big, strong” husky tugging at the lead and playing sports.’

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The Independent, 3rd March 2025

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Addiction and divorce: challenges for the client and the adviser – Kingsley Napley Family Law Blog

‘As family lawyers, we are used to meeting our clients at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. This is intensified when addiction is present within a family. Divorce or separation places an added burden upon everyone involved and those individuals are likely to have experienced or still be experiencing the destruction that addiction can cause, some of it obvious and some of it less so.’

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Kingsley Napley Family Law Blog, 14th February 2025

Source: www.kingsleynapley.co.uk

Centuries-old leasehold system to be abolished in England and Wales – The Guardian

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in bills, government departments, housing, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘The housing minister has promised to abolish the centuries-old leasehold system in England and Wales before the end of this parliament, as the government takes the next steps towards an outright ban on new leasehold developments.’

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The Guardian, 3rd March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Case notes in passing – adverse possession rules, sale and rent-back, and the evidential burden in service charge disputes – Nearly Legal

‘The Supreme Court considered para 5(4) to Schedule 6 Land Registration Act 2002 on the requirements for an application for registered title through adverse possession of land adjoining the applicant’s land.’

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Nearly Legal, 2nd March 2025

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Millionaire’s £18m ‘promise’ made to ex over lavish lunch not legally binding – The Independent

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in families, family courts, financial provision, news, trusts by sally

‘A multi-millionaire’s ex who claimed she was promised half their £18m family house during “lunch on a snowcapped mountain” has lost her court fight after a judge found the meeting was an “elaborate performance” to keep her happy when he failed to marry her.’

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The Independent, 3rd March 2025

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Anorexia, the Court of Protection and the changing calculus of decision-making – Mental Capacity Law and Policy

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in consent, Court of Protection, medical treatment, mental health, news by sally

‘When and under what circumstances it is legitimate not to treat those with anorexia is a very contentious topic, and is under particular scrutiny at the moment in the context of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, with very heated arguments as to whether anorexia does, or does not, fall within the scope of the Bill. In the context of the Bill Committee’s debates, there has been much discussion of whether and under what circumstances the Court of Protection will endorse compulsory feeding.’

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Mental Capacity Law and Policy, 1st March 2025

Source: www.mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.org.uk

Unmasking the spy cops: how women found the truth about men who tricked them into relationships – The Guardian

Posted March 3rd, 2025 in identity fraud, inquiries, news, police, spying, women by sally

‘Credit cards, passports and ingenuity led to the identities of undercover police who were loved under false pretences.’

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The Guardian, 2nd March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Distressed assets and the Building Safety Act – Tanfield Chambers

‘Numerous lenders and other stakeholders have found themselves in the position of having lent to or invested in a party owning a relevant building under the Building Safety Act 2022, only to find themselves tied to an asset with ever-reducing value as a result of relevant defects being discovered but not corrected.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 30th January 2025

Source: tanfieldchambers.co.uk