Lady Hale: at least half of UK judiciary should be female – The Guardian
‘At least half of the judiciary should be women, Britain’s most senior judge has said.’
The Guardian, 24th March 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Author: sally
Abusive wife jailed for life for husband’s murder – BBC News
‘A woman who killed her husband after “systematically” abusing him and hitting him with a rolling pin has been jailed.’
BBC News, 22nd March 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Tax tribunal: presenter Lorraine Kelly not ’employee’ of ITV – OUT-LAW.com
‘TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has won an employment tax case against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), after the first-tier tribunal found that she was not an ’employee’ of ITV to whom the IR35 disguised employment provisions should apply.’
OUT-LAW.com, 22nd March 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
Mark Duggan family to sue Met Police over death – BBC News
‘The family of Mark Duggan, whose death sparked riots across England in August 2011, are suing the Metropolitan Police for damages, BBC News has learned.’
BBC News, 23rd March 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Adtech, ePrivacy and the GDPR – Panopticon
‘Scarcely a week goes by without my saying to someone or other (clients, colleagues, my children round the dinner table): the GDPR is not an exhaustive regime – where applicable, you need to ensure compliance with ePrivacy laws as well. Especially when it comes to electronic marketing communications, cookies and related ad tech. This inevitably prompts the question: aren’t we supposed to be getting a new ePrivacy law? What’s the delay?’
Panopticon, 22nd March 2019
Source: panopticonblog.com
Autonomy founder Mike Lynch faces UK high court and fresh charges in US – The Guardian
‘Autonomy founder Mike Lynch will on Monday begin his high court defence against accusations that he perpetrated a $5bn (£3.8bn) fraud, as US prosecutors unveiled fresh criminal charges accusing the British businessman of a cover-up.’
The Guardian, 24th March 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Charity launches super-complaint against police for treating slavery victims as criminals, rather than protecting them from perpetrators – Daily Telegraph
‘Police forces face a super-complaint over their alleged failure to protect victims of modern slavery.’
Daily Telegraph, 25th March 2019
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Smacking children to be banned in Wales – The Guardian
‘Parents are to be banned from physically punishing children under legislation being introduced on Monday by the Welsh government.’
The Guardian, 25th March 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Case Analysis: Fearn v Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2018] EWHC 246 (Ch) – Tanfield Chambers
‘The claim related to a public viewing platform on the 10th Floor of the Tate Modern art gallery in Central London. The gallery overlooked a modern residential development approx.35m away with striking floor to ceiling windows. As a result, visitors using the platform could see into the living areas of the flats. There was evidence that there were up to 300 visitors at a time, and that a significant minority waived and shouted at the occupiers of the flats, took photos and posted pictures of the interiors of the flats on social media. The owners of the flats brought a claim for private nuisance against the trustees of the gallery.’
Tanfield Chambers, 22nd February 2019
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Capacity to tweet? – Doughty Street Chambers
‘In two judgments (Re A and Re B) Cobb J has confirmed that capacity to make decisions about internet and social media use do not form a “subset” of of a person’s ability to make decisions about care or contact. Capacity to use the internet and social media are “inextricably linked; the internet is the communication platform on which social media operates. For present purposes, it does not make sense in my judgment to treat them as different things. It would, in my judgment, be impractical and unnecessary to assess capacity separately in relation to using the internet for social communications as to using it for entertainment, education, relaxation, and/or for gathering information.”‘
Doughty Street Chambers, 26th February 2019
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
Fundamental dishonesty “should lead to strike-out of whole claim” – Litigation Futures
‘A finding of fundamental dishonesty in a personal injury claim should mean an associated credit hire claim is also struck out, a circuit judge has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 19th March 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Sailing to Byzantium – Blockchain and the art market – Tanfield Chambers
‘One of the great frustrations of reading about blockchain is that many of those who set themselves the task of explaining it tell you what they believe it does, rather than explaining what it is, and often what they think it does is received wisdom, leading their expositions to founder on the Scylla of over-simplification. Others, who do understand what it is, often presume on the part of a general readership a level of familiarity with what might appear to be arcane technical concepts which such a readership does not possess: anyone for Byzantine Fault Tolerance? Their expositions thus founder on the Charybdis of incomprehensibility to all but fellow experts. Neither approach really facilitates a consideration of the benefits nor an appreciation of the risks involved in the use of blockchain technology.’
Tanfield Chambers, 11th March 2019
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Judge: solicitors need “adequate cash flow” to fund med neg cases – Litigation Futures
‘Solicitors may refuse to take on medical negligence cases at an early stage if courts fail to ensure “adequate cash flow”, a circuit judge has warned.’
Litigation Futures, 19th March 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Domestic abusers ‘sewing GPS trackers into teddy bears’ – BBC News
‘Technology is increasingly being used by domestic abusers to trap, control or hunt down their victims, Refuge has told the Victoria Derbyshire programme.’
BBC News, 20th March 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Murder conviction quashed after detective hid relationship with juror – The Guardian
‘Three killers had their murder convictions quashed because a police officer involved in the case failed to disclose she knew one of the jurors in their trial, it has been revealed.’
The Guardian, 19th March 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Leasehold Enfranchisement Claims – Why it is difficult to reach an amicable solution – Tanfield Chambers
‘ALEP member Nicola Muir is a senior member of the Tanfield Chambers’ property team. She is a specialist in enfranchisement law and all aspects of landlord and tenant law. In this article she examines the complexity of legislation surrounding landlord and tenant disputes.’
Tanfield Chambers, 14th March 2019
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Kasey McCall-Smith: The Realities of Being Global: Treaty Law and Brexit – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘Throughout the two years of Brexit debates following Article 50 notification, the UK Government and Parliament consistently have failed to recognise that even if EU law is no longer applicable after Brexit, the UK is still bound to a broad gamut of rules under international law. Apparently attempting to appease Brexiteers, on 11 March Theresa May offered a unilateral statement to the EU on the UK interpretation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in relation to the backstop set out therein. In a similar vein, two days later, Geoffrey Cox MP argued that article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention) offered an easy out of the Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland backstop if a more acceptable arrangement could not be reached in the coming years. Now pundits, politicians, and academics alike are expending great energy trying to ascertain what effect the unilateral statement or article 62 may have on the Withdrawal Agreement in future. Put simply, the statement has no legal effect. Article 62 is not a panacea and both the UK government and Parliament would do well to stop relying on concepts in international law to cure all that is disagreeable with the Brexit process. International law supports the precise opposite positions asserted in both of these circumstances. If the aim in leaving the EU is to ‘be global’ without the filter of EU regulations, the application of the international rules (in which the UK had a heavy hand in drafting) must be understood as starting, rather than end, points for negotiating future relationships.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th March 2019
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Lawyers wrong to fear capped costs, says High Court judge – Litigation Futures
‘Lawyers are wrong to fear capped costs, which could make a “big difference” to the ability of medium-sized companies to litigate, a High Court judge said yesterday.’
Litigation Futures, 20th March 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
