Legal aid is being ruled out of court – The Guardian

“From the beginning of April 2013 the chances of getting help with legal bills will be slim. The Law Society estimates 650,000 cases will no longer qualify, including 20,000 employment cases and 200,000 in family law.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Another Distinction Between Professional Disciplinary Proceedings and Internal Employment Disciplinary Hearings: Christou v London Borough of Haringey – Littleton Chambers

“If an individual has already been charged and given a warning for misconduct in a disciplinary process, can that process later be reopened, re-run and the individual dismissed for the same charge on the same evidence?”

Full story

Littleton Chambers, 14th March 2013

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Secret commissions and proprietary claims – where are we now? – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted March 21st, 2013 in agency, appeals, bribery, constructive trusts, news by sally

“Practitioners were trained to believe that an agent would hold a bribe on trust for his principal. Then came Sinclair v Versailles which appeared to have decided that the principal’s remedy would be merely personal. Now everything seems to have changed again. In this ‘Insider’ note Peter Head examines the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in FHR European Ventures LLP v Mankarious and considers where we are now.”

Full story (PDF)

11 Stone Buildings, March 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Taylor (Bonnett) v The Queen – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2013 in appeals, evidence, juries, law reports, Privy Council, witnesses by tracey

Taylor (Bonnett) v The Queen: [2013] UKPC 8;   [2013] WLR (D)  104

“Where a witness statement casting doubt on the veracity of the evidence given by the sole witness to a crime was not used at trial because of a failure by the prosecution to disclose it on time, or owing to incompetence of defence counsel, those failing were not enough without more to justify a finding that there had been a miscarriage of justice. The appellant had to show that, had the evidence been used, it might reasonably have affected the decision of the jury to convict.”

WLR Daily, 14th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Vehicle Control Services Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2013 in appeals, damages, HM Revenue & Customs, law reports, parking, VAT by tracey

Vehicle Control Services Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs: [2013] EWCA Civ 186;   [2013] WLR (D)  105

“A taxpayer company which entered into a contract with owners or lawful occupiers of car parks or land to provide parking control services, and levied parking penalty charges on motorists for breach of the particular car park’s rules by issuing a charge notice against a motorist in breach, was entitled to claim that the charges amounted to damages for breach of contract made between the taxpayer and the motorist or damages for trespass; and the taxpayer was therefore not liable to pay VAT on those charges.”

WLR Daily, 13th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

R (McGetrick) v Parole Board and another – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2013 in appeals, evidence, law reports, parole, release on licence by tracey

R (McGetrick) v Parole Board and another: [2013] EWCA Civ 182;   [2013] WLR (D)  107

“The Parole Board had power to make an interlocutory direction requiring that evidence submitted by the Secretary of State be excluded from the final dossier of material taken into account by the panel deciding on whether to release a prisoner on licence.”

WLR Daily, 14th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Catt) v Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and another (Equality and Human Rights Commission and others intervening): Regina (T) v Comr of Police of the Metropolis (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2013 in appeals, criminal records, demonstrations, human rights, law reports, police by tracey

Regina (Catt) v Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and another (Equality and Human Rights Commission and others intervening): Regina (T) v Comr of Police of the Metropolis (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening): [2013] EWCA Civ 192;   [2013] WLR (D)  108

“The retention by the police of personal information on an individual stored on a police national database, or the issue of a warning notice against a person accused of harassment and its retention in police records, involved an interference with a person’s right to respect for his private and family life, within the meaning of article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and such retention would breach the right unless justified.”

WLR Daily, 14th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Damages for death and human rights – UK Human Rights Blog

“Swift v. Secretary of State for Justice, Court of Appeal, 18 February 2013. Ms Swift lost her live-in partner in an accident at work caused by negligence. She was pregnant with her partner’s child, but had only been living with him for 6 months. Had she been with him for 2 years, she could have claimed damages for his death under section 1(3) of the Fatal Accidents Act – set out at [1] of the CA judgment. She would then have been a ‘dependant’ as defined under the FAA. So she argued that her rights under Articles 8 (family) and 14 (discrimination) of the ECHR were not properly respected by the law governing damages for the death of a relative – there was no justification for this stark cut-off – 1 year 11 months no claim, 2 years a claim. The judge refused to grant a declaration of incompatibility between the ECHR and the Fatal Accidents Act, and the Court of Appeal has just upheld his decision.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 18th March 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Court of Appeal rules on damages for frustration at DPA breach – Panopticon

Posted March 19th, 2013 in appeals, damages, data protection, news by tracey

“On a day in which the remedying of privacy breaches of the kind considered by Leveson LJ dominated parliamentary debate, the Court of Appeal (Arden LJ, Lloyd LJ and Ryder J) delivered an interesting judgment on remedies for privacy breaches of the data protection variety.”

Full story

Panopticon, 18th March 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Brumder v Motornet Service and Repairs Ltd and another – WLR Daily

Brumder v Motornet Service and Repairs Ltd and another [2013] EWCA Civ 195; [2013] WLR (D) 102

“In a personal injury claim, it did not lie in the mouth of a claimant who was a defendant company’s sole director and shareholder to assert that the company had not proved that it had done all it could to ensure compliance with safety regulations when it was only through the claimant that the company could act. In such a case the company would be entitled to raise a defence to that effect.”

WLR Daily, 14th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v F – WLR Daily

Posted March 18th, 2013 in appeals, criminal procedure, jurisdiction, law reports, witnesses by sally

Regina v F [2013] WLR (D) 100

“The requirement to inform the Crown Court immediately of a prosecutor’s intention to appeal against a preliminary ruling arose when the ruling was formally given and not on earlier communication by e-mail of the conclusion which the trial judge had reached.”

WLR Daily, 14th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The three women fighting to clear their loved ones’ names – The Guardian

Posted March 18th, 2013 in appeals, evidence, families, joint enterprise, miscarriage of justice, murder, news by sally

“What is it like if your brother or son is convicted of murder when you are convinced they are innocent? We meet three women who have fought for years to prove their loved ones’ innocence.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stephen Lawrence killer drops appeal against conviction – The Guardian

Posted March 15th, 2013 in appeals, murder, news, racism by tracey

“Gary Dobson, who was given life sentence for murder last year, has abandoned battle against conviction, officials say.”

Full story

The Guardian, 15th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Plunkett (Daniel): Regina v Plunkett (James) – WLR Daily

Posted March 15th, 2013 in admissibility, appeals, evidence, investigatory powers, law reports by tracey

Regina v Plunkett (Daniel): Regina v Plunkett (James): [2013] EWCA Crim 261;   [2013] WLR (D)  98

“Covert recordings of conversations between defendants which had taken place whilst they were in the rear of a police van were not to be categorised as intrusive surveillance, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, because a police van, used solely for police purposes, was not a private vehicle.”

WLR Daily, 13th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Christou and another v Haringey London Borough Council – WLR Daily

Christou and another v Haringey London Borough Council: [2013] EWCA Civ 178;   [2013] WLR (D)  97

“The doctrine of res judicata did not apply to disciplinary procedures operated by an employer, nor did the related doctrine of abuse of process apply as such, but an employment tribunal considering a claim for unfair dismissal following a second disciplinary process would have to decide whether it had been fair to institute that second process.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

SAS sniper Danny Nightingale has gun possession conviction quashed – The Guardian

Posted March 14th, 2013 in appeals, firearms, guilty pleas, news, retrials by sally

“An SAS sniper has had his convictions for illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition quashed by the court of appeal.”

Full story

The Guardian, 13th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina ( WGGS Ltd trading as Western Governors Graduate School) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2013 in appeals, education, law reports, news, sponsored immigrants by sally

Regina ( WGGS Ltd trading as Western Governors Graduate School) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 177; [2013] WLR (D) 96

“The UK Border Agency required colleges seeking highly trusted sponsor status to report all students who failed to enrol including those refused entry clearance or leave to remain. A refusal rate of 20% made proper allowance for unsuitable applicants who could not reasonably be weeded out by a college’s admissions staff.”

WLR Daily, 8th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

M25 road rage killer Kenneth Noye fails in attempt to have minimum jail term cut – The Independent

Posted March 13th, 2013 in appeals, murder, news, sentencing by sally

“A ‘professional criminal’ given a life sentence for a road rage murder on an M25 slip road today (12 March) failed in a bid to get his 16-year minimum jail term cut by the Court of Appeal.”

Full story

The Independent, 12th March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Baby P social workers lose court appeal against sacking – BBC News

Posted March 12th, 2013 in appeals, news, social services, unfair dismissal by sally

“Two of Baby P’s social workers have lost their appeal against a tribunal ruling that found they were fairly sacked by Haringey Council.”

Full story

BBC News, 12th March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Leeds United Football Club Ltd v Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police – WLR Daily

Posted March 12th, 2013 in appeals, costs, law reports, police, sport by sally

Leeds United Football Club Ltd v Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police [2013] EWCA Civ 115; [2013] WLR (D) 95

“The provision of public order policing and crowd control, both before and after football matches, on land not owned, possessed or controlled by a football club did not constitute ‘special police services’ within the meaning of section 25(1) of the Police Act 1996, and therefore the police were not entitled to charge the football club for the cost of doing so.”

WLR Daily, 7th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk