Tougher measures for sex offenders – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 10th, 2013 in bills, news, sentencing, sexual offences by tracey

” Currently, suspects must pose a risk of ‘serious harm’ to be handed one of the existing orders – but now the Home Office has proposed lowering the threshold to cover any kind of sexual harm. The new Sexual Risk Order will allow magistrates to impose a range of restrictions on suspected sex offenders, including banning them from travelling abroad, limiting their internet use and prohibiting them from being alone with a child.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 9th October 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

May: Living in UK to get tougher for illegal immigrants – BBC News

Posted October 10th, 2013 in banking, bills, health, housing, immigration, news by tracey

“Home Secretary Theresa May says illegal immigrants will find it much harder to set up home in the UK under new laws. The Immigration Bill will require banks to check the immigration status of people applying to open accounts, and private landlords to make similar checks on their tenants.”

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BBC News, 10th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

House of Lords reform – time for evolution rather than revolution? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 9th, 2013 in bills, news, parliament, peerages & dignities, statistics by sally

“When the House of Lords returns from recess in October, they will begin to welcome the 30 new peers announced at the beginning of August, including such diverse figures as paralympian Chris Holmes, racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence and Ministry of Sound co-founder James Palumbo. These 30 new peers (14 Conservative, ten Liberal Democrats, five Labour and one Green) will see the Conservatives again become the biggest bloc (with 222 peers, one ahead of Labour) and take the number of currently eligible sitting peers to 783. While such a size led to many comments about the ballooning size of the House (such as ‘New faces push the supersized House of Lords towards 1,000’ The Times August 2, 2013), this figure – which excludes those on leave of absence and those ineligible due to offices held – is actually lower than the figures as at March 2011 and March 2012. However, the annual reports of the House do show average attendance has increased by over a third in the last decade (from the mid-300s to the high 400s) and reflecting changing party balance in the House of Commons through creations is undoubtedly set to increase the size of the House of Lords (particularly if the parties fortunes ebb and flow; on this point see, eg, Michael White (Guardian, 17/5/2010) and the Electoral Reform Society 2013 report ‘The Super-Sized Second Chamber’). Thus among the Bills set to be scrutinised in the remainder of this session are no fewer than three House of Lords Reform Private Members’ Bills (PMBs) which seek to restrict the size of the House, Nick Clegg’s revolutionary – and much criticised – reform having been abandoned last year (at least until the next election).”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 8th October 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Charity chiefs back ‘once-in-a-generation’ change to fostering law – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 9th, 2013 in bills, charities, children, education, fostering, local government, news, statistics by sally

“An alliance of 40 charity chiefs and experts is today urging members of the Lords to seize a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to change the law to give young people in foster care the same start in adult life as their peers.”

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Daily Telegraph, 9th October 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Bankers may be jailed under proposed new UK law – BBC News

Posted October 3rd, 2013 in amendments, banking, bills, crime, news by sally

“Senior bankers could face criminal charges for ‘reckless’ misconduct leading to the fall of a bank, under new UK government plans.”

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BBC News, 1st October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Alison L. Young: Prisoner Voting: Human or Constitutional Right? – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted September 30th, 2013 in bills, elections, human rights, interpretation, jurisdiction, news, prisons, select committees by sally

“As is well known, in Hirst v UK (No 2) the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights concluded that Section 3(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which removed the franchise from prisoners, was a disproportionate restriction of the right to vote found in article 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. After two consultation papers, further judgments from the European Court of Human Rights, a declaration of incompatibility from the Scottish courts, a series of criticisms from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Joint Committee of Human Rights, a change of Government and a House of Commons debate, the Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Draft Bill was proposed and is currently being scrutinised by a Joint Select Committee. To add to the mix, we are awaiting judgment on the latest discussion of the issue by the UK Supreme Court, in R (Chester) v Secretary of State for Justice and McGeogh v Lord President of the Council, heard on 10 June, not to mention the adjourned case of Firth v United Kingdom.”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 27th September 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Draft Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Bill – Law Commission

Posted September 27th, 2013 in bills, charities, consultations, Law Commission, press releases by tracey

“In a consultation launched today, the Law Commission for England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission invite comments on the draft Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Bill as it stands at 26 September 2013.”

Full press release

Law Commission, 26th September 2013

Source: www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission

Government to amend lobbying regulation plans – BBC News

Posted September 27th, 2013 in bills, charities, elections, freedom of expression, lobbying, news by tracey

“The government has proposed a series of amendments to its lobbying bill, after charities and voluntary groups raised concerns they could be gagged.”

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BBC News, 26th September 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Nick Barber: Can Royal Assent Be Refused on the Advice of the Prime Minister? – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted September 26th, 2013 in bills, constitutional law, ministers' powers and duties, news by sally

“There is a very good article in the most recent edition of the Law Quarterly Review. It is by Rodney Brazier, and is concerned with the nature and mechanics of royal assent. It is a fascinating read, and, as with all Brazier’s work, characterised by a dry wit. There is, however, one claim, made almost in passing, that I think is mistaken. Brazier addresses the question of when, if ever, a monarch could properly refuse to give assent to legislation. He rightly concludes that it is almost impossible to imagine situations in which assent should be refused, but leaves open the possibility that it might be appropriate for the Monarch to refuse assent if advised to do so by her Ministers. In suggesting that royal assent could be refused on ministerial advice Brazier is not alone. The assertion has also been made by Geoffrey Marshall in Constitutional Conventions, and Adam Tomkins in Public Law – and may, for all I know, have been made by others, too. On the other hand, Anne Twomey (in an article in Public Law in 2006) argued that the issue remains open, and gives a number of examples, mostly from Australia, which suggest the Monarch need not accept the advice of her Ministers to refuse assent. So which position is correct? If the Prime Minister (or the Cabinet, collectively) advised the Queen to refuse to give her assent to legislation, what, constitutionally, should she do?”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 25th September 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Dangerous dogs plan will mean no ‘innocent’ trespassers – BBC News

Posted September 10th, 2013 in bills, dogs, news, select committees, trespass by tracey

“Dog owners will be safe from prosecution under revised dangerous dogs laws if their pet attacks someone trespassing in their home – even if the ‘intruder’ is doing a good turn.”

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BBC News, 9th September 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Charities force anti-lobbying laws rethink – BBC News

Posted September 9th, 2013 in bills, charities, lobbying, news by tracey

“Ministers have amended their plans for new anti-lobbying laws after charities warned the bill could affect their ability to campaign.”

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BBC News, 6th September 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Jacob Rowbottom: Third Party Spending Controls and the Lobbying Bill – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted September 5th, 2013 in bills, elections, lobbying, news, third parties by sally

“The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill is proving to be controversial for various reasons – not least for proposing amendments to controls on third party spending during election campaigns (under the current law independent organisations have to register with the Electoral Commission if they spend over a certain amount on election material, and such spending is subject to an overall cap). Many of the criticisms have focused on the potential for the proposed law to apply to the political speech of charities, think tanks, blogs and campaign groups.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 4th September 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Lobbying Bill: Government rejects warning by charities that new law will have ‘chilling effect’ – The Independent

Posted September 4th, 2013 in bills, charities, lobbying, news, public interest by sally

“Downing Street has rejected warnings by charities that its new lobbying legislation would restrict voluntary organisations from campaigning on matters of public interest.”

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The Independent, 2nd September 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Fraudsters to get police tip-off before searches under new trading laws – The Independent

Posted August 28th, 2013 in bills, consumer protection, fraud, news, notification by sally

“Criminals will profit from the ‘unintended consequences’ of new laws meant to protect consumers, the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) is warning.”

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The Independent, 27th August 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Modern slavery’ bill to tighten laws on human trafficking – The Guardian

Posted August 27th, 2013 in bills, news, prosecutions, statistics, trafficking in human beings by tracey

“A ‘modern slavery’ bill that tightens the laws on human trafficking will be introduced in an attempt to eradicate an ‘evil in our midst’, Theresa May has announced.”

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The Guardian, 25th August 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New lobbying bill will affect charities’ ability to campaign on political issues – The Guardian

Posted August 27th, 2013 in bills, budgets, charities, lobbying, news by tracey

“The Electoral Commission, Britain’s elections watchdog, has concluded that government plans to curb political campaigning by charities before a general election are flawed and in part unworkable.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th August 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Tougher sex offender restrictions sought by campaigners – BBC News

Posted August 27th, 2013 in bills, child abuse, news, sexual grooming, sexual offences by tracey

“Charities and an MP are campaigning for tougher restrictions on sex offenders, saying the system is failing to stop grooming and exploitation of children.”

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BBC News, 27th August 2013

Source:  www.bbc.co.uk

 

The last gasp for strict liability? – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted August 22nd, 2013 in bills, employment, news, personal injuries, sport, strict liability by sally

“With the Government’s amendment to the Enterprise Bill 2013 due to abolish strict liability in employers’ claims, it seems that certain Courts were ahead of the pack in seeking to mitigate what they saw as the potentially unfair consequence of construing the Regulations too strictly against quasi-employers.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 9th August 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Political lobbying law is a dog’s breakfast, says MP – BBC News

Posted August 19th, 2013 in bills, lobbying, news by tracey

“David Cameron’s planned law to stop lobbying scandals is ‘a dog’s breakfast’, according to the head of the Commons committee examining it.”

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BBC News, 19th August 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Owners of killer dogs could face life in prison – The Guardian

Posted August 6th, 2013 in bills, consultations, dogs, news, penalties, sentencing by sally

“Owners of dogs that kill people could face life imprisonment if an online consultation run by the government demonstrates public support for more severe penalties.”

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The Guardian, 6th August 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk