Prisoners could be awarded thousands in compensation over right to vote – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 27th, 2013 in bills, compensation, elections, human rights, news, prisons by sally

“Prisoners could be in line for thousands of pounds each in backdated compensation over the government’s refusal to give them the right to vote, MPs and peers have been warned.”

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Daily Telegraph, 26th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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New copyright laws give researchers right to conduct ‘electronic analysis’ of copied content – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 25th, 2013 in bills, copyright, data protection, news by sally

“Researchers that wish to conduct “electronic analysis” of copyrighted content for non-commercial purposes will have a right to copy that information under proposed new copyright laws.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 25th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Spinster sisters could win legal right to be treated as married couples, Peers told – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 25th, 2013 in bills, carers, civil partnerships, families, human rights, married persons, news by sally

“The introduction of same-sex marriage could finally open the way for carers and relatives such as unmarried sisters who live together to be given the same legal status as married couples, the House of Lords has been told.”

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Daily Telegraph, 24th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Official: 13,000 more criminals to be jailed every year from Chris Grayling reforms – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 25th, 2013 in bills, detention, news, prisons, probation by sally

“Thousands of criminals who re-offend after serving only a few months in prison will be locked up again under a new Ministry of Justice crackdown, the department’s own estimates show.”

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Daily Telegraph, 24th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jail reckless bankers, standards commission urges – BBC News

“Senior bankers guilty of reckless misconduct should be jailed, a long-awaited report on banking commissioned by the government has recommended.”

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BBC News, 19th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Jack Simson Caird: A Proposal for a Code of Legislative Standards? – UK Constitutional Law Group

“On the 20 of May the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (the PCR) published its report on legislative scrutiny standards titled ‘Ensuring standards in the quality of legislation’. The Report contains two eye catching and ambitious proposals for parliamentary reform: the creation of a joint committee on legislative standards and the adoption of a code of legislative standards. This blog is about the second of these proposals. The proposal is a significant one, and if implemented it would dramatically improve the information available to parliamentarians in their scrutiny of government bills. The PCR’s code is in effect a series of questions and demands for information relating to the content and to the timetable of a bill, that the government would answer within the explanatory notes to a bill. In this blog post, I draw attention to the code proposed by the PRC and I offer a critique of their approach, and in particular of the decision not to include substantive legislative standards.”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 14th June 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Law Commission welcomes Draft Consumer Rights Bill – Law Commission

Posted June 13th, 2013 in bills, consumer protection, Law Commission, news, unfair contract terms by sally

“The Law Commission welcomes the new Consumer Rights Bill published today, which incorporates many of our recommendations.”

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Law Commission, 12th June 2013

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk

New consumer rights bill unveiled – The Guardian

Posted June 12th, 2013 in bills, consumer protection, news, time limits by sally

“New measures to enhance consumer rights and make them easier to understand have been unveiled by consumer minister Jo Swinson.”

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The Guardian, 12th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Supreme court urged to reject challenge to prisoner voting ban – The Guardian

Posted June 12th, 2013 in bills, elections, human rights, news, prisons, Supreme Court by sally

“The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, has urged the supreme court to dismiss legal challenges by two convicted murderers who are seeking the right for prisoners to vote.”

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The Guardian, 11th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Keir Starmer: terrorists could escape prosecution without ‘snoopers’ charter’ – Daily Telegraph

“There is a ‘real risk’ that terrorists could avoid prosecution if proposed internet monitoring powers are abandoned, the country’s top prosecutor has said.”

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Daily Telegraph, 11th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Copyright law changes outlined by the Government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 10th, 2013 in bills, consultations, copyright, intellectual property, news by sally

“Media outlets will have a new right to make limited use of quotes published by rival news organisations under changes to copyright law proposed by the Government.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 10th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Helen Fenwick: Article 8 ECHR, the ‘Feminist Article’, Women and a Conservative Bill of Rights – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted June 6th, 2013 in bills, courts, families, human rights, news, reports, women by sally

“There has been a lot of commentary on the Report of the Bill of Rights’ Commission, and the ‘damp squib’ analysis of the Report (see Mark Elliott) as a whole is one most commentators appear to assent to (see eg Joshua Rozenberg for the Guardian here). My view in general is that the squib could reignite post-2015 if a Conservative government is elected, not in relation to the very hesitant ideas as to the possible future content of a Bill of Rights that the Report put forward, but in relation to its majority recommendation that there should be one (see further my previous post on the Commission Report here). If a BoR was to emerge under a Conservative government post-2015 I suggest that it would reflect the ideas of the Conservative nominees on the Commission which assumed a far more concrete form in the Report than the majority recommendations did (eg see here at p 192). This blog post due to its length is not intended to examine the probable nature of such a BoR based on those ideas in general, but to focus only on two aspects: the idea of curtailing the effects of an equivalent to Article 8 ECHR (right to respect for private and family life), and of requiring domestic courts to disapply Strasbourg jurisprudence under a BoR in a wider range of situations than at present under s2HRA (see Roger Masterman’s post on s2 on this blog here). In respect of the latter issue the potential impact of so doing will only be linked to selected aspects of Article 8 jurisprudence of especial actual and potential benefit to women.”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 5th June 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

The Revised Public Law Outline …. and this time they mean it – Family Law Week

“Andrew Pack, care lawyer with Brighton & Hove City Council, explains and comments on the changes made by the recently published Revised Public Law Outline.”

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Family Law Week, 4th June 2013

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

The truth about gay marriage: legally there is nothing to be gained – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

“The law pertaining to same-sex relationships has come a long way. Until the Sexual Offences Act 1967, homosexual relationships were illegal. Until the Civil Partnership Act 2004, there was no way of formalising a homosexual relationship. The debate has now moved to the more intricate matters surrounding the nature of that formalisation, with many people now campaigning for a law which would allow gay marriage.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 4th June 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

‘New law needed’ after collapse of care home neglect case – BBC News

Posted June 4th, 2013 in bills, care homes, elderly, negligence, news by sally

“The collapse of Britain’s biggest investigation into elderly care home neglect has prompted calls for a reform of the law.”

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BBC News, 4th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Leading internet companies warn Government of ‘harmful consequences’ of ‘snooper’ laws – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 3rd, 2013 in bills, intelligence services, internet, investigatory powers, news, privacy by sally

“Five leading internet companies have warned the Government about the ‘potentially seriously harmful consequences’ of creating new laws allowing police and public authorities to monitor electronic communications.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 31st May 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Only the Innocent Need Apply for Compensation for a Miscarriage of Justice – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly

Posted May 30th, 2013 in bills, compensation, miscarriage of justice, news by sally

“The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art.14(6) requires state parties to compensate those who have suffered ‘a miscarriage of justice’. Although the UK ratified the Covenant in 1976, for more than a decade compensation for miscarriages of justice continued to be paid by the Home Office only on an ex gratia basis. Payment was first put onto a statutory basis in 1988.”

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Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 1st June 2013

Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk

Surveillance: RIPA and the Communications Data Bill – Panopticon

“The Communications Data Bill, shelved amid political heavy weather, is back on the agenda in the wake of last week’s Woolwich murder. Today for example, Conservative MP and former policing minister Nick Herbert wrote an article in The Times in support of the Bill and responding to those who have called it a ‘snooper’s charter’.”

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Panopticon, 29th May 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

The Intellectual Property Bill – NIPC Law

Posted May 29th, 2013 in bills, intellectual property, news, patents, reports by sally

“In Digital Opportunity, A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth Professor Ian Hargreaves made 10 recommendations for IP policy which I discussed at length in “IP Policy: Does Hargreaves say Anything New?” 24 June 2011. Some of those recommendations required primary legislation. Others did not. As I said in my article, Hargreaves was not the first review of IP policy in recent years and most of the previous ones had been left to gather dust. I suspected the same would happen to Hargreaves.”

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NIPC Law, 28th May 2013

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Mobile home residents given better protection – BBC News

Posted May 28th, 2013 in bills, housing, leases, news by sally

“Residents of mobile home parks in England have been given new rights to protect them from rogue site operators.”

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BBC News, 27th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk