Category: codes of practice

Code of Practice Issued Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 – Attorney General’s Office

Posted June 16th, 2016 in codes of practice, proceeds of crime by tracey

‘The operation by prosecutors of investigation powers within POCA are subject to guidance issued by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland in a code of practice. This code of practice has been revised to take account of certain provisions in the Serious Crime Act 2015 and the full extension of POCA powers to Northern Ireland.’

Full text

Attorney General’s Office, 10th June 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/ago

New protocol for criminal defence on prosecution ‘failures’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 9th, 2016 in codes of practice, criminal justice, disclosure, guilty pleas, news, prosecutions, solicitors, time limits by sally

‘A practitioner group is challenging what it claims to be ‘repeated’ failures by prosecutors to disclose information on time by issuing a step-by-step guide for criminal defence solicitors.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 8th June 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Relatives campaign for ‘Robin’s law’ to oblige care homes to inform family if a loved one is ill – The Guardian

Posted June 1st, 2016 in bereavement, care homes, care workers, codes of practice, criminal justice, disabled persons, disclosure, families, inquests, learning difficulties, news, quality assurance, standards, statistics by sally

‘As a new inquest approaches into the death of their autistic sister, family continues to fight for a law to boost the rights of relatives.’

Full story

The Guardian, 1st June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Censorship or justified Concern? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 25th, 2016 in budgets, codes of practice, demonstrations, duty of care, freedom of expression, human rights, internet, Israel, judicial review, news, police, proportionality, public order, terrorism, universities by sally

‘Mrs Justice Whipple dismissed one claim for judicial review, and refused permission to bring a further claim, in respect of decisions made by Southampton University regarding a proposed conference on the legality of the existence of Israel under international law. She held that the University had lawfully withdrawn its permission to hold the conference in April 2015, and refused permission to challenge the University’s subsequent decision to require the conference organisers to meet the conference’s security costs as a condition of allowing the conference to take place at a later date. The conference organisers had claimed that both decisions represented an unlawful interference with their Article 10 right to free expression and Article 11 right to free assembly.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 24th May 2016

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

New drainage guidance for lawyers published – Legal Futures

Posted May 25th, 2016 in barristers, building law, codes of practice, duty of care, housing, local government, news, planning, solicitors, water by sally

‘New guidance is released today [24 May] for lawyers on drainage requirements for new build developments.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 24th May 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Senior judges oppose singling out clin neg for fixed costs as consultation nears – Litigation Futures

Posted May 23rd, 2016 in case management, civil procedure rules, codes of practice, consultations, costs, judiciary, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The senior judiciary agrees with Lord Justice Jackson that fixed recoverable costs should not be introduced in clinical negligence cases in isolation, but as part of their extension across the entire fast-track and ‘lower’ end of the multi-track, it has emerged.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 23rd May 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Children in care: Call to cut prosecutions for minor offences – BBC News

Posted May 23rd, 2016 in care homes, children, codes of practice, criminal justice, criminal records, news, prosecutions, young offenders by sally

‘Children in care should not be prosecuted for minor offences, a report looking at their over-representation in the criminal justice system says.’

Full story

BBC News, 23rd May 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

A New Sentencing Code for England and Wales Transition – Final Report and Recommendations – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted May 20th, 2016 in codes of practice, Law Commission, reports, sentencing by tracey

‘This report contains the Law Commission’s formal recommendations on transition to the New Sentencing Code.’

Full report

Official-documents.gov.uk, 20th May 2015

Source: official-documents.gov.uk

NHSLA ordered to pay indemnity costs for surveillance video “ambush” – Litigation Futures

Posted May 18th, 2016 in codes of practice, compensation, costs, damages, employment, evidence, health & safety, hospitals, indemnities, news, personal injuries, trials, video recordings by tracey

‘The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) has been ordered by the High Court to pay indemnity costs after sending a last-minute surveillance video to the claimant’s lawyers which resulted in a trial being vacated.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 16th May 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Barristers unhappy with BSB warning on commercial pressures – Legal Futures

Posted May 18th, 2016 in barristers, codes of practice, complaints, fees, legal education, legal profession, news, standards by tracey

‘Barristers have complained that the decision of their regulator to make public the risk of commercial pressures damaging the Bar could on its own have a negative impact on the profession’s reputation.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th May 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Home Secretary’s Police Federation Conference 2016 speech – Home Office

Posted May 18th, 2016 in bills, codes of practice, consent, domestic violence, fraud, ombudsmen, police, professional conduct, public interest, speeches, sport, statistics, unlawful killing, victims by tracey

‘Speech given by Theresa May at the Police Federation Annual Conference 2016 in Bournemouth.’

Full speech

Home Office, 17th May 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Hillsborough verdict sparks call to rebalance police and criminal justice system – The Guardian

Posted May 11th, 2016 in bereavement, bills, codes of practice, complaints, criminal justice, inquests, legal aid, legal representation, media, misfeasance in public office, news, ombudsmen, police, professional conduct, sport, time limits, unlawful killing, victims by sally

‘A cross-party campaign for radical reform of the police and criminal justice system in light of the Hillsborough inquests verdict has been launched by the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham.’

Full story

The Guardian, 11th May 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New Home Office instruction on risk assessment for immigration detainees – Free Movement

Posted May 11th, 2016 in codes of practice, detention, immigration, news by sally

‘A new Detention Services Order, DSO 03/2016, has been issued by the Home Office. The name is innocuous — Considering detainee placement — but we can hope that it will have a significant impact because what it really requires is a proper risk assessment before a person is accepted into immigration detention. And about time too. We have in recent years seen some appalling and utterly in humane detention decisions, at least one of which appears directly to have led to the death of a very vulnerable elderly man, Alois Dvorcak.’

Full story

Free Movement, 9th May 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Reducing women’s imprisonment: sentencing of mothers – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted May 9th, 2016 in children, codes of practice, community service, criminal justice, families, fines, news, prisons, recidivists, rehabilitation, sentencing, statistics, women by sally

‘Ciara O’Neill wrote recently on the Halsbury’s Law Exchange about Michael Gove’s talk on 4 November at the AGM of the Howard League for Penal Reform: “He believes that our sentencing framework needs a complete overhaul…Gove recognised that evidence shows short sentences are more likely than not to lead to recidivism, and that the system needs a more appropriate sentencing framework. This will be based on extensive research into the effectiveness of current sentencing practices.” (“Gove admits the UK sentencing framework needs to be more sensitive, & 7 more things we learned at the 2015 Howard League AGM“).’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd May 2016

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Allocation schemes and unlawful discrimination – LAG Housing Law

Posted April 27th, 2016 in age discrimination, appeals, codes of practice, disability discrimination, equality, housing, human rights, local government, news, sex discrimination, statistics by sally

‘Sam Madge-Wyld looks at challenges to housing allocation schemes.’

Full story

LAG Housing Law, 26th April 2016

Source: www.laghousinglaw.com

Jackson proposes decoupling new bill of costs from J-Codes in bid to break “deadlock” – Litigation Futures

Posted April 25th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, codes of practice, costs, delay, electronic filing, news by sally

‘The new format bill of costs developed by the Hutton committee needs to be brought into use – perhaps from October 2017 – but should be decoupled from the J-Codes to make it more palatable to the profession, Lord Justice Jackson said last week in a bid to restart momentum towards one of the unfinished elements of his reforms.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 25th April 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Fears over credit for guilty plea – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 25th, 2016 in codes of practice, consultations, criminal justice, Crown Prosecution Service, disclosure, evidence, guilty pleas, news, sentencing, solicitors by sally

‘Criminal defence solicitors are expected to oppose proposed replacement guidelines on sentence reductions for early guilty pleas.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 25th April 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Testamentary capacity and the not-so golden rule: Burns v Burns [2016] EWCA Civ 37 – Park Square Barristers

Posted April 13th, 2016 in appeals, codes of practice, doctors, news, probate, solicitors, wills by sally

‘David Rose reviews the recent Court of Appeal decision in Burns v Burns [2016] EWCA Civ 37, which contains an up-to-date summary of the law relating to testamentary capacity and knowledge & approval.’

Full story

Park Square Barristers, 31st March 2016

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Plans to change animal welfare codes abandoned by government – BBC News

Posted April 8th, 2016 in animal cruelty, animals, codes of practice, consultations, news, standards by tracey

‘The government has abandoned a controversial plan to repeal animal welfare codes.’

Full story

BBC News, 7th April 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Guidance on coasting schools – Education Law Blog

Posted April 8th, 2016 in bills, codes of practice, consultations, education, enforcement, local government, news, ombudsmen, school children, standards by sally

‘In all of the excitement about the proposals in the White Paper for all schools to become academies, there has been little discussion about the Guidance for local authorities and RSCs on Schools causing concern – Intervening in failing, underperforming and coasting schools. Alongside this guidance, the Government has published its response to the consultation exercise, which includes a useful summary of the amendments that the Government made to the Bill during its Parliamentary passage.’

Full story

Education Law Blog, 7th April 2016

Source: www.education11kbw.com