Open Consultation – Transforming legal aid: crime duty contracts – Ministry of Justice

Posted September 29th, 2014 in consultations, contracts, Law Society, legal aid, Ministry of Justice, solicitors by tracey

‘A consultation on reports undertaken by Otterburn Legal Consulting and KPMG in relation to the proposed duty work contracts for criminal legal aid services.’

Full consultation

Ministry of Justice, 24th September

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Fee-paid Judicial Pension Scheme – Ministry of Justice

Posted September 22nd, 2014 in consultations, fees, judiciary, news, pensions by sally

‘This consultation seeks views on the proposed design of the Fee-paid Judicial Pension Scheme (FPJPS).’

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 19th September 2014

Source: https://consult.justice.gov.uk

High Court slaps down legal aid reform – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The lord chancellor acted ‘unlawfully’ in the way he consulted on controversial plans to shake up criminal legal aid, the High Court ruled today [19 September].’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 19th September 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Employment lawyers blast draft law on recovery of public sector exit payments – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 19th, 2014 in bills, consultations, employment, local government, news, remuneration by tracey

‘Planned Government legislation to claw back exit payments from high-earning public sector staff if they get another job within 12 months is “unclear and ill-conceived”, the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) has warned.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 18th September 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Bookmakers sign up to voluntary watchdog – The Guardian

Posted September 15th, 2014 in advertising, consultations, gambling, licensing, news, ombudsmen by tracey

‘Three of the four big high street bookmakers have signed up to a new voluntary watchdog in the hope of preempting a raft of tough statutory measures that threaten the prevalence of betting shops, high-speed roulette machines and aggressive punter-recruitment adverts promising “free money”.’

Full story

The Guardian, 15th September 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bar Standards Board launches consultation on entity authorisation fees – Bar Standards Board

Posted September 12th, 2014 in barristers, consultations, fees, legal services, press releases by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today issued an open consultation paper outlining its ideas on how much it should charge for authorising entities. Entities are organisations that provide advocacy, litigation, and expert legal advice services and which, in this instance, are owned and managed by barristers and other lawyers.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 11th September 2014

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Domestic Violence Update – the latest developments practitioners need to know about – Family Law Week

‘Mandip Ghai, solicitor and legal officer, with Rights of Women, updates practitioners on developments in the prevention of domestic violence.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 11th September 2014

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Finance & Divorce Update – Family Law

‘Jessica Craigs, senior solicitor and Amy Starnes solicitor, both of Mills & Reeve LLP analyse the financial remedies and divorce news and cases published by Family Law Week in August.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 5th September 2014

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Guardianship of the property and affairs of missing persons – Ministry of Justice

Posted August 28th, 2014 in consultations, guardianship, missing persons, news, powers of attorney by sally

‘When a person goes missing, there is currently no legal mechanism for another person to manage his or her affairs during his or her absence. This can lead to the dissipation of the missing person’s assets (for example, through uncancellable Direct Debits) and the deterioration or loss of assets (for example, through lack of maintenance or failure to meet financial obligations, such as mortgage payments).’

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 27th August 2014

Source: www.consult.justice.gov.uk

New legal powers for families of missing people on the horizon – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 28th, 2014 in consultations, families, guardianship, missing persons, news, powers of attorney by sally

‘Campaign by Claudia Lawrence’s father Peter leads to proposals to give relatives of missing loved ones power over their financial affairs.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 27th August 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Open consultation – Revised PACE code A – Home Office

Posted August 26th, 2014 in codes of practice, consultations, police, stop and search by tracey

‘This consultation runs until Monday 20 October 2014. The draft code has a covering note and detailed table outlining the changes and their purpose with links to the paragraphs concerned.’

Full press release

Home Office, 26th August 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Judges could hear information rights tribunal cases on their own – OUT-LAW.com

‘Judges could determine the outcome of some information rights tribunal cases on their own in future under just-published proposals.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 19th August 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Consultation: High Court Family Orders – Judiciary of England and Wales

Posted August 20th, 2014 in consultations, family courts, press releases by tracey

‘Mr Justice Mostyn and his team have produced the third batch of proposed standard form orders for discussion and comment.The President and Mr Justice Mostyn will very much welcome and value comments from as many people as possible.’

Full press release

Judiciary of England and Wales, 19th August 2014

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Consultation: Family Transparency – The next steps – Judiciary of England and Wales

Posted August 20th, 2014 in consultations, family courts, pilot schemes, practice directions by tracey

‘This consultation, on behalf of the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, invites comments on the next steps of the Transparency reform.’

Consultation

Judiciary of England and Wales, 19th August 2014

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Domestic abuse crime considered by ministers – BBC News

‘A new crime of domestic abuse could be created under plans being considered by ministers. Home Secretary Theresa May is consulting on creating the offence in England and Wales as part of attempts to improve police performance. Existing law already covers coercive and controlling behaviour – but it does not explicitly apply to relationships.’

Full story

Consultation

BBC News, 20th August 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Information Tribunal Consultation – Panopticon

Posted August 18th, 2014 in consultations, judiciary, news, tribunals by tracey

‘The Senior President of Tribunals, Sullivan LJ, has launched a consultation paper on altering the composition of the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) in some Information Rights cases. With the support of GRC Chamber President, Judge Warren, it is proposed to remove the requirement that a judge sit with two non-legal members and allow the Chamber President flexibility to direct that certain cases be heard by a judge alone.’

Full story

Panopticon, 18th August 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Graham Allen: Kick-starting the debate on a codified constitution for the UK – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted August 14th, 2014 in constitutional reform, consultations, news, select committees by sally

‘Does the United Kingdom need a codified constitution? It’s a question on which generations of law students will have had to write essays, burning the midnight oil and scribbling or tapping away into the night, rehearsing the pros and the cons. But I want it to be something else: the start of a lively and passionate public debate that could result in real change to our country’s democratic set-up.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th August 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Regina (An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland)) v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change – WLR Daily

Regina (An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland)) v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change [2014] EWCA Civ 1111; [2014] WLR (D) 367

‘The Secretary of State was not required by Parliament and Council Directive 2001/92/EC to conduct a transboundary consultation with the Republic of Ireland before granting planning permission to construct a nuclear power station near the Irish state if he was convinced that it was not “likely to have significant effects on the environment in another member state”, within article 7 of the Directive.’

WLR Daily, 1st August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The latest on cuts: Lessons for authorities following R (Draper) v Lincolnshire CC – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted August 7th, 2014 in budgets, consultations, judicial review, libraries, local government, news by sally

‘Mr Justice Collins has handed down judgment in the latest case borne out of government cuts. The judgment provides useful learning to local authorities in particular on how to comply with new duties in relation to expressions of interest under the Localism Act 2011, writes Leon Glenister.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 5th August 2014

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

UK government to assess whether virtual currencies should be regulated – OUT-LAW.com

‘The UK government is to review the trade in virtual currencies to investigate whether it should regulated.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 6th August 2014

Source: www.out-law.com