Law reform charity brings tribunal challenge over police forces withholding Prevent data – Local Government Lawyer

‘The First Tier Tribunal has heard a Freedom of Information (FOI) appeal over the refusal from police forces to release anonymised data relating to the controversial anti-terrorism programme Prevent.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 23rd January 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

UK medics told not to report illegal abortions to police – The Guardian

‘Medical staff in the UK should not report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy, a professional body has said. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has said it is never in the public interest to report women who have abortions to law enforcement agencies, according to the BBC.’

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The Guardian, 22nd January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Women harmed after Wiltshire police failed to disclose partners’ violent pasts – The Guardian

‘At least two women were harmed after a “catastrophic” failure in the way a police force dealt with applications under Clare’s law, which gives people the right to ask whether a partner has a violent past, it has emerged.’

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The Guardian, 11th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

SRA issues first fixed penalty fine for compliance officer rule breach – Legal Futures

‘A law firm in the North-East has become the first to receive a fixed penalty fine for not updating the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on information about a compliance officer.’

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Legal Futures, 12th January 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Insurer not entitled to hold back evidence of potential PI fraud – Legal Futures

Posted January 8th, 2024 in damages, disclosure, fraud, insurance, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘An insurer was not entitled to hold back evidence that a claimant was a friend of the owner of the vehicle he collided with, hoping the claimant would lie about it in his witness statement, the High Court has held.’

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Legal Futures, 8th January 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Revealed: police refusing requests for background checks on violent partners – The Guardian

Posted January 8th, 2024 in disclosure, domestic violence, families, news, police, statistics, violence by tracey

‘Police in England and Wales are leaving people at risk of domestic abuse by refusing to release information on suspected violent partners, the Observer can reveal, with one force declining 95% of requests for checks.’

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The Guardian, 6th January 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Tribunal doubles costs award against “unreasonable” CIty firm staffer – Legal Futures

‘A former employee of City giant Hogan Lovells tried to cause “maximum disruption” to the law firm in bringing employment tribunal proceedings, “perhaps as some form of revenge for his dismissal”, a judge has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 5th January 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA issues first fixed penalty fine for diversity data failure – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has handed out the first fixed penalty fine for a law firm’s failure to submit its workforce diversity data within the deadline.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd January 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge dismisses disclosure application to protect media source – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 2nd, 2024 in disclosure, law firms, media, news by tracey

‘A High Court judge has dismissed a disclosure application in the ongoing litigation involving international firm Dechert and its former head of white-collar crime after finding that even a redacted document might risk revealing a journalist’s source.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 29th December 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Canada Square Operations Ltd v Potter [2023] UKSC 41 – New Square Chambers

‘In 2006 Mrs Potter entered into a credit agreement (under the Consumer Credit Act 1974) with Canada Square. She borrowed c.£21K, being a loan of £17K and a PPI premium of £4K (arranged for her by Canada Square). c.£200 was paid to the insurer, with 95% of the premium going to Canada Square, who did not tell Mrs Potter about the commission.’

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New Square Chambers, 16th November 2023

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

Alerter by Thomas Samuels & Thomas Mallon – Canada Square Operations v Potter [2023] UKSC 41 – Henderson Chambers

Posted December 20th, 2023 in appeals, chambers articles, compensation, disclosure, limitations, loans, news, time limits by sally

‘In upholding the Court of Appeal’s outcome, the Supreme Court has fundamentally reformulated the approach to s.32 of the Limitation Act 1980.’

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Henderson Chambers, 17th November 2023

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Deliberating about deliberate concealment and recklessness – Hailsham Chambers

Posted December 20th, 2023 in appeals, chambers articles, disclosure, limitations, news, Supreme Court, time limits by sally

‘The Supreme Court’s decision in Canada Square Operations Ltd v Potter [2023] UKSC 41 is a major landmark, which should be welcomed for its restoration of reasonable simplicity to what had become an unduly complex subject. In doing so, it has established that in a limitation context, “deliberate” means “deliberate” and does not mean “reckless”.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 16th November 2023

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Cassandra Somers-Joce: Public Inquiries, the Public Record, and Governmental Accountability – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted December 20th, 2023 in constitutional law, disclosure, government departments, inquiries, news by sally

‘“Public inquiries are one of Britain’s only growth industries,” the Financial Times has suggested recently. Research from the Institute for Government demonstrates that there were 69 public inquiries launched between 1990 and 2017, compared with 19 in the previous 30 years. Several high-profile public inquiries are open at time of writing, including the Grenfell Inquiry, the Covid-19 Inquiry, and the Post Office Horizon Inquiry. The near-constant media coverage of the Covid-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, serves as a reminder of the role that public inquiries play in ensuring accountability and scrutiny. Each week of the Covid-19 Inquiry has painted a fuller picture of governmental decision making during the pandemic. The Covid-19 Inquiry has, however, demonstrated the shortcomings in governmental record-keeping and disclosure, particularly with respect to decisions which were taken via private communications platforms such as WhatsApp.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th December 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Supreme Court puts conditions on injunctions against travellers – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 4th, 2023 in appeals, disclosure, injunctions, local government, news, Supreme Court, travellers by tracey

‘Local authorities in England seeking court injunctions to prohibit unauthorised encampments on land they own must disclose to the courts any arguments gypsies and travellers might raise in opposition to their applications, the UK Supreme Court has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th December 2023

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Arbitration Bill aims to retain pre-eminence of England and Wales – Legal Futures

Posted November 23rd, 2023 in arbitration, bills, disclosure, news, statutory duty by sally

‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) yesterday published the Arbitration Bill, including a new statutory duty on arbitrators to disclose anything which might give rise to “justifiable doubts” about their impartiality.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd November 2023

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Nicola Bulley review: Key report findings at a glance – BBC News

Posted November 22nd, 2023 in disclosure, media, missing persons, news, police, reports by sally

‘An independent review of Lancashire Police’s handling of Nicola Bulley’s disappearance has been published.’

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BBC News, 21st November 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court criticises firm for private prosecution disclosure failure – Legal Futures

Posted November 21st, 2023 in disclosure, fraud, law firms, news, private prosecutions by sally

‘The High Court has criticised a leading private prosecutions law firm for the information it provided to persuade a judge to issue summonses alleging fraud against three people.’

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Legal Futures, 21st November 2023

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BNE [2023]: Disclosure and the use of child decoy profiles in sexual communication cases – Park Square Barristers

‘The Appellant was charged with attempted sexual communication with a child (count 1) and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity (count 2) after communicating with a decoy profile (‘X’).’

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Park Square Barristers, 31st October 2023

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Supreme Court dismisses commercial lender’s appeal over PPI claim – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 17th, 2023 in appeals, disclosure, insurance, news, Supreme Court, time limits by tracey

‘The Supreme Court has ruled that a claim over the misselling of a payment protection insurance policy was not time-barred as the commercial lender failed to disclose that it was charging a “substantial commission” on the policy.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 16th November 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Justice accuses Government of seeking to establish blanket anonymity for “junior” civil servants – Local Government Lawyer

‘Law reform charity Justice has intervened on what it called a “principle of open justice”, to allege the Government wanted blanket anonymity for civil servants deemed ‘junior’ in documents disclosed in judicial review proceedings.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th November 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk