Privatising probation service will put public at risk, officials tell Grayling – The Guardian

Posted June 25th, 2013 in contracting out, documents, news, probation, rehabilitation by sally

“The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has been warned by his most senior officials that plans to privatise 70% of the probation service lack support, are being pushed through on an aggressive timetable and potentially endanger public safety, leaked documents show.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Hills Contractors and Construction Ltd v Struth and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 24th, 2013 in civil procedure rules, documents, law reports, service, solicitors by sally

Hills Contractors and Construction Ltd v Struth and another [2013] EWHC 1693 (QB); [2013] WLR (D) 246

“A photocopy of a sealed claim form sent with a letter to the defendants’ solicitors for the purposes of document exchange was not proper service of the claim form for the purposes of CPR r 6.3(b).”

WLR Daily, 17th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Trail Riders Fellowship and another) v Dorset County Council – WLR Daily

Posted May 23rd, 2013 in appeals, documents, law reports, local government, rights of way by sally

Regina (Trail Riders Fellowship and another) v Dorset County Council [2013] EWCA Civ 553; [2013] WLR (D) 186

“A map produced to a scale of 1:25,000, even if digitally derived from an original map of a different scale, satisfied the requirements for a map accompanying an application to modify a right of way that were set out in paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 14 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.”

WLR Daily, 20th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Attorney General ‘wrong to overrule judges who ordered Government to publish letters Prince Charles wrote to ministers’ – The Independent

“The Attorney General Dominic Grieve got the law wrong when he overruled judges who ordered the government to publish letters Prince Charles wrote to ministers, a court heard today.”

Full story

The Independent, 8th May 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

MPs’ expenses: copies of receipts are subject to FOIA – Panopticon

Posted April 30th, 2013 in disclosure, documents, expenses, freedom of information, news, parliament by sally

“Following the MPs’ expenses scandal, the then newly-founded Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) decided that it would not routinely publish images of the receipts submitted to IPSA by MPs in support of their expenses claims. Rather, only text transcribed from the submitted receipts was to be published.”

Full story

Panopticon, 29th April 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Files that may shed light on colonial crimes still kept secret by UK – The Guardian

Posted April 26th, 2013 in confidentiality, crime, documents, government departments, news by sally

“Secret government files from the final years of the British empire are still being concealed despite a pledge by William Hague, the foreign secretary, that they would be declassified and opened to the public.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Santander mortgage customers to share million-pound compensation pot – The Guardian

Posted April 19th, 2013 in banking, compensation, documents, mortgages, news by sally

“Up to 30,000 Santander mortgage customers are set to share millions of pounds in compensation after it emerged they may have lost out because of confusing letters sent by the bank more than four years ago.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Asmeron – WLR

Posted April 16th, 2013 in appeals, defences, documents, immigration, law reports, refugees by sally

Regina v Asmeron [2013] EWCA Crim 435; [2013] WLR (D) 135

“Where a defendant was charged with an offence of entering the United Kingdom without a passport, contrary to section 2 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004, the court could only rule that the defendant’s explanation for so doing was incapable in law of amounting to a good reason or a reasonable excuse if it could properly be said, on the true construction of the Act, that it would be inconsistent with the essential nature and purpose of the offence for the defendant’s explanation to be capable of amounting to a defence. The fact that a defence might be considered hopeless on the merits was not a good reason for a judge to withdraw it from the jury.”

WLR Daily, 11th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Alexander Litvinenko inquest delayed for five months – BBC News

Posted March 15th, 2013 in disclosure, documents, inquests, news, spying by sally

“The inquest into the death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London has been delayed until 2 October. The poisoned KGB agent’s inquest was due to start on 1 May, but at a pre-inquest review coroner Sir Robert Owen said he was postponing it ‘with great reluctance.’ The UK government and Russia had been slow to release material, he said at a Royal Courts of Justice hearing.”

Full story

BBCNews, 14th March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

UK files on murdered spy Litvinenko must stay secret, rules coroner – The Guardian

Posted February 28th, 2013 in confidentiality, disclosure, documents, inquests, intelligence services, murder, news by sally

“Media groups have expressed disappointment after a coroner ruled that secret government files on the murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko would be examined in private.”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Secret papers show extent of senior royals’ veto over bills – The Guardian

“The extent of the Queen and Prince Charles’s secretive power of veto over new laws has been exposed after Downing Street lost its battle to keep information about its application secret.”

Full story

The Guardian, 14th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Legal challenge to put an end to court papers – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 8th, 2013 in case management, courts, documents, news, trials by sally

“Saying you’re going to end the legal world’s reliance on paper sounds almost as audacious a claim as announcing you’re going to stop banks paying bonuses. Graham Smith, however, believes his small London-based business is set to revolutionise the way trials and other hearings are managed all over the world by doing exactly that.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 8th January 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Light on Line Ltd v Zumtobel Lighting Ltd [2012] EWHC 3376 (QB); [2012] WLR (D) 373

Posted December 13th, 2012 in appeals, costs, documents, insurance, law reports, practice directions by sally

Light on Line Ltd v Zumtobel Lighting Ltd [2012] EWHC 3376 (QB); [2012] WLR (D) 373

“Service of a redacted insurance certificate as proof of “the amount of the premium paid or payable” in a claim for an additional liability on a detailed assessment of costs was sufficient to comply with paragraph 32.5(2)(c) of the Costs Practice Direction supplementing CPR Pts 43–48.”

WLR Daily, 29th November 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Attorney General vetoes release of Prince of Wales correspondence – Attorney General’s Office

“The Attorney General today issued a certificate under the Freedom of Information Act, both as it applies for the purposes of the Act and as it applies to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, vetoing the disclosure of correspondence between HRH the Prince of Wales and ministers in seven government departments.”

Full statement

Attorney General’s Office, 16th October 2012

Source: www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk

Board minutes of a public/private joint venture confidential and commercially sensitive – Panopticon

“Joint ventures between the public and private sectors are increasingly common. They are often a focus for vigorous political debate over issues such as the costs involved, the savings to the public purse, the profit to the private sector partner, and allegations of conflicts of interest. While those are political arguments on which Tribunals take no view, they do point to the significant public interests that are engaged when considering access to information. So said the Tribunal in David Orr v IC and Avon and Somerset Police Authority (EA/2012/0077), a recent decision notable for grappling with access to information about such a public/private joint venture.”

Full story

Panopticon, 11th October 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Man jailed over extremist documents – The Independent

Posted September 18th, 2012 in documents, news, sentencing, terrorism by sally

“A Muslim man with extremist literature on his computer was jailed for a year today.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th September 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Royal Mail staff given access to confidential medical details – The Independent

Posted September 10th, 2012 in benefits, confidentiality, documents, news, postal service by sally

“Confidential medical information from sick and disabled people applying for welfare benefits is opened and sorted by Royal Mail staff on behalf of the Government without the claimant’s knowledge or consent, The Independent can reveal.”

Full story

The Independent, 8th September 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Judge orders cross-examination of officials over WikiLeaks documents – The Guardian

Posted July 26th, 2012 in cross-examination, Diego Garcia, disclosure, documents, news by sally

“A top judge has taken the unprecedented step of ordering two senior government officials to face cross-examination in court over a classified US document leaked by WikiLeaks. It is thought to be the first time that one of the WikiLeaks cables has featured in a UK court case.”

Full story

The Guardian, 25th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

E-Disclosure – Taking Your Head Out of the Sand – Cloisters

Posted June 26th, 2012 in disclosure, documents, electronic mail, news, telecommunications by sally

“E-disclosure is the disclosure of any electronic document. Documents stored electronically are often referred to as electronically stored information or ESI.”

Full story (PDF)

Cloisters, June 2012

Source: www.cloisters.com

Hillsborough disaster’s families to get access to secret documents – The Guardian

Posted June 21st, 2012 in disclosure, documents, families, freedom of information, news, sport by sally

“Families bereaved by the Hillsborough tragedy have learned that they will get access to secret police and government documents within three months after a long campaign for the papers to be released.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th June 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk