Climate protest jail term deemed ‘disproportionate’ – BBC News
‘A human rights expert has described the year-long sentence given to a climate change activist as “blatantly disproportionate”.’
BBC News, 14th April 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: news
Assensus Limited v Wirsol Energy Limited [2025] EWHC 503 (KB) – 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square
‘Construction disputes, as indeed is the case with other types of disputes, can have a heavy financial cost for both sides. ‘Victory’ can in defined circumstances take on a pyrrhic taste if the costs of the proceedings don’t go to the winning party. The March 2025 decision in Assensus is part of a sequence of important cases dealing with the issue of how costs are, or may be, treated when there has been a refusal to mediate.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 10th April 2025
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
Court of Appeal hands down key ruling on appointment of intermediaries after finding judge was wrong to refuse assistance to vulnerable mother – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Court of Appeal has allowed a mother’s appeal against a judge’s refusal to grant her intermediary assistance in care proceedings, finding that the judge paid “insufficient attention” to the mother’s difficulties.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th April 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Mother who murdered her two young sons, 2 and 5, in the bath is jailed – The Independent
‘A mother who killed her two young sons while in a psychotic state has been jailed for life.’
The Independent, 11th April 2025
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Making a decision on mental capacity – Law Society’s Gazette
‘When does an individual lack mental capacity? Section 2(1) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) says ‘a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain’. And (per section 2(2)), it matters not whether the impairment or disturbance is permanent or temporary. Nevertheless, the capacity principles in section 1 of the MCA require (per section 1(2)) that a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity. Moreover (per section 1(4)): “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.” ‘
Law Society's Gazette, 11th April 2025
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘I didn’t trust the system’: lasting trauma of Windrush victim barred from UK for 10 years – The Guardian
‘Winston Jones, who for a decade was unable to return home from Jamaica, almost didn’t apply for compensation, fearing it was a trap.’
The Guardian, 14th April 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
Woman who smothered terminally ill dad sentenced – BBC News
‘A woman described as a “devoted daughter” has received a suspended prison sentence after she admitted the manslaughter of her terminally ill father.’
BBC News, 11th April 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Council fined £200k after man injured installing town’s Christmas tree – Local Government Lawyer
‘Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has been fined £200,000 after an employee was injured while installing the town’s 20-foot Christmas tree.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th April 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Bill to save British Steel plant becomes law after king’s approval – The Guardian
‘Proposals to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe blast furnaces have been granted royal assent after an extraordinary parliament sitting on Saturday.’
The Gurdian, 12th April 2025
Source: www.theguardian.com
Can reasonable endeavours which avoid/overcome a force majeure event include a requirement to accept an offer of non-contractual performance? – St John’s Buildings
‘This case note considers the Supreme Court judgment in RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV [2024] UKSC 18.’
St John's Buildings, April 2025
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
Regulating Artificial Intelligence: An essay by Joshua Daley – St John’s Buildings
‘There is little dispute that AI should be regulated. The UK government agrees,1 divisive tech moguls like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree,2 even AI itself agrees that “regulating Artificial Intelligence is crucial.”3 The perennial problem, is how. The following paper will argue that the UK should create a dedicated domestic AI Regulator (‘the Regulator’) which categorises AI systems based on their potential risk, concluding that the UK would derive significant benefits from shaping international regulatory standards.’
St John's Buildings, 9th April 2025
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
“What’s in a Name?” A Guide to Anonymity Orders in the Employment Tribunal – St Philips Barristers
‘What can you do if an employment claim would be jeopardised unless a person was granted anonymity?
The answer may be to apply for an anonymity order under Rule 49 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024. Those applications, however, face procedural and substantive hurdles as illustrated by the recent EAT decision in F v J.’
St Philips, 9th April 2025
Source: st-philips.com
Varying leases under s35 Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 – Tanfield Chambers
‘Ceri Edmonds discusses applying to vary a lease under section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and considers the decision in 56 Westbourne Terrace RTM Co Ltd v Polturak and others [2025] UKUT 88 (LC).’
Tanfield Chambers, 10th April 2025
Source: tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Transparency Orders – but can a parent tell their own story? – Transparency Project
‘Since January the transparency order is ‘a thing’, in that courts will usually make one in every case where a reporter attends a hearing. Such orders allow the anonymised reporting of a hearing or a case by the media.’
Transparency Project, 10th April 2025
Source: transparencyproject.org.uk
Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence: New Rules on Pay and Fees – Richmond Chambers
‘On 9 April 2025, new Immigration Rules under Appendix Skilled Worker came into force.’
Richmond Chambers, 10th April 2025
Source: immigrationbarrister.co.uk
Intermediaries: There is no warrant for overlaying the test of necessity – St Ives Chambers
‘On 10 April 2025 the Court of Appeal handed down judgement in Re M (A Child: Intermediaries) [2025] EWCA Civ 440 in respect of an appeal arising from the refusal of a Mother’s application for intermediary assistance in care proceedings. For the purposes of the appeal, the Association of Lawyers for Children and the Family Law Bar Association were intervened.’
St Ives Chambers, 10th April 2025
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
No misconduct by Coleen Rooney lawyers, says judge – BBC News
‘Coleen Rooney’s lawyers did not commit misconduct over her costs in the so-called Wagatha Christie row with Rebekah Vardy, a High Court judge has ruled.’
BBC News, 10th April 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
High Court hands down ruling on assessment of housing needs and pre-2018 applications – Local Government Lawyer
‘The High Court has confirmed that duties in section 189A of the Housing Act 1996 apply to homelessness applications under its Part 7 even when made before the section came into force in April 2018, lawyers involved in a case brought against the London Borough of Hillingdon have said.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th April 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Mental capacity and ‘opt out’ for organ donation: Principled presumptions? – Medical Law International
‘In recent years, Wales and England have introduced so-called ‘opt out’ organ donation systems with the passing of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 and Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019, respectively. Both Acts stipulate various excepted persons, including based on age, residency, and mental capacity. The mental capacity exception raises concerns as it is, we argue, at odds with our ordinary understanding of mental capacity per the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Whilst the Mental Capacity Act 2005 commits to a functionalist approach, the same cannot be said for the opt out legislation. Rather, both the opt out Acts create mental capacity exceptions that tacitly require the adoption of a status-based approach, which is reinforced by the accompanying Codes of Practice. This article therefore contributes to a body of literature that questions the supposed legal commitment to functionalism and to an aspect of the organ donation debate that has been neglected. We argue that the move to a status-based approach is a significant deviation and requires a clear supporting argument that remains absent. There is a short-term need, then, for the Codes of Practice relating to both the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and both opt out Acts to be revised and reduce the risk of confusion and error.’
Medical Law International, 28th February 2025
Source: doi.org
City council successfully defends adult social care charging policy at Court of Appeal – Local Government Lawyer
‘Birmingham City Council’s financial turmoil meant it was entitled not to reduce its charges for adult social care and the local authority did not breach the public sector equality duty, the Court of Appeal has found, declining to overturn a ruling last year by Mrs Justice Collins Rice.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th April 2025
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
