Candy Crush (-es Holyoake) – Panopticon

Posted January 4th, 2018 in data protection, disclosure, news by sally

‘Readers of this blog will recall an important DPA judgment, particularly on the legal professional privilege exemption, which came out in January 2017 called Holyoake v Candy & CPC [2017] EWHC 52 (QB) (see the blogpost here). That case has, however, involved various pieces of satellite litigation including a 193 page judgment of Nugee J handed down just before Christmas in Holyoake & Hotblack v Candy & Candy & others [2017] EWHC 3397 (Ch).For some reason the parties to the extensive Chancery proceedings appear to have seen as most important the multi-million pound claims for misrepresentation, duress, unlawful means conspiracy, interference with economic interests, undue influence, breach of consumer credit legislation, breach of the rule against penalty clauses and the exotically named extortion under colour of due process. For very detailed and lengthy reasons which it is unnecessary to set out here, Nugee J rejected all of Mr Holyoake’s various claims. The judge made numerous adverse findings in respect Mr Holyoake’s performance as a witness, although it is fair to say that the Candy brothers did not escape without some measure of criticism either. (I should declare that I acted for Candy and CPC in the earlier DPA proceedings; although all of the Panopticon editors were on one side or the other.)’

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Panopticon, 29th December 2017

Source: panopticonblog.com

QC appointments remain male dominated, but women who apply more likely to succeed – Litigation Futures

Posted January 4th, 2018 in barristers, equality, news, queen's counsel, women by sally

‘Only 18% of applicants for silk this year were women, but they were far more likely to be appointed than men, it has emerged as 119 new QCs were named today.’

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Litigation Futures, 21st December 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Rules on properties requiring HMO licence to be strengthened from April – Local Government Lawye

‘Landlords renting properties in England occupied by five or more people, from two or more separate households, will need to hold a house of multiple occupation (HMO) licence from April 2018, Housing Minister Alok Sharma has announced.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd January 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MoJ spending huge sums on consultants to help deliver digital courts – The Guardian

Posted January 4th, 2018 in contracting out, courts, internet, judiciary, Ministry of Justice, news by sally

‘The Ministry of Justice is spending tens of millions of pounds on management consultants to help deliver online and digital court programmes that are designed to save money and improve access to justice.’

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The Guardian, 2nd January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law Pod UK Ep. 20: Assessing discrimination in faith-based state schools – 1 COR

Posted January 4th, 2018 in education, news, religious discrimination, sex discrimination by sally

‘Following Ofsted winning a judgment against an Islamic co-education state school, Rosalind English talks to Rajkiran Barhey about measuring unlawful discrimination in cases where two groups of students are treated equally, but separately, by their school.’

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Law Pod UK, 21st December 2017

Source: audioboom.com

Defendant entitled to withdraw admission after tenfold increase in claim, appeal judges rule – Litigation Futures

Posted January 4th, 2018 in appeals, damages, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A defendant was entitled to withdraw admission of liability in the face of a personal injury claim which rocketed in size from less than £25,000 to over £300,000, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 3rd January 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Revealed: Sudden increase in students enrolling on Bar training course – Legal Futures

Posted January 4th, 2018 in barristers, legal education, news by sally

‘There has been a surprise 14% increase in the number of students enrolling on the Bar professional training course (BPTC), it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge criticises prosecutors after another blunder in a sex case – Daily Telegraph

‘A judge has criticised prosecutors after they failed to hand over crucial evidence that could have exonerated a wealthy businessman standing trial for alleged sexual assault.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd January 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Freed to kill again – and again: Theodore Johnson and the truth about domestic violence – The Guardian

Posted January 4th, 2018 in domestic violence, murder, news, recidivists by sally

‘This week, Theodore Johnson pleaded guilty to murdering his ex-partner – the third woman he has killed. Is this a uniquely tragic triple crime, or a systemic failure to take domestic violence seriously?’

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The Guardian, 3rd January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Revealed: White students twice as likely as black counterparts to pass LPC – Legal Futures

‘Students from white backgrounds are almost twice as likely as those from black backgrounds to pass the legal practice course (LPC), a report by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed.’

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Legal Futures, 4th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Dating website eHarmony’s ‘scientific’ match ad banned – BBC News

Posted January 4th, 2018 in advertising, complaints, misrepresentation, news by sally

‘A dating website’s claim that it used a “scientifically proven matching system” to pair up those looking for love, has been banned.’

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BBC News, 3rd January 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Give paralegals rights of audience “so they can do more legal aid work” – Legal Futures

Posted January 4th, 2018 in legal aid, legal representation, news, paralegals, rights of audience by sally

‘Paralegals should be given rights of audience to enable them to do more legal aid work, an academic has argued.’

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Legal Futures, 4th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Law Pod UK Ep. 19: The High Court rules on a planning authority decision – 1 COR

Posted January 4th, 2018 in historic buildings, local government, news, planning by sally

‘Rosalind English talks to Charlotte Gilmartin about the implications of a recent High Court ruling overturning Hackney council’s decision to allow permission to demolish part of a historic canal side building.’

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Law Pod UK, 21st December 2017

Source: audioboom.com

Mediation: a better route to a good settlement? – Family Law

‘The Family Mediation Council (FMC) decided at the beginning of 2017 to put out three questions for consultation:
– Would the role of a mediator as an impartial third party in mediation be jeopardised by that mediator drafting a consent order, once a mediated agreement has been reached?
– Is it possible to draft a consent order without giving advice on its terms?
– Is it appropriate to draft a consent order without giving parties advice on its terms?’

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Family Law, 22nd December 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Police ‘ignoring’ needs of detainees on periods – BBC News

Posted January 4th, 2018 in detention, human rights, news, police, women by sally

‘Police are “routinely ignoring” the needs of women detainees on their periods, the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) has said.’

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BBC News, 4th January 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tribunal rules against total secrecy over UK drone strikes – The Guardian

‘The government’s power to block requests for information on national security grounds has been significantly curtailed by a tribunal ruling over targeted killings of British jihadists abroad.’

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The Guardian, 4th January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Christmas Break

Posted December 21st, 2017 in news by sally

There will be no posts during the Inner Temple Library’s Christmas closure period which starts at 2pm on 21st December. We will resume posting on 4th January 2017.

Happy Christmas and thanks for reading!

Restitution claims for failure to pay for aftercare services – Community Care Blog

Posted December 21st, 2017 in appeals, mental health, news, repayment, restitution, social services by sally

‘If an individual has in years past paid him or herself for mental health aftercare services, which should have been paid for by public bodies, does that person have a valid restitution claim to be refunded the monies spent? The Court of Appeal in Richards v Worcestershire County Council [2017] EWCA Civ 1998 has upheld the decision of Newey J at first instance, that a claimant can bring a private law action against public authorities under Part 7 of the CPR, when it is alleged that:
· the public authority was responsible for providing mental health aftercare services to the claimant pursuant to section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983;
· aftercare services were received by the claimant; and
· those services were paid for by the claimant themselves.
Such a claim would be brought in restitution, on the basis that the payments made by the claimant served to relieve the public authority of liabilities which they ought to have been bearing under section 117.’

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Community Care Blog, 18th December 2017

Source: communitycare11kbw.com

Alternative cremation option “on hold” – Law & Religion UK

Posted December 21st, 2017 in burials and cremation, news, regulations, water, water companies by sally

‘On 18 December 2017 the BBC reported ‘Water cremation’ plans on hold over environmental fears following an earlier refusal* by Severn Trent Water to grant a trade effluent permit to Sandwell Council who wished to operate an alkaline hydrolysis plant (“resomation”) for the disposal of human remains.’

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Law & Religion UK, 21st December 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Final account payments: welcome guidance from the TCC – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted December 21st, 2017 in construction industry, contracting out, contracts, news, remuneration by sally

‘Nearly 20 years after the Construction Act 1996 was introduced to stamp out bad payment practices, you would be forgiven for thinking there must be a voluminous pile of case law in relation to the all-important final account. But you would be disappointed. While there is plenty of guidance from the TCC on interim payments, the courts have not had much to say about final accounts, particularly post 2011. This is why Systems Pipework Ltd v Rotary Building Services Ltd is so welcome. Coulson J draws together the authorities on interim and final account payments and concludes (in a characteristically clear and to the point judgment) that the same rules apply to both.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 20th December 2017

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com