British courts can impose whole-life prison sentences – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in human rights, news, sentencing by sally

‘British courts do have the right to impose whole-life tariffs on prisoners who are jailed for life, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.’

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BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Appeal: conditional fee agreement with consumer unenforceable if notice of right to cancel not given – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in appeals, consumer protection, contracts, fees, news by sally

‘A conditional fee agreement (CFA) that was signed at a client’s home, rather than at the lawyer’s office, was unenforceable because the client had not been given notice of her right to cancel, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.outlaw.com

Foreign nationals who pose a threat to national security may not be deported to Algeria because of human rights – Court of Appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in appeals, deportation, human rights, news by sally

‘BB, PP, U and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 9 (23 January 2015). This was an appeal by Algerian nationals who had been found by the Special Immigration and Appeals Commission (SIAC) to constitute a threat to UK national security, against deportation to Algeria.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Rehabilitation code “needs to deliver faster results” – Litigation Futures

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in codes of practice, delay, mental health, news, personal injuries, rehabilitation by sally

‘There should be tight deadlines on all parties to an injury claim – solicitors, insurers and rehabilitation providers – to ensure that rehabilitation achieves as much as it can, according to one well-known rehabilitation case management company.’

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Litigation Futures, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Wrongly accused man case reopened by North Wales Police – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in closed circuit television, evidence, news, police, taxis by sally

‘Police are to reopen a case into a taxi driver who sexually assaulted three women after the man initially convicted cleared his name. Mohammed Islam, 40, was found guilty of touching the women as he drove them home to north east Wales in his taxi.
But he paid for an expert to enhance CCTV which prosecutors had claimed showed his taxi – and it proved he had not been at the scene.’

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BBC News, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Children: Private Law Update (January 2015) – Family Law Week

‘Alex Verdan QC, of 4 Paper Buildings, reviews recent important judgments in private law children cases.’

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Family Law Week, 28th January 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Children held at Campsfield House immigration centre – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in children, detention, immigration, news, reports by sally

‘Three children were detained at a UK immigration centre despite a government commitment to end the practice, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons has found.’

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BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Innocent people’ on police photos database – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in data protection, news, police, privacy by sally

‘Police forces in England and Wales have uploaded up to 18 million “mugshots” to a facial recognition database – despite a court ruling it could be unlawful.’

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BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

University professors decry Theresa May’s campus anti-terrorism bill – The Guardian

‘More than 500 university professors have urged the home secretary, Theresa May, to urgently rethink her proposals to curb campus extremists.’

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The Guardian, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Thirsk slaughterhouse ‘attacks’ probed by FSA – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in animal cruelty, food, news, slaughter by sally

‘One man has been sacked and three others at a North Yorkshire slaughterhouse have had their operating licences suspended after hidden cameras filmed alleged mistreatment of animals.’

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BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

GP jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing children – Daily Telegraph

‘As Dr Hugh Blaise O’Neill is sentenced it is revealed that he is facing further allegations relating to “sexual conduct while in a position of trust”.’

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Daily Telegraph, 30th January 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court of Appeal slams judge for “unprincipled” approach to final care orders – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care orders, case management, children, judges, local government, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has sharply criticised a county court judge for adopting a “ruthlessly truncated” and “fundamentally unprincipled” process when he made final care orders at what the parties expected to be a directions hearing.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Magna Carta explained – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in human rights, legal history, magna carta, news, rule of law by sally

‘As the four original surviving copies of the Magna Carta are brought together under the same roof for the first time, here is a Q&A about the document.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Appointment to the bench is not a licence for judges to be gratuitously rude to those appearing before them – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care orders, case management, children, judges, local government, news by sally

‘HHJ Dodds is well known to readers of this blog. His style of case management was also analysed (and found wanting) by the Court of Appeal the following day in Re S-W (children) [2015] EWCA Civ 27 (30 January 2015). The judgments leave one to ponder whether these cases are a product of the stresses that have emerged from the greater expectations now put on the shoulders of judges to case manage litigation or whether, as previously discussed in this blog by David Hart QC here, it is a problem that arises with clever judges who find that they are, by temperament, not inclined to listen patiently to other people (generally considered to be a core part of the job description).’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 1st February 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Supreme Court: legal expenses insurance premium could not be recovered with costs – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, costs, expenses, insurance, news, proportionality, Supreme Court by sally

‘The successful party in a civil court case is not entitled to recover the cost of any ‘after the event’ (ATE) legal expenses insurance premium from an unsuccessful opponent, no mater how “reasonable” it was to have taken out the policy in the first place, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 30th January 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Court of Appeal: Solicitors cannot recover costs if CFAs failed to comply with cancellation regulations – Litigation Futures

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care homes, contracts, costs, fees, news, notification, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘Appeal judges have ruled that solicitors cannot recover their costs where conditional fee agreements (CFAs) fail to comply with the cancellation of contracts regulations, with a potential impact on a significant number of cases.’

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Litigation Futures, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Judge to see forensics that point to Tower Hamlets vote fraud – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in elections, expert witnesses, forensic science, fraud, news by sally

‘Evidence from an independent forensic scientist will form the centrepiece of a rare election fraud trial opening at the High Court on Monday.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

European Court to rule on ‘whole life tariff’ legality of triple murderer Arthur Hutchinson – The Independent

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, human rights, murder, news, rape, sentencing by sally

‘One of the UK’s most notorious killers will learn this week whether he has anything more than the faintest of hopes of ever leaving prison. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is set to rule whether triple murderer Arthur Hutchinson should be eligible for release from Frankland prison, Durham.’

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The Independent, 1st February 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

First judicial review over 2014 Act duties to disabled children reaches court – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge will this week hear what is being billed as the first judicial review to consider local authorities’ duties to disabled children following reforms brought in under the new Children and Families Act.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th January 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Googling Orgies – Thrashing out the Liability of Search Engines – Panopticon

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in data protection, defamation, EC law, internet, media, news, photography, privacy by sally

‘Back in 2008, the late lamented News of the World published an article under the headline “F1 boss has sick Nazi orgy with 5 hookers”. It had obtained footage of an orgy involving Max Mosley and five ladies of dubious virtue, all of whom were undoubtedly (despite the News of the World having blocked out their faces) not Mrs Mosley. The breach of privacy proceedings before Eady J (Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2008] EWHC 687 (QB)) established that the ‘Nazi’ allegation was unfounded and unfair, that the footage was filmed by a camera secreted in “such clothing as [one of the prostitutes] was wearing” (at [5]), and also the more genteel fact that even S&M ‘prison-themed’ orgies stop for a tea break (at [4]), rather like a pleasant afternoon’s cricket, but with a rather different thwack of willow on leather.’

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Panopticon, 30th January 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com