Court of Appeal refuses blogger permission to appeal in libel case – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 10th, 2014 in appeals, defamation, harassment, internet, news, perverting the course of justice by sally

‘The Court of Appeal last month refused a blogger permission to appeal in her libel claim against a council and its chief executive, it has emerged.’

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Local Government Lawyer,  6th January 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MLA guidelines for foreign authorities – Home Office

Posted January 10th, 2014 in criminal procedure, foreign jurisdictions, judiciary, news by sally

‘These guidelines describe mutual legal assistance (MLA) that can be provided by the UK.’

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Home Office, 6th January 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Personal data: Tribunal analyses the ‘relates to’ and ‘identification’ limbs – Panopticon

Posted January 10th, 2014 in benefits, complaints, data protection, freedom of information, news, tribunals by sally

‘I have commented in previous posts on how infrequently the Data Protection Act 1998 has been the subject of substantive litigation before the courts. One consequence of this is persistent uncertainty over how pivotal concepts such as “personal data” are to be analysed and approached. Last year, the High Court in Kelway v The Upper Tribunal, Northumbria Police and the Information Commissioner (2013) EWHC 2575 (Admin) considered how “personal data” issues should be approached.’

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Panopticon, 9th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

UK firm fined £25,000 for failure to monitor, supervise and manage its appointed representatives – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 10th, 2014 in financial regulation, fines, insurance, news, unfair commercial practices by sally

‘A firm has been fined £25,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the misconduct of two of its sales staff acting as its ‘appointed representatives’ (ARs). Amongst other cases of misconduct, the ARs were found to have used “high-pressure sales tactics and misleading information” to push vulnerable customers into buying insurance policies.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 8th January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Bias has ‘significant’ effect on verdicts, jury research says – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 10th, 2014 in bias, burden of proof, juries, news, verdicts by sally

‘Jurors should be tested before trials to reduce the effect of prejudices on their understanding of the burden of proof, according to the authors of a study suggesting bias has a “significant” impact on verdicts.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 10th January 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Police officer Christopher Semak jailed for sexual activity with girl, 14 – BBC News

Posted January 10th, 2014 in child abuse, news, police, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences by sally

‘A police officer who engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl has been jailed for six years.’

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BBC News, 9th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

16-year legal battle over laptop reaches UK supreme court – The Guardian

Posted January 10th, 2014 in banking, consumer credit, contracts, news, sale of goods, Supreme Court by sally

‘All Richard Durkin wanted was a laptop with an inbuilt modem. But what he ended up with was an epic 16-year legal tussle, a £250,000 bill for legal fees and, now, a date at the supreme court. The 44-year-old married father of two has been engaged in a David-and-Goliath battle against the bank that he says “annihilated” his credit rating after he walked into his local PC World to buy a £1,500 laptop in 1998.’

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The Guardian, 9th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bedroom tax loophole could exempt 40,000 wrongly identified as liable – The Guardian

Posted January 10th, 2014 in benefits, government departments, housing, news by sally

‘Thousands of people have been wrongly identified as liable for the bedroom tax, including some who now face eviction or have been forced to move to a smaller property, as a result of an error by Department of Work and Pensions. Housing experts believe as many as 40,000 people could be affected by the mistake. The DWP says it believes only a “small number” of tenants are affected, which it estimates number 5,000.’

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The Guardian, 9th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Illegal tobacco seller Roger Gerrey sold cigarettes to children – BBC News

‘A man who turned his Devon home into a shop selling illegal cigarettes to school children has been spared a jail sentence.’

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BBC News, 9th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Drug-dealing father of 22 spared jail to care for son – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 10th, 2014 in drug offences, families, news, sentencing, suspended sentences by sally

‘Drug-dealing father who has 22 children with 11 women has sentence suspended after judge ruled he needed to help his girlfriend look after their seven-month-old baby.’

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Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Life terms plan for terrorists in training – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 10th, 2014 in imprisonment, news, parole, sentencing, terrorism by sally

‘Maximum sentences for a range of terrorism offences including weapons training will be upgraded from 14 years to life, the Telegraph can reveal.’

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Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Parkside Nursing Home deaths: Police to review evidence – BBC News

Posted January 10th, 2014 in care homes, care workers, disciplinary procedures, elderly, evidence, news by sally

‘Police are to review evidence given at a tribunal after five “severely” neglected patients died in two weeks at a Northampton home.’

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BBC News, 9th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Metropolitan police corruption report prompts call for inquiry – The Guardian

Posted January 10th, 2014 in bribery, corruption, news, police, reports by sally

‘The head of the Metropolitan police will be asked to ensure corruption no longer exists in the force after a confidential report into organised crime infiltrating Scotland Yard was leaked to a newspaper. The report said organised criminals “were able to infiltrate Scotland Yard at will by bribing corrupt officers”, according to the results of the secret internal report written in 2002.’

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The Guardian, 10th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

MacLennan v Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) plc – WLR Daily

Posted January 9th, 2014 in civil procedure rules, evidence, law reports, news, witnesses by sally

MacLennan v Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) plc [2013] EWHC 4044 (QB); [2013] WLR (D) 509

‘The power to prohibit the calling of witnesses under CPR r 32.2(3) sat towards the more extreme end of the court’s powers and was a power to be considered after less intrusive measures had been considered and rejected.’

WLR Daily, 17th December 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Jack Alaric Simson Caird: A Code of Constitutional Standards – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted January 9th, 2014 in constitutional law, news, reports, select committees by sally

‘The Constitution Unit of University College London is today publishing a report which sets out a code of constitutional standards based on the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. Since 2001 the Committee has made many recommendations in its reports, and the goal of this report was to codify these recommendations in order to make the Committee’s analysis of the constitution more accessible. The report, by Robert Hazell, Dawn Oliver and myself, contains a code of 126 constitutional standards, each of which is relevant to the legislative process, and each of which has been extracted from the 149 reports of the Constitution Committee that were reviewed. The standards are organised into five sections: the rule of law; delegated powers, delegated legislation and Henry VIII clauses; the separation of powers; individual rights; and parliamentary procedure.’

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 8th January 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionalgroup.org

Putting it off – NearlyLegal

Posted January 9th, 2014 in housing, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Before I come to the facts of Scriven and others v Calthorpe Estates [2013] UKUT 469 (LC), I need, I think, to give a fair bit of background. Even by the comprehensive standards of NL, this is pretty obscure.’

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NearlyLegal, 8th January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Reporting restrictions at courts martial: the need for a structured approach – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 9th, 2014 in courts martial, news, reporting restrictions by sally

‘On 15 September 2011 a patrol of Royal Marine Commandos were involved in an incident, which resulted in one of them, referred to as “Soldier A”, shooting dead an armed but seriously wounded Taliban fighter. Evidence of the shooting emerged later and five members of the patrol were eventually charged with murder. The charges against two of them were later dropped but the three remaining marines were tried for murder before the Court Martial. On 8 November 2013, Soldier A was found guilty of murder.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 8th January 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Criminal barristers’ earnings – a new low in government strategy – Legal Futures

Posted January 9th, 2014 in barristers, fees, industrial action, news, remuneration, statistics by sally

‘After what seems an all too brief season of peace and goodwill, hostilities between the government and criminal lawyers have rapidly resumed, and appear to have taken a more sinister turn.’

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Legal Futures, 9th January 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Smacking: what is the law and should it be changed? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted January 9th, 2014 in corporal punishment, crime, news, violence by sally

‘In an interview with the Independent, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Maggie Atkinson, has expressed her view that smacking should be banned. “Because in law you are forbidden from striking another adult, and from physically chastising your pets”, she said, “but somehow there is a loophole around the fact that you can physically chastise your child.”’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 8th January 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Ministers respond to ruling on ‘life means life’ sentences – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 9th, 2014 in courts, human rights, news, sentencing by sally

‘Government will send Europe initial response to controversial Strasbourg ruling which said “whole life” tariffs are a breach of human rights.’

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Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk