Peterborough sex attacks: Two men and three teens guilty – BBC News

‘Two men and three teenage boys have been found guilty of a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young girls.
Zdeno Mirga, 18, Hassan Abdulla, 33, and three boys were convicted at the Old Bailey. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was one of the “worst cases” of child sex abuse it had seen.’

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BBC News, 15th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lord Rennard cleared of sexually harassing Liberal Democrat women and says he wants his job back – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 16th, 2014 in burden of proof, harassment, news, political parties, professional conduct, women by sally

‘Lord Rennard has been cleared of sexually harassing Liberal Democrat party workers despite an independent review finding “broadly credible” evidence he “violated” the personal space of women.’

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Daily Telegraph, 15th Janaury 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Stewart and Natasha Sutherland fined for term-time holiday – BBC News

Posted January 16th, 2014 in costs, crime, education, fines, news, school children by sally

‘A couple who took their children on a week-long holiday during school term time have been ordered by magistrates to pay £1,000 in costs and fines.’

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BBC News, 15th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Fracking fears as landowners lay claim to ancient rights – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 16th, 2014 in energy, fracking, housing, land registration, news by sally

‘Fears that landowners could use ancient rights to allow fracking under people’s homes have been raised following the disclosure on Wednesday that more than 73,000 claims to manorial rights in England and Wales have been received by the Land Registry. The claims have resulted in thousands of home owners being sent letters informing them that landowners or institutions have the rights to mineral extraction under their property. This has raised fears the landowners could try to exercise those rights for mining or fracking.’

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Daily Teelgraph, 16th Janaury 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Buckingham Palace protester jailed – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 16th, 2014 in demonstrations, news, offensive weapons, sentencing, social security, trespass by sally

‘A man who staged a stunt in which he leapt over a vehicle barrier at Buckingham Palace armed with a knife as a protest against his Incapacity Benefit being stopped has been jailed for 16 months.’

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Daily Telegraph, 15th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Sex offence terms to be removed from internet addresses – BBC News

Posted January 15th, 2014 in domain names, internet, news, sexual offences by sally

‘All new web addresses registered in the UK will be screened for terms that signal or encourage serious sexual offences.’

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BBC News, 15th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Council wins tribunal appeal over disclosure of legal advice and EIR – Local Government Lawyer

‘A local authority has won an appeal in the First-Tier Tribunal over an Information Commissioner decision that it should disclose legal advice related to the redevelopment of a town centre.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th January 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Costs judge refuses relief despite “qualms” over sanction – Litigation Futures

Posted January 15th, 2014 in appeals, costs, news, penalties, practice directions by sally

‘A costs judge has refused relief from sanctions despite his “qualms” at the nature of the penalty for the breach involved.’

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Litigation Futures, 14th January 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

City solicitors struck off after private prosecution win High Court appeal – Legal Futures

‘Two City solicitors struck off following a rare private prosecution before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) have won a High Court battle that gives them a second chance to fight the allegations against them.’

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Legal Futures, 15th January 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Competition round-up: January 2014 – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted January 15th, 2014 in appeals, competition, conspiracy, EC law, injunctions, jurisdiction, news by sally

‘It is again time for a round-up of recent competition law developments which have caught our attention.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 14th January 2014

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Rendition to Libya an “act of state” and therefore non-justiciable – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Belhaj and another v Straw and Others [2013] EWHC 4111 (QB) 20 December 2013. The High Court has struck out claims against British establishment defendants for “unlawful rendition”. The doctrine of immunity attaching to an act of state is total bar to that such claims and is not limited by the gravity of the alleged violation of rights.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 14th January 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Interpreting legal language: can “he” truly be gender neutral? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted January 15th, 2014 in gender, interpretation, news by sally

‘Until the discovery of telepathy (or perhaps some sort of machine equivalent), we must rely on language as our way of conveying unambiguous meaning to each other. That need is particularly pressing when it comes to the law. So, it was refreshing to see a discussion on language in the House of Lords recently, when Lord Scott invited a debate on personal pronouns and their semantic infelicities in Acts and statutory instruments. Or, in plain English, when is a “he” also a “she” as a matter of law? This may not sound particularly confusing, but, because judges have always had to interpret the law as written (unless there is a compelling reason not to), it is important to remove as much ambiguity from the finished Act as possible.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 14th January 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Disclosure costs force CPS to drop drugs case – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence in a case of alleged conspiracy to supply class A drugs after the judge refused a prosecution application to adduce new evidence on the second day of the trial.’

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Law Society’s Gazette. 14th January 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Mitchell solicitor rules out Supreme Court appeal – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The solicitor for MP Andrew Mitchell has confirmed that the costs appeal case is unlikely to go to the Supreme Court. Graham Atkins, founding partner at London firm Atkins Thomson, told the Gazette he had looked to have the case heard at the higher court but was advised it would not be successful.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 14th January 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Amritsar massacre: David Cameron launches inquiry into ‘SAS involvement’ in 1984 Golden Temple killings – The Independent

Posted January 15th, 2014 in armed forces, documents, India, inquiries, news by sally

‘David Cameron says he has launched an urgent investigation after previously secret documents appeared to show possible SAS involvement in the 1984 Amritsar massacre.’

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The Guardian, 14th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Saudi Arabia ‘torture’ Britons told they cannot sue – BBC News

Posted January 15th, 2014 in appeals, damages, human rights, news, Saudi Arabia, state immunity, torture by sally

‘Four British men have failed to overturn a decision by the UK’s highest court which stopped them suing Saudi Arabia for alleged torture. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the men’s human rights had not been breached by the British court’s decision.’

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BBC News, 14th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Family judge ‘cannot control foreign media’ – BBC News

Posted January 15th, 2014 in anonymity, children, disclosure, family courts, foreign jurisdictions, judges, media, news by sally

‘A senior family judge says he cannot stop the foreign media from publishing the story of a Slovakian mother whose son has been placed into care.’

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BBC News, 14th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Police chief issues partial apology over Lawrence whistleblower documents – The Guardian

‘A police chief has issued a partial apology over his attempt to force Channel 4 to hand over documents about a whistleblower who revealed how undercover officers infiltrated the campaign to bring the killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice.’

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The Guardian, 14th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Minimum wage fine raised to £20,000 in UK – The Guardian

Posted January 15th, 2014 in fines, minimum wage, news by sally

‘Vince Cable, the business secretary, is to toughen the regulations to ensure that a new maximum fine of £20,000 could be levied for every worker denied the minimum wage. Under the previous system, employers faced just one maximum fine of £5,000 plus a financial penalty of 50% of the missing wages.’

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The Guardian, 15th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

War Crimes, Annoyance Injunctions, and the Whole Life Tariff Saga – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 14th, 2014 in armed forces, bills, human rights, injunctions, news, sentencing, war crimes by sally

‘This week, the International Criminal Court has received a dossier detailing the UK’s involvement in abuse in Iraq. Meanwhile, the House of Lords has put up a fight over the so-called “annoyance injunctions”, while the Government has sought to find a solution to the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling on whole life tariffs.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 13th January 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com