‘Parliament should review the law around rape cases where neither party can remember having sex, a military judge has suggested after clearing an Army major of attacking a female Captain.’
Daily Telegraph, 12th August 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A multifaceted complaint against legal educator BPP from students on its postgraduate solicitor programmes was formally submitted today.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th August 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘There are currently more than 11 million people in the UK with a criminal record. The latest research suggests that nearly three-quarters of ex-offenders are unemployed on release from prison, with 50% of employers saying they would not even consider hiring an ex-offender. This amounts to a second sentence for those who have already served their time, often trapping offenders in a cycle of reoffence. The Ministry of Justice estimates the total economic and social cost of reoffending at £18.1bn per year. The criminal records regime contributes to an extortionately expensive revolving door.’
The Guardian, 13th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A 17-year-old boy has been found guilty of the murder of a teaching assistant who was found buried in a shallow grave at the back of a cemetery after going on an afternoon walk.’
The Guardian, 12th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The case of R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police & Information Commissioner [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 (handed down on 11 August 2020) was an appeal from what is said to have been the first claim brought before a court anywhere on planet earth concerning the use by police of automated facial recognition (“AFR”) technology. There could be nothing wrong with posting scores of police officers with eidetic memories to look out for up to a 800 wanted persons at public gatherings. So why not use a powerful computer, capable of matching 50 faces a second with a database of (under) 800 suspects, to do this job much more cheaply and instantaneously, flagging any matches to a human operator for final assessment? According to the Court of Appeal in Bridges, this system constitutes an interference with Article 8 rights which is not such as is in accordance with the law, but which (critically) would be proportionate if a sufficiently narrow local policy were framed.’
UK Police Law Blog, 11th August 2020
Source: ukpolicelawblog.com
‘A local authority must cover the costs of redacting court documents which are being disclosed to a freelance journalist, the High Court has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 12th August 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Campaigners are calling for South Wales police and other forces to stop using facial recognition technology after the court of appeal ruled that its use breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A man has been found guilty of murder after stabbing a 20-year-old to death in a car park following a fight in a pub.’
BBC News, 11th August 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Following her summary dismissal for gross misconduct, the Claimant brought various claims against her former employer, including a claim of disability discrimination. A preliminary hearing was listed in July 2017 to determine whether she was disabled at the material time. The Claimant identified her disability as ‘Mixed Personality Disorder’, which she said, made her ‘somewhat obsessive’ and a bit of a ‘perfectionist’. She relied upon a report prepared by a Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Schuff, which had been prepared at some point in 2010. Dr Schuff declined to diagnose the Claimant as having a multiple personality disorder but described her as suffering with ‘problematic personality traits’. There was no reference to mixed personality disorder within the Claimant’s GP records until after she was dismissed.’
3PB, 3rd August 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘A two-part series from Laura Hoyano and John Riley modelling investigation and prosecution strategies in cases of abusive relationship offending. Part one of this worked case example shows the typical challenges, tactics to surmount them, and the need for innovative thinking.’
Counsel, August 2020
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘The lawyers and others who devise and market ineffective tax avoidance schemes are often breaking the law and a few legislative tweaks will make it easier to prosecute them, MPs have claimed.’
Legal Futures, 11th August 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Convicting all of the suspects in the racist gang of five or six people that killed Stephen Lawrence would have delivered justice for his family, and some measure of redemption for the Metropolitan police. Scotland Yard’s decision to close the case means neither will get what they longed for.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Online political advertisements could require labels for the first time under plans unveiled by the government, in an effort to inject more transparency into digital campaigning.’
The Guardian, 12th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The poisoning of the former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March 2018 was a truly shocking event. It was another throwback to the Cold War with the nerve agent, Novichok, playing the deadly role assumed by radioactive polonium in the 2006 assassination of Alexander Litvinenko in London.’
2 Hare Court, 6th August 2020
Source: www.2harecourt.com
‘Although the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) did not bring to the court’s attention a Supreme Court decision (that held a notice issued under a disclosure order could not be sent to someone outside the jurisdiction) that did not invalidate the disclosure order itself and the non-disclosure was not sufficient to merit the discharge of the disclosure order.’
5SAH, 30th July 2020
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘In a restructuring exercise the Respondent employer had sought to “map” the Claimant into a new role and did not treat her as redundant. The Claimant did not agree that her original role mapped to the new role and did not believe the new role was suitable for her. She considered it a role with lower status, fewer senior responsibilities, and a change of job content; she did not believe that it was 70% similar to her existing job. She resigned in protest, claiming constructive unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and a redundancy payment. The ET found that the new role was significantly different to the old role, and that the Respondent had breached the implied term of trust and confidence when it failed to consult, failed properly to assess the roles, and failed properly to address the Claimant’s grievance and appeal. The employer appealed. The EAT found that the ET was entitled to find that the Claimant was constructively dismissed. However, in finding that the dismissal was unfair, the ET had failed to direct itself that this was a separate issue, failed to address the issue of reason for dismissal and fairness, and/or failed to give proper reasons for its conclusion that the dismissal was unfair. There was, in fact, no disagreement between the parties that, if there was a dismissal, the reason was redundancy. The case would be remitted to the ET (to the same Employment Judge) to determine whether the dismissal on grounds of redundancy was unfair. The claims of wrongful dismissal and for a redundancy payment remained to be heard in the ET.’
3PB, 3rd August 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘A group of asylum seekers due to be flown out of the UK this week in a Home Office operation targeting people who arrived on small boats have launched a mass legal challenge to their removal, the Guardian has learned.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A judge has failed in his claim that he suffered discrimination, harassment and victimisation due to his race over how a complaint by a litigant was dealt with.’
Legal Futures, 10th August 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2020