Bamber ‘life term’ appeal starts in European court – BBC News

Posted November 28th, 2012 in appeals, human rights, murder, news, sentencing by sally

“Murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers will have their appeal against spending the rest of their lives in prison heard in the European Court of Human Rights later.”

Full story

BBC News, 28th November 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Does the internet mean game over for contempt of court? – The Guardian

Posted November 28th, 2012 in consultations, contempt of court, internet, juries, media, news by sally

“It is easy to argue that social media render the contempt laws unworkable. The challenge is to make current restrictions work.”

Full story

The Guardian, 28th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK Tour Report #13: Social media and the employment law implications with Sean Jones QC – Charon QC

Posted November 28th, 2012 in contempt of court, employment, internet, malicious communications, media, news by sally

“Today, I am talking with Sean Jones QC of 11 KBW, a leading employment and public law set. We look at the employment law implications for use of social media in some depth and discuss the important case of Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch).

We then move on to discuss practice at the Bar, the immediate to medium term prospects for barristers and Sean Jones QC provides some advice for prospective barristers.”

Full story

Charon QC, 27th November 2012

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Christopher Halliwell’s ‘lenient’ murder term is appealed – BBC News

Posted November 28th, 2012 in appeals, murder, news, sentencing by sally

“An appeal is to be launched into the ‘lenient’ sentence of a taxi driver who murdered an office worker in Swindon.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th November 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mossbourne students and the law: ‘Young people don’t know their rights’ – The Guardian

Posted November 28th, 2012 in human rights, legal education, news, young persons by sally

“Can a better understanding of the law help students in their everyday lives and encourage the idea that anyone can have a successful legal career?”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lord McAlpine and the high cost of tweeting gossip – The Guardian

Posted November 27th, 2012 in defamation, internet, media, news, publishing by sally

“The identification of Lord McAlpine on various Twitter accounts, notwithstanding the fact that he was not actually named on BBC’s Newsnight, is yet another example of the unrestrained power of social media in the internet age.”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK Tour Report #11: An interview with Toby Craig, Head of Communications, The Bar Council – Charon QC

Posted November 27th, 2012 in attorney general, barristers, diversity, fees, legal aid, news by sally

“The discussion with Toby Craig covered a number of controversial issues which members of the Bar have expressed concern to me about.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 22nd November 2012

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Child Sexual Exploitation Inquiry interim report – The Office of the Children’s Commissioner

Child Sexual Exploitation Inquiry interim report – I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner, November 2012

Source: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

Equalities: Two Years after the Equality Act 2010 – 11 KBW

“The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 was a landmark in non-discrimination law, bringing together (and making some amendments to) a myriad of different statutory regimes covering various types of protected characteristics. However, such is the nature of litigation, that very little appellate case law has, as yet, had cause to consider the provisions of the Equality Act in any detail. As a result, the very substantial developments which have taken or are taking place recently in the equalities field have tended to arise out of the previous legal regimes, or related regimes such as the European Convention on Human Rights.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 20th November 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Down the rabbit-hole: costs, the Comms Act and the Competition Commission – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted November 27th, 2012 in competition, costs, news, tribunals by sally

“Where an appeal to the Tribunal under section 192 of the Communications Act 2003 gives rise to specified ‘price control matters’, the CAT must hive them off for determination by the Competition Commission: see section 193(1) and SI 2004/2068. The CAT is then bound by section 193(6) to follow the Commission’s determination, except ‘to the extent that the Tribunal decides, applying the principles applicable on an application for judicial review, that the determination of the Competition Commission is a determination that would fall to be set aside on such an application’: section 193(7).”

Full story

Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 27th November 2012

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Errant councillors and the new standards regime – 11 KBW

Posted November 27th, 2012 in codes of practice, local government, news, sanctions by sally

“Up and down the country, local authorities have been putting in place new standards arrangements so as to comply with the Localism Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’) and the regulations made thereunder. The first hearings for dealing with allegedly errant councillors under the new standards regime are taking place.”

Full story

11 KBW, 20th November 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Update on Freedom of Information – 11 KBW

“This paper focuses on developments in the case law concerning freedom of information over roughly the last 12 months. The number of cases concerning freedom of information being decided has continued to grow at an exponential rate (in part due to successful efforts by the Information Commissioner (‘the IC’) to get on top of the case backlog faced by his office). The Information Rights Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) website contains the outcomes of over 220 appeals since the beginning of 2012 alone – and the vast majority of these are substantive decisions. There have also been seven Upper Tribunal (‘UT’) decisions, and one decision each from the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 20th November 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Tying ourselves into (Gordian) knots? – Thirty Nine Essex Street

“This paper seeks to take a step back from the intricacies of the DOLS regime that we have learned to know and, at best (I sense) tolerate since it was introduced in April 2009. Rather, it seeks to re examine the fundamental question of what constitutes a deprivation of liberty for purposes of Article 5(1) ECHR in the context of those without capacity to determine their own residence and care/treatment arrangements.”

Full story (PDF)

Thirty Nine Essex Street, November 2012

Source: www.39essex.com

Family Mediation – The option of first resort for separating couples? – Family Law Week

Posted November 27th, 2012 in arbitration, civil procedure rules, dispute resolution, divorce, families, news by sally

“Amina Somers, a consultant and mediator with Goodman Ray, asks whether the implementation of the Family Justice Review recommendations will see the court usurped by mediation as the primary dispute resolution process following relationship breakdown.”

Full story

Family Law Week, 26th November 2012

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Admission of hearsay evidence: the six principle questions – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted November 27th, 2012 in appeals, hearsay evidence, judgments, news by sally

“In R v Riat the Court of Appeal provided valuable guidance concerning the approach that the domestic courts should adopt when hearsay evidence is tendered in criminal proceedings.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 26th November 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Secret Courts remixed: any better than the original? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted November 27th, 2012 in bills, closed material, human rights, news, private hearings by sally

“This coming Wednesday sees the end of the first stage of the Justice and Security Bill’s passage into law. The Bill which would introduce Closed Material Procedures (CMP) – where one side of a case is excluded with his legal team and represented by a security cleared special advocate in cases involving national security – has become widely known as the Secret Courts Bill. Its progress has been closely scrutinised in this blog over the past six months.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 26th November 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Dead soldier’s fiancée wins right to paternity test – The Independent

Posted November 27th, 2012 in armed forces, DNA, news, paternity by sally

“A teenage mother has won the right to have her dead fiancé’s DNA tested to prove that he fathered their child before he was killed on military service in Afghanistan.”

Full story

The Independent, 27th November 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Do the new stalking laws show we are taking this crime seriously? – The Guardian

Posted November 27th, 2012 in bills, crime, harassment, news, stalking by sally

“All too often victims of stalking are not believed or their fears are brushed off – which in turn makes them less likely to come forward.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Criminal compensation – claims for minor injuries cut – BBC News

Posted November 27th, 2012 in compensation, criminal injuries compensation, news, victims by sally

“Violent crime victims who suffer minor injuries will not get compensation under changes which have come into effect in England, Wales and Scotland.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th November 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

College of Law to become the UK’s first for-profit university – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 27th, 2012 in education, legal education, news, universities by sally

“The privately-owned College of Law has been granted university status and will be renamed ‘The University of Law’, it has announced.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 26th November 2012

Source: www.out-law.com