Coronavirus: Court fine for Tesco queue rule breaker – BBC News
‘A man has pleaded guilty to breaching coronavirus social distancing rules by repeatedly approaching people in a supermarket queue.’
BBC News, 30th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: news
Met to face judicial review over role of school police officers – The Guardian
‘A London family has launched legal action over the role of police officers in schools, amid concerns that their presence could have disproportionately negative consequences for black and minority ethnic groups.’
The Guardian, 30th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
Court of Appeal rules for council in case on eviction for rent arrears against backdrop of domestic violence – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal over whether it was not reasonable for the appellant to stay in a property from which she was evicted for rent arrears given that there was evidence she had been subjected to domestic violence.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Draft in haste… Coronavirus restrictions and homelessness – Nearly Legal
‘Here are emergency regulations, The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, made today. These, amongst many other things, deal with what commercial premises may open, or must be closed, and – to the point here – restrictions on individual movement.’
Nearly Legal, 26th March 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Company wins High Court battle over business rates and subletting – Local Government Lawyer
‘A company was not liable for business rates on a building it does not wholly occupy, the High Court has found.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
High Court orders disclosure of DBA and funding – Litigation Futures
‘The High Court has ordered the claimants in a major group action to disclose details of both the damages-based agreement (DBA) and third-party funding arrangements they have entered into.’
Litigation Futures, 30th March 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Force majeure in 2020 – Law Society’s Gazette
‘While thousands of coronavirus sufferers around the world will be getting doctors’ notes to excuse them from work, Chinese businesses have been getting ‘force majeure certificates’ from their government to excuse them from contractual performance.’
Law Society's Gazette, 25th March 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Ombudsman suspends complaints enquiries of councils and care providers – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has suspended all casework activity that demands information from, or action by, local authorities and care providers, in light of the current coronavirus outbreak.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Coronavirus – new forms 3 and 6A for s8 and s21 – Nearly Legal
‘Now that the Coronavirus Act is in force (as of today 26 March 2020), the three month notice period applies to assure and assured shorthold tenancies (as well as secure, introductory, etc).’
Nearly Legal, 26th March 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Theodore Konstadinides and Lee Marsons: Covid-19 and its impact on the constitutional relationship between Government and Parliament. – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘The Coronavirus Act 2020, the UK’s most substantial legislative response to the Covid-19 pandemic, received Royal Assent yesterday after a fast-tracked procedure through both Houses. Indisputably, the pandemic falls within the range of situations under which it is constitutionally acceptable for Bills to be fast-tracked. While there is no corollary between an expedited piece of legislation and a bad piece of legislation, fast-tracking the Coronavirus Bill carries important implications for the constitutional relationship between Government and Parliament. Not least, parliamentarians had limited time to scrutinise legislation containing measures that have been described by the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law as ‘the most sweeping powers ever taken by the UK Government outside of wartime’. But, in this context, the implications for the balance between Government and Parliament extend beyond the immediate passage of the Act. Therefore, while Tierney and King stressed the dilemma between safeguarding public health and the protection of individual liberties vis-a-vis fast-tracked legislation, the purpose of this post is to outline a number of concerns provoked by this pandemic on the Government-Parliament relationship more broadly, while also making some comments on the Act itself.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th March 2020
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Substantial compliance just won’t do: Supreme Court on international data transfers under DPA Part 3 – Panopticon
‘Foreign fighters. Law enforcement cooperation with the US. The death penalty. A seven judge bench in the Supreme Court. Despite showing all the signs of a landmark public law decision, Elgizouli v Secretary of the State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 10 was a bit of a fizzer on that front. In the end, the real meat was in the DPA 2018’s regulation of law enforcement processing and international data transfers.’
Panopticon, 30th March 2020
Source: panopticonblog.com
Chris Packham begins legal case to halt HS2 amid coronavirus crisis – The Guardian
‘Chris Packham is seeking an urgent injunction to immediately halt HS2’s destruction of ancient woodlands as campaigners criticise construction teams for allegedly ignoring the government’s physical distancing rules for coronavirus and endangering local people.’
The Guardian, 27th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
Coroners’ Investigations, Inquests and COVID-19 – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The following post was written on the morning of 26 of March 2020. Today, 27th of March, the Chief Coroner brought out Guidance 35 on hearings during the pandemic (no. 35), with the proviso that all these issues will be kept under review.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 26th March 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Lawyers and HMCTS launch remote hearings resource – Legal Futures
‘A project has gone live enabling the global justice community to share experiences of developing remote alternatives to physical court hearings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, spearheaded by Professor Richard Susskind.’
Legal Futures, 30th March 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Police fine people over social distancing – BBC News
‘Police forces in England and Wales have fined people for ignoring guidance to prevent the spread of coronavirus.’
BBC News, 27th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Remote justice: a family perspective – Transparency Project
‘On Tuesday 17 March 2020, less than 24 hours after the Prime Minister’s announcement to the nation to avoid all non-essential contact due to COVID-19, I attended the first entirely remote hearing for the Court of Protection. I was there in a voluntary, non-official capacity to support someone I’ll call “Sarah”, whose father was at the centre of a serious medical treatment case.’
Transparency Project, 29th March 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
Majority of courts to close from Monday – Litigation Futures
‘Fewer than half of courts and tribunals will remain open for face-to-face hearings as part of efforts to maintain a “core justice system focused on the most essential cases”, the government has announced.’
Litigation Futures, 27th March 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Lockdown Regulations made: restrictions and police powers – UK Police Law Blog
‘The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 were made at 1pm on 26 March 2020 and are now in force. They contain sweeping restrictions never before seen in peacetime in the United Kingdom. They apply to England only and expire in 6 months. They revoke and replace the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020 – leaving the business closures in place.’
UK Police Law Blog, 26th March 2020
Source: ukpolicelawblog.com
Home Office to hold on evicting asylum seekers during lockdown – The Guardian
‘The Home Office will stop evicting asylum seekers from government accommodation for the next three months while the UK remains in coronavirus lockdown, the British Red Cross has said.’
The Guardian, 28th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
