Secret court case application numbers more than double in a year – The Guardian

Posted October 16th, 2015 in closed material, intelligence services, news, public interest, statistics by sally

‘The number of official applications for secret court hearings more than doubled in the past year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice.’

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The Guardian, 15th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Courts likely to look for evidence that journalists have verified alleged defamatory statements, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 16th, 2015 in defamation, evidence, media, news, Privy Council, public interest by sally

‘Journalists seeking to rely on the new ‘public interest’ defence to a claim of defamation will still have to be able to prove that they have taken steps to verify the accuracy of what they have published, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th October 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

UK appeal court backs ‘deport first, appeal later’ policy for foreign prisoners – The Guardian

‘The Home Office won a key legal challenge on Tuesday over the “deport first, appeal later” policy, which removes the right of foreign prisoners to appeal against deportation from within the UK.’

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The Guardian, 13th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Government refuses to publish legal basis for air strikes on Syria – The Independent

‘Two Government departments have refused to publish the legal advice that paved the way for Britain to launch a drone strike on Isis targets in Syria.’

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The Independent, 9th October 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Privacy in Financial Remedies Proceedings – Family Law Week

Posted October 2nd, 2015 in divorce, family courts, news, privacy, public interest, reporting restrictions by tracey

‘David Bedingfield, barrister, 4 Paper Buildings, considers conflicting judicial attitudes to the vexed question of rights to privacy in financial remedies proceedings.’

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Family Law Week, 1st October 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Report: “Serious irreversible harm” test case heard in Court of Appeal

Posted September 28th, 2015 in appeals, asylum, bills, consultations, deportation, human rights, immigration, news, public interest by sally

‘This week, Lord Justices Elias, Richards and McCombe sat in the Court of Appeal and heard the first test cases against Section 94B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Section 94B, introduced by the Immigration Act 2014 and which came into force on 28th July 2014, provides the Home Office the power to certify human rights claims made by people liable to deportation, so they are not entitled to an appeal within the UK. Instead they are expected to bring their appeal from the country in which the Home Office propose deportation. This logic has been catchily titled “deport first, appeal later” and the Conservatives pledged in their manifesto to roll it out for all immigration appeals. Indeed, the Immigration Bill 2015, published last week on 17th September, does just that.’

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Free Movement, 25th September 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Gallagher-Appleton divorce triggers dispute over family court reporting – The Guardian

Posted September 23rd, 2015 in divorce, family courts, news, public interest, reporting restrictions by sally

‘The courtroom divorce battle between Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton has triggered a landmark legal dispute over what can be reported in the public’s interest from the family courts.’

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The Guardian, 22nd September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ofcom asked to investigate sting on ex-foreign secretaries – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2015 in media, news, parliament, public interest, standards by tracey

‘Channel 4 has asked the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, to investigate a cash-for-access sting on two former foreign secretaries after criticism over its reporting of the allegations. The parliamentary commissioner for standards cleared Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw, and said the damage done to the former MPs could have been avoided if Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Daily Telegraph had accurately reported the exchanges they had filmed.’

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The Guardian, 17th September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Indecent images: is the law out of control? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘On 3rd September 2015 the news reported the case of a 14 year old boy who took a naked photo of himself before sending it to a female classmate via Snapchat (a smartphone application that deletes a message or a photograph 10 seconds after it has been read). She took a screenshot of the photo and decided to send it to other people at school. A police officer based at the school became aware of the photo however. It was decided (obviously correctly) that it was not in the public interest to prosecute. However, he did have “the crime of making and distributing indecent images recorded against him”. It seems that this was a mandatory consequence of it coming to the notice of officialdom.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th September 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Indecent images: is the law out of control? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘On 3rd September 2015 the news reported the case of a 14 year old boy who took a naked photo of himself before sending it to a female classmate via Snapchat (a smartphone application that deletes a message or a photograph 10 seconds after it has been read). She took a screenshot of the photo and decided to send it to other people at school.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th September 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

No need to scour internet when assessing whether personal data is sensitive, UK tribunal rules – OUT-LAW.com

‘Businesses are not expected to scour the internet and other sources to check whether there is any information that, when linked with personal data they hold, would mean the data they hold is in fact sensitive personal data, according to a new UK ruling.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st September 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

BSB seeks power to fine barristers cleared by disciplinary tribunals – Legal Futures

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is seeking the power to impose fines of up to £1,000 on barristers cleared by disciplinary tribunals, it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 21st August 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lord Janner child sex abuse charges: Former Labour MP expected to appear in court – The Independent

‘Lord Janner is expected to appear in court to face child abuse charges after his lawyers lost a High Court bid to prevent him having to attend.’

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The Independent, 14th August 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Lord Janner child sex abuse charges: Making peer attend court would breach his human rights, lawyers argue – The Independent

‘Lord Janner should not appear in court to answer charges of child sex abuse because it would be a breach of his human rights, his lawyer has argued.’

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The Independent, 11th August 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Judge upholds anonymity of 14-year-old convicted of stabbing teacher – The Guardian

‘A judge has refused to allow the media to name a 14-year-old boy who admitted stabbing his teacher, saying the teenager’s welfare had to come before public interest in his crime.’

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The Guardian, 10th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Right to be Forgotten and the County Court – Panopticon

‘The right to be forgotten is beginning to generate some litigation, albeit not yet with any blaze of glory. Following on from the attempt to judicially review the ICO for refusing to try and enforce an individual’s complaint that his data rights were being breached (see here), earlier this week a claimant failed to get his right to be forgotten claim to fly before the Nottingham County Court.’

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Panopticon, 31st July 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Man loses ‘right to be forgotten’ Google court bid – BBC News

‘A man involved in a £51m VAT scam has lost a legal bid to have news stories about him removed from Google under the so-called “right to be forgotten”.’
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BBC News, 30th July 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

How Interesting? The public interest disclosure requirement of s.43B(1) of the Employment Rights Act – No. 5 Chambers

Posted July 27th, 2015 in disclosure, employment, news, public interest, whistleblowers by sally

‘Not everything that may be interesting to the public is likely to be ‘in the public interest’. But is that a commonly held or understood view? Does the retention of a subjective test in s.43B(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (detriment due to the making of a ‘public interest’ disclosure) mean that the purpose of the 2013 amendment to that section will not always achieve the intended aim?’
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No. 5 Chambers, 30th July 2015

Source: www.no5.com

Time to End the Time Debate – Panopticon

Posted July 27th, 2015 in freedom of information, news, public interest, rendition by sally

‘The apparently endless APPGER litigation has produced yet another decision of the Upper Tribunal for seasoned FOIA watchers, which amongst some very fact-specific issues, also contains two important clarifications of law: APPGER v ICO & FCO [2015] UKUT 377 (AAC).’

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Panopticon, 23rd July 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Council was entitled to refuse disclosure of planning documents, tribunal rules – OUT-LAW.com

‘The First-Tier Tribunal has dismissed an appeal and held that following a freedom of information request Aylesbury Vale District Council was entitled to refuse disclosure of correspondence between its solicitor and the planning department.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th July 2015

Source: www.out-law.com