Scotland Yard to publish long awaited report into disastrous handling of ‘Nick’ case – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 2nd, 2019 in child abuse, news, police, reports, sexual offences by sally

‘Scotland Yard is to publish the long awaited report by Sir Richard Henriques into its disastrous handling of the Operation Midland investigation on Friday, it has confirmed.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st October 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

HMP Coldingley prisoners ‘throw human waste out of cell windows’ – BBC News

Posted September 26th, 2019 in health & safety, news, prisons, reports by tracey

‘Prison inmates have been resorting to throwing human waste out of their cell windows because of a lack of toilets, a report has found. The Independent Monitoring Board said it was “appalled at the lack of in-cell sanitation” at Surrey’s HMP Coldingley.’

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BBC News, 26th September 2019

Source: www.innertemplelibrary.com

Report on legal services regulation presents case for further reform – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 18th, 2019 in consumer protection, legal services, Legal Services Board, news, reports by tracey

‘The potential harm to consumers arising from enduring weaknesses in legal services regulation justifies further reform, says a report published today by University College London’s Centre for Ethics and Law.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th September 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Illegal work practices ‘far too common’ says think tank study – BBC News

Posted September 16th, 2019 in employment, employment tribunals, holiday pay, news, remuneration, reports, young persons by tracey

‘About one in 20 workers does not get paid holidays, while one in 10 does not get a payslip, according to a report by the Resolution Foundation think tank.’

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BBC News, 16th September 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Report on special guardianship orders urges changes in mindset, regulations and protocols – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 16th, 2019 in carers, children, guardianship, news, reports by tracey

‘The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory has called for major changes to special guardianship orders (SGOs) to ensure that family members who become carers have direct experience beforehand of looking after the child concerned. Its research review was undertaken in response to the Court of Appeal’s call for authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the use of SGOs.’

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Local Government Lawyer,16th August 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Police agree to publish full report into disastrous VIP sex abuse inquiry sparked by Carl Beech’s claims – Daily Telegraph

‘Scotland Yard has finally agreed to publish the damning report into its disastrous handling of the VIP paedophile investigation.’

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Daily Telegraph, 6th August 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Report calls for reform to special guardianship to protect and support children and carers – Family Law

Posted August 6th, 2019 in children, guardianship, news, parental responsibility, reports by tracey

‘A recent report calls for significant changes to Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), which includes ensuring family members who might become carers have direct experience of looking after the child before the court order is made. The review was commissioned by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory in response to the Court of Appeal’s call for authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the use of SGOs. It was led by Dr John Simmonds from CoramBAAF and Professor Judith Harwin from Lancaster University.’

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Family Law, 5th August 2019

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Improving Access to Justice: Community-based Solutions – Asian Journal of Legal Education

Posted August 5th, 2019 in equality, legal representation, legal services, pro bono work, reports by tracey

‘Inaccessibility to justice is a major issue internationally, and in some countries access to justice has decreased in recent years. For example, the growth of inequality and decline of state support have left access to justice in the UK and the US in a worst state in decades. There is therefore an urgent need to find solutions to protect peoples’ rights. This paper outlines key issues of access to justice, and identifies a number of solutions – from grass-root efforts to organizational changes. The paper highlights the importance of community-based solutions, such as mass pro bono contributions from individuals, law service providers and
other organizations.”

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Asian Journal of Legal Education, May 2019

Source: https://research.gold.ac.uk/

Robert Thomas and Joe Tomlinson: How Immigration Judicial Review Works – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted July 31st, 2019 in human rights, immigration, judicial review, news, reports by sally

‘Two years ago on this blog, we drew attention to the immigration judicial review system—by far the most active area of judicial review litigation and the vast majority of all judicial reviews in England and Wales. In that post, we identified why there was a pressing need for further empirical exploration of the topic: not only was there a lack of understanding of litigation patterns but, on the basis of the evidence available, it seemed there was an issue of whether disputes were being channelled appropriately to judicial review (Paul Daly’s reflections on this post are available here). Since then, we have set about trying to build the evidence base that we argued was necessary to advance understanding. We collected data on the types of immigration judicial review claims and the views and experiences of people involved in the system. Our approach to the research was to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. We then combined the data gathered through these methods to inform our analysis. Our data included case-file analysis of Upper Tribunal judicial review cases and interviews with judges, representatives, users of the system, and others. We also undertook observations. Our full findings are set out in a detailed report, which we are publishing today. In this post, we provide a summary of our key conclusions.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 1st July 2019

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Police failing to solve crimes committed against elderly people, report finds – The Independent

Posted July 17th, 2019 in criminal justice, elderly, news, police, prosecutions, reports, victims by tracey

‘Police are failing to solve crimes committed against elderly people and letting perpetrators walk free, watchdogs have warned. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate found that care for older victims was not good enough in more than half of cases examined.’

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The Independent, 17th July 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Rural domestic abusers being protected by countryside culture – The Guardian

Posted July 17th, 2019 in domestic violence, news, police, reports, women by tracey

‘Rural women enduring domestic abuse are half as likely as urban victims to report their suffering and are being failed by authorities with perpetrators shielded by countryside culture, a report says.’

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The Guardian, 17th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘White middle-aged men’ leading armed forces blamed for bullying culture in new report – The Independent

‘Servicemen and women are facing “unacceptable” levels of inappropriate behaviour in part due to the “pack mentality of white middle-aged men” commanding the armed forces, a report says. A “significant number” of military personnel have experienced “bullying, discrimination and harassment, including sexual”, according to the research commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).’

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The Independent, 16th July 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Yarl’s Wood: Trafficking victims ‘detained for months’ – BBC News

Posted July 9th, 2019 in detention, forced labour, news, reports, trafficking in human beings by sally

‘The Home Office is “refusing to protect” victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, a report has said.’

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BBC News, 9th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

LSB report: Buy-in vital for legal technology regulation – Legal Futures

‘Achieving buy-in for technology regulation from everyone involved in lawtech – from developers to users – is crucial to it working well, a new analysis has suggested.’

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Legal Futures, 8th July 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Poverty in the UK is violating human rights. What’s next? – Oxford Human Rights Hub

Posted July 9th, 2019 in human rights, news, poverty, reports by sally

‘Last week, we presented the findings of our investigation into poverty in the United Kingdom to the UN Human Rights Council. Some have asked why the UN Special Rapporteur on poverty would visit the UK, the fifth largest economy in the world. But 14 million people live in poverty, and in recent years the UK has seen a rise in poverty among many groups, including children and pensioners, as well as alarming increases in homelessness, foodbanks, and in-work poverty. Since 2010, widespread and regressive cuts to social support under the rubric of austerity have made life worse for too many and have violated the UK’s human rights obligations.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 5th July 2019

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Ombudsman urges councils to check procedures when dealing with people with ‘hidden disabilities’ – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 3rd, 2019 in disabled persons, local government, London, news, ombudsmen, reports by sally

‘The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman has called on councils to check their procedures to avoid disadvantaging people with ‘hidden disabilities’, following the publication of three separate investigation reports into London councils.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd July 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Chris Grayling’s privatisation of probation service ‘a disaster’ – The Guardian

Posted July 1st, 2019 in contracting out, news, probation, reports by sally

‘The extent of Chris Grayling’s botched privatisation of the probation service is exposed by research which brands it an “unmitigated disaster” that left the public at greater risk from ex-offenders released from jail.’

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The Guardian, 30th June 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Domestic workers face heightened slavery risk in UK, warns EU study – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2019 in forced labour, human rights, news, reports by sally

‘An EU agency has highlighted the heightened risk of foreign domestic workers in the UK enduring slavery-like conditions but conceded its pan-European study of labour conditions had been impeded by “mafia networks”.’

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The Guardian, 25th June 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Hundreds more cases in Shropshire baby deaths review – BBC News

Posted June 25th, 2019 in birth, children, hospitals, midwives, news, reports by sally

‘The number of cases uncovered by a maternity review at hospitals in Shropshire has more than doubled.’

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BBC News, 24th June 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Birmingham Archdiocese let children be abused and harboured paedophile priests ‘to protect its own reputation’ – The Independent

Posted June 21st, 2019 in child abuse, clergy, inquiries, news, reports, sexual offences, victims by tracey

‘Birmingham’s Catholic church protected paedophile priests and allowed child sex abuse to continue in order to preserve its own reputation, a damning inquiry has found.’

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The Independent, 20th June 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk