High Court ruling means that challenges to arbitral awards in court remain difficult if parties have agreed to arbitrate, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 20th, 2014 in appeals, arbitration, construction industry, news, tribunals by michael

‘A recent decision by the Technology and Construction division of the High Court has underlined how unlikely it is that a court will interfere with an award made by an arbitration tribunal.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th February 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Bedrooms and a family home – NearlyLegal

Posted February 19th, 2014 in appeals, benefits, children, families, housing, human rights, local government, news, tribunals by sally

‘A new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decision from Liverpool, again a successful one, and this time on wholly new grounds.’

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NearlyLegal, 18th February 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

‘Petite’ firearms officer wins sex discrimination case because gun was too big for her hands – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 18th, 2014 in appeals, firearms, news, police, sex discrimination, tribunals, women by sally

‘Victoria Wheatley, part of the armed unit which protects the Sellafield atomic complex, could not reach her weapon’s trigger’

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Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Policeman who smashed pensioner’s car window awarded £440,000 payout – The Guardian

Posted February 6th, 2014 in constructive dismissal, harassment, news, police, tribunals by sally

‘A police officer who chased and then smashed a pensioner’s car window has won £440,000 after a tribunal found he left his job after becoming a “laughing stock” among his colleagues when a video of the incident appeared online.’

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The Guardian, 5th February 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ian Brady – the Mental Health Tribunal’s decision commented upon by Denise Marson – Sovereign Chambers

‘On the 24th January 2014 the First-Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care)(Mental Health) published its reasons for the Tribunal’s decision regarding Mr Brady’s application for discharge which had received wide-ranging media attention at the latter end of 2013. Mr Brady’s application was to be discharged from Ashworth High Secure Hospital and be returned to prison. There was no possibility of him being discharged directly into the community by the Tribunal. He is now 75 years old.’

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Sovereign Chambers, 29th January 2014

Source: www.sovereignchambers.co.uk

Freedom of Information: But What is Information? The Upper Tribunal Opines – Panopticon

Posted January 29th, 2014 in appeals, disclosure, documents, freedom of information, interpretation, news, tribunals by sally

‘We all know that section 1 gives us a right to request information from listed public authorities, but what does “information” mean? Information is defined by section 84 of FOIA (“‘information’ (subject to sections 51(8) and 75(2)) means information recorded in any form”). This somewhat opaque definition has generally been treated as meaning that a request is for information. It is not for copies of documents. If the public authority wants to type out the document in a different format, they can, so long as the information contained within that document is provided.’

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Panopticon, 28th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Reed Employment Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs – WLR Daily

Posted January 27th, 2014 in appeals, equality, HM Revenue & Customs, law reports, repayment, time limits, tribunals, VAT by sally

Reed Employment Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs [2014] EWCA Civ 32; [2014] WLR (D) 23

‘Section 80(3) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994, as inserted, which gave the revenue a possible defence of unjust enrichment for claims made after 26 May 2005 for the recovery of overpaid VAT, without regard to the period in respect of which the claim was made, was not unlawful.’

WLR Daily, 23rd Janaury 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Upper Tribunal on bedrooms – NearlyLegal

Posted January 27th, 2014 in appeals, benefits, carers, housing, interpretation, local government, news, tribunals by sally

‘There has been some excited talk about an Upper Tribunal decision on a Local Housing Allowance appeal which apparently offered a definition of ‘bedroom’. Obviously, as an Upper Tribunal decision, this would be binding on First Tier Tribunals, even though addressing LHA rather than the bedroom tax.’

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NearlyLegal, 26th January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Personal data and fitness to practice investigations – Tribunal overturns ‘neither confirm nor deny’ position – Panopticon

‘When an identifiable individual has been the subject of a formal complaint about their competence or conduct, that fact constitutes their personal data. In terms of privacy/publicity decisions, such situations are often approached in this way: where the complaint is well founded or at least merits serious consideration, publication is warranted, but otherwise confidentiality is maintained, lest unjustified aspersions be cast against that person.’

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Panopticon, 17th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Council wins tribunal appeal over disclosure of legal advice and EIR – Local Government Lawyer

‘A local authority has won an appeal in the First-Tier Tribunal over an Information Commissioner decision that it should disclose legal advice related to the redevelopment of a town centre.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th January 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Personal data: Tribunal analyses the ‘relates to’ and ‘identification’ limbs – Panopticon

Posted January 10th, 2014 in benefits, complaints, data protection, freedom of information, news, tribunals by tracey

‘I have commented in previous posts on how infrequently the Data Protection Act 1998 has been the subject of substantive litigation before the courts. One consequence of this is persistent uncertainty over how pivotal concepts such as “personal data” are to be analysed and approached. Last year, the High Court in Kelway v The Upper Tribunal, Northumbria Police and the Information Commissioner (2013) EWHC 2575 (Admin) considered how “personal data” issues should be approached.’

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Panopticon, 9th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Putting it off – NearlyLegal

Posted January 9th, 2014 in housing, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Before I come to the facts of Scriven and others v Calthorpe Estates [2013] UKUT 469 (LC), I need, I think, to give a fair bit of background. Even by the comprehensive standards of NL, this is pretty obscure.’

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NearlyLegal, 8th January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Isa Muazu loses legal battle after starving self – BBC News

Posted December 17th, 2013 in asylum, demonstrations, deportation, immigration, mental health, news, tribunals by sally

‘A Nigerian asylum seeker who starved himself for three months has lost his legal bid to stay in the UK.’

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BBC News, 17th December 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (To Manage) – NearlyLegal

Posted December 17th, 2013 in housing, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘The right to manage provisions in Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 have been an incredibly fertile source of litigation. Thanks Parliament. No, really, thanks a lot. One reason might be the drafting of the legislation itself (as J has said, you could never accuse it of being user friendly) The challenges have focused on the two key elements – the qualifying criteria (or what I am loosely calling “qualifying criteria”) and the procedural requirements. The judicial trend in respect of both has been in favour of allowing the right to manage to be acquired, so far as possible (Exhibit 1 for qualifying criteria: Gala Unity v Ariadne Road; Exhibit 2 for procedure: Avon Freeholds v Regent Court RTM).’

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NearlyLegal, 16th December 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

What role does mediation play in social housing? – Hardwicke Chambers

‘At a case management hearing in the LVT (as it then was) back in March 2013, the chair said that, whilst normally he would direct that the parties to that dispute should attempt mediation, he was aware that it was “usually pointless” doing so where public funds are at stake as public bodies generally cannot justify the arbitrary reductions that can be necessary for a mediation to succeed, and fear creating some form of precedent. Misguided as I thought the chair was, it did seem likely that he might have been speaking from many years of experience.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Back & forth – New Law Journal

Posted December 12th, 2013 in employment, employment tribunals, fees, news, redundancy, tribunals by sally

‘Chris Bryden & Michael Salter discuss some of the key developments of 2013 & share a few predictions.’

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New Law Journal, 11th December 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Dental plan provided VAT-exempt ‘payment services’ to patients, Tribunal finds – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 10th, 2013 in dentists, health, news, tribunals, VAT by tracey

‘A dental payment plan provided to patients amounts to a “service for a consideration” for VAT purposes, but also falls within the payment services exemption under the VAT Directive, the First-Tier Tax Tribunal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th December 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Pokhriyal v Secretary of State for the Home Department Hussain v Same – WLR Daily

Pokhriyal v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Hussain v Same [2013] EWCA Civ 1568; [2013] WLR (D) 471

‘Paragraph 120B of Appendix A to the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules did not require that an academic institution accepting students from abroad for continuing studies under the points based system should expressly state that a proposed course constituted academic progress. The mere issue of a certificate of acceptance for studies constituted an assertion to that effect.’

WLR Daily, 5th December 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (MM and another) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mind and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted December 9th, 2013 in appeals, benefits, equality, law reports, mental health, tribunals by sally

Regina (MM and another) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mind and others intervening) [2013] EWCA Civ 1565 ; [2013] WLR (D) 469

‘The current process for assessing eligibility for employment and support allowance by way of a questionnaire and face-to-face interview placed mental health patients at a substantial disadvantage compared with other claimants. The Secretary of State therefore was under a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make a reasonable adjustment to accommodate them.’

WLR Daily, 4th December 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Mba, Article 9 and Indirect Discrimination – Employment Law Blog

‘Ms Eweida, you may recall, is the British Airways employee who wanted to wear a cross on a necklace over her uniform so that others could see it. She considered that that was a religious belief. Over-simplifying, doing what she wanted to do meant a breach of her employer’s dress code. Ms Eweida complained that, amongst other things, she was the victim of an act of indirect discrimination.’

Full story

Employment Law Blog, 5th December 2013

Source: www.employment11kbw.com