Are some rights to private life just not cricket? – Legal Week

Posted January 10th, 2012 in human rights, immigration, judgments, news, tribunals by sally

“Given previous poor reporting of human rights cases, alarm bells began to ring when the Sunday Telegraph recently reported student Abdullah Munawar’s appeal on human rights grounds against a refusal to grant him leave to stay in the UK, citing his playing cricket as a reason he had a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

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Legal Week, 10th January 2012

Source: www.legalweek.com

Ken Clarke warned plan to curb open justice is flawed – The Guardian

Posted January 9th, 2012 in closed material, costs, investigatory powers, news, tribunals by tracey

“Britain’s most secretive court has warned the government that plans to restrict open justice in sensitive civil claims cases are seriously flawed and likely to incur excessive costs. Criticising the central thrust of Ken Clarke’s justice and security green paper, judges and members of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal say proposals for expanding ‘closed material procedures’ into other courts have not been thought through sufficiently.”

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The Guardian, 8th January 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ryanair Holdings Ltd v Office of Fair Trading and another – WLR Daily

Posted January 5th, 2012 in airlines, appeals, competition, law reports, limitations, news, tribunals by tracey

Ryanair Holdings Ltd v Office of Fair Trading and another; [2011] EWCA Civ 1579;  [2011] WLR (D)  392

“The Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules granted a power to suspend the running of time, with regard to an investigation by the OFT, as a matter of urgency and in order to protect the public interest.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

TUPE service provision protections cannot apply where client also changes, tribunal says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 3rd, 2012 in news, transfer of undertakings, tribunals by tracey

“Employees of a service provider cannot take advantage of legal protections designed to ensure their rights are not affected when the company they work for is taken over by a new owner when the client that services are being provided to changes at the same time, a tribunal has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 23rd December 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

BEWARE statutory time limits to appeal: if you are late, you are out – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 1st, 2011 in appeals, news, time limits, tribunals by sally

“Any lawyer dealing with civil or criminal cases tends to think that, if there is a time limit for doing something in the case, then if that thing does not get done on time, the court may be lenient if there is good reason for extending time. The problem comes where the court is only given power to hear an appeal by a specific set of rules, and the rules say, for instance: you must appeal within 14 days of the decision. In the statutory context, that may mean precisely what it says. And the court, however sympathetically inclined, cannot do otherwise and allow a late appeal.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 30th November 2011

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Regina (Modaresi) v Secretary of State for Health and others – WLR Daily

Posted November 25th, 2011 in law reports, mental health, service, time limits, tribunals by sally

Regina (Modaresi) v Secretary of State for Health and others [2011] EWCA Civ 1359; [2011] WLR (D) 340

“The 14-day period allowed to a detained mental patient to lodge an application with the Mental Health Review Tribunal as provided by section 66 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and rule 32(1) the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 was not to be considered to have expired where, though sent by fax on the last working day within the period, it was not in fact received by the tribunal until the next working after an intervening holiday period during which the 14-day time limit had expired.”

WLR Daily, 23rd November 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Expert welcomes court’s refusal to overturn arbitration award – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 17th, 2011 in appeals, arbitration, international law, news, tribunals by tracey

“OPINION: Companies can breathe a sigh of relief that the UK courts have underlined the integrity of international arbitration cases which are heard in the UK. Courts have confirmed that, largely, they will refuse to overturn arbitration awards.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th November 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

The law-making process: could do better! – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 31st, 2011 in employment, government departments, legislative drafting, news, tribunals by sally

“‘Good regulation is a good thing’ is the trite introduction to the government’s red tape challenge, before saying we have too much of the other sort. The proposition is that reducing the quantity of regulation is the answer. This is myopic because if quantity is one possible burden on business, so is poor quality law. Poor quality is not about political or policy disagreements, but simply the production of badly-drafted law that is difficult to understand, because it is too complex or simply unclear.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 28th October 2011

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Psychiatric patient loses groundbreaking appeal – The Guardian

Posted October 27th, 2011 in appeals, detention, mental health, news, tribunals by sally

“The first psychiatric patient to have an appeal against detention heard in public lost his legal battle to be freed from Broadmoor hospital on Wednesday.”

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The Guardian, 26th October 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Independent Schools Council) v Charity Commission for England and Wales (National Council for Voluntary Organisations and another intervening); Attorney General v Charity Commission for England and Wales and another – WLR Daily

Posted October 25th, 2011 in charities, education, law reports, tribunals by sally

Regina (Independent Schools Council) v Charity Commission for England and Wales (National Council for Voluntary Organisations and another intervening); Attorney General v Charity Commission for England and Wales and another [2011] UKUT 421 (TCC); [2011] WLR (D) 301

“Guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales included errors of law in respect of the public benefit requirement contained in the Charities Act 2006 on independent schools which charged fees. Whether the public benefit requirement was satisfied depended on the facts of each case. The correct approach was to look at what a trustee, acting in the interests of the community as a whole, would do in all the circumstances of the particular school under consideration and to ask what provision ought to be made once the threshold of benefit going beyond the de minimis or token level had been met. There was no reason why the provision of scholarships or bursaries to students who could pay some, but not all, of the fees should not be seen as for the public benefit. Provided that the operation of the school was seen as being for the public benefit, with an appropriate level of benefit for the poor, a subsidy to the not so well off was to be taken account of in the public benefit.”

WLR Daily, 13th October 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (Kaur) v Institute of Legal Executives Appeal Tribunal and another – WLR Daily

Regina (Kaur) v Institute of Legal Executives Appeal Tribunal and another [2011] EWCA Civ 1168; [2011] WLR (D) 298

“Judges should not sit or should face recusal or disqualification where there was a real possibility on the objective appearances of things, assessed by the fair-minded and informed observer, that the tribunal could be biased. The vice-president of the Institute of Legal Executives (‘ILEX’) ought not to have been a member of a disciplinary appeal tribunal set up by the institute to deal with breaches of its rules. Her leading role in the institute and her inevitable interest in its policy of disciplinary regulation should have disqualified her because the fair-minded and informed observer ought to have or would have concluded that there was a real possibility of bias.”

WLR Daily, 19th October 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Watchdog warns of difficulty over challenging state decisions – The Guardian

Posted October 21st, 2011 in complaints, news, ombudsmen, tribunals by tracey

“The government is making it more difficult for the public to challenge decisions made by the state, the official watchdog for complaints has warned.”

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The Guardian, 21st October 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Police right not to release anonymised sex offender statistics on teachers, Tribunal rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 27th, 2011 in anonymity, freedom of information, news, sexual offences, statistics, tribunals by sally

“Police did not have to disclose anonymised data about the number of teachers investigated and charged for sexual offences as the information could have been used to identify individuals, a Information Rights Tribunal has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 26th September 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Broadmoor patient becomes first to have his appeal heard in public – The Guardian

Posted September 26th, 2011 in mental health, news, private hearings, secure hospitals, tribunals by sally

“A man detained at Broadmoor high-security hospital has spoken of his ‘determination to get heard’ ahead of becoming the first psychiatric patient to have an appeal against detention open to the public.”

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The Guardian, 25th September 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Broadmoor patient fighting for right to tell his story – The Independent

Posted September 23rd, 2011 in mental health, news, private hearings, secure hospitals, tribunals by tracey

“After two decades at the psychiatric hospital, Albert Haines is making legal history in his bid to be free. Jerome Taylor met him.”

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The Independent, 23rd September 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Squatters could be good for us all, says judge in empty homes ruling – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 6th, 2011 in freedom of information, housing, local government, news, squatting, tribunals by sally

“Squatters are not criminals and could be good for society, a judge has ruled in ordering a London council to make public a list of empty homes in its area.”

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Daily Telegraph, 6th September 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Lump sum motoring expenses subject to NICs if not linked to mileage, tribunal says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 1st, 2011 in national insurance, news, tribunals by sally

“Employers will have to be more careful about how they pay their employees for motoring expenses after a tax tribunal ruling that lump-sum allowances could be subject to national insurance contributions (NICs).”

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st September 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Watchdog wrong to deem FOI request vexatious, Tribunal rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 30th, 2011 in freedom of information, housing, news, tribunals by sally

“The UK’s freedom of information (FOI) law watchdog was wrong to rule that an FOI request was vexatious, the Information Rights Tribunal, formerly the Information Tribunal has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 26th August 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

PR (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; SS (Bangladesh) v Same; TC (Zimbabwe) v Same – WLR Daily

Posted August 17th, 2011 in appeals, asylum, immigration, international law, law reports, tribunals by sally

PR (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; SS (Bangladesh) v Same; TC (Zimbabwe) v Same [2011] EWCA Civ 988; [2011] WLR (D) 276

“The two tiers of the tribunal system operating in respect of immigration and asylum cases were, and were plainly to be regarded as, competent to determine whether there was a compelling reason why the particular issue on which an applicant’s claim which had failed twice before that system should be subjected to a third judicial process.”

WLR Daily, 11th August 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Jones – WLR Daily

Posted July 22nd, 2011 in customs and excise, jurisdiction, law reports, tribunals by sally

Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Jones [2011] EWCA Civ 824; [2011] WLR (D) 236

“The first tier and upper tribunals were statutory appellate tribunals which had not been given any original jurisdiction for resolving disputes as to whether or not goods were imported legally for personal use. The issue could only be decided by the court. The first tier tribunal’s jurisdiction was limited to hearing an appeal against a discretionary decision by HM Commissioners for Revenue and Customs not to restore the seized goods to the importer.”

WLR Daily, 18th July 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk