Warrington man, 95, spared jail after trying to kill wife with pan – BBC News
‘A 95-year-old man who tried to kill his wife has been spared jail because the judge said it was “an exceptional case”.’
BBC News, 25th April 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Lack of diversity among UK senior judiciary is ‘serious constitutional issue’ – The Guardian
‘The senior judiciary is dominated by privately educated white men and may need “targets with teeth” – if not quotas – to improve diversity on the bench, a report by senior lawyers has warned.’
The Guardian, 25th April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk
The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017
The Prison (Amendment) Rules 2017
The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
The Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
The Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England) (No. 2) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
Source: www.legislation.gov.uk
EVENT: how to Academy – ELECTION SPECIAL – how to: BREXIT
‘The big question was whether to exit. The bigger question is how to exit, for it will decide our future. No one disputes that we are at the crossroads – but which path to take, and what can we as citizens do at this point?’
Date: 2nd May 2017, 6.45-8.00pm
Location: The Tabernacle, 35 Powis Square, off Portobello Road, London W11 2AY
Charge: See website for details
More information can be found here.
Council wins right to redact more info from variation agreement to waste contract – Local Government Lawyer
‘A county council has won an appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal over a decision by the Information Commissioner’s Office that it was not entitled to redact certain information in a variation agreement to a waste disposal contract.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th April 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Doctors’ body urges government to aim high with fixed-fee cap for clinical negligence cases – Litigation Futures
‘The Medical Protection Society (MPS) has called on the government to be more “bold” with its proposals to introduced fixed costs for clinical negligence cases by including cases worth up to £250,000 – 10 times the proposed limit.’
Litigation Futures, 25th April 2017
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
FGM: 123 victims treated in Wales last year, figures show – BBC News
‘A case of female genital mutilation was discovered every three days, on average, by maternity staff in Wales last year.’
BBC News, 22nd April 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
UKIP, niqabs, burqas – and bans – Law & Religion UK
‘UKIP has made a commitment in its Manifesto to ban the public wearing of the burqa and niqab. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, UKIP’s leader, Paul Nuttall, said wearing a burqa or niqab in public was a barrier to integration and a security risk and that Muslim women who defied the ban would face a fine. Somewhat counter-intuitively, he also told Andrew Marr that “Manfred Weber, who’s the leader of the biggest group in the European Parliament, is now talking about an EU-wide ban. We can either be on the curve on this or behind the curve.” UKIP also proposes to outlaw sharia in the UK, though Nuttall told Marr that there were no proposals to ban Jewish religious courts because the Jewish population was smaller than the Muslim population.’
Law & Religion UK, 24th April 2017
Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com
Plan to opt out of rights accords in future wars dangerous, inquiry hears – The Guardian
‘Government plans to opt out of international human rights agreements in future conflicts would be dangerous and prevent British soldiers from obtaining justice, according to evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry by the Law Society and Liberty.’
The Guardian, 24th April 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Woman who set up male-only divorce law firm says men are the ‘biggest losers’ in cases – The Independent
‘A lawyer who set up her own firm specifically to help men in divorce proceedings has said it is men who are often the “biggest losers” in cases, not women.’
The Independent, 24th April 2017
Source: www.independent.co.uk
No direct right in restitution against HMRC for investment trust companies, rules Supreme Court – OUT-LAW.com
‘A group of investment trust companies (ITCs) cannot make out an ‘unjust enrichment’ claim against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in order to recover VAT paid to their investment managers (managers) due to a mistake of law, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 25th April 2017
Source: www.out-law.com
High Court fast-tracks challenge to environmental costs reforms – Litigation Futures
‘The High Court has fast-tracked a judicial review brought by three charities challenging the new costs regime for cases involving the environment.’
Litigation Futures, 24th April 2017
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Disputed trusteeship: Shergill v Khaira yet again – Law & Religion UK
‘The Chancery Division has handed down the latest judgment in the long-running saga about the disputed trusteeship of two Sikh gurdwaras in High Wycombe and Birmingham. In Shergill & Ors v Khaira & Ors [2017] EWHC 883 (Ch), HHJ Purle QC, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, found for the claimants.’
Law & Religion UK, 21st April 2017
Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com
Henry Pearce: Some Thoughts on the Encryption Regulatory Debate – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘Debates about the regulation of encryption technologies and surveillance have been around for decades. It is in unfortunate circumstances that these debates have now been thrust back into the public eye. Following the horrifying Westminster attack which occurred on 22nd March 2017 Amber Rudd, the UK’s Home Secretary, has been very vocal in suggesting that in order for the police and security services to be able to effectively investigate and prevent future terrorist acts they must be given access to over-the-top messaging services that utilise end-to-end encryption, such as WhatsApp. (End-to-end encryption services can generally be described as those which allows for conversations to be read only by the sender and recipient of individual messages, meaning that such messages cannot be intercepted and read by a third party.) Her comments appeared to have been driven by the fact that Khalid Masood, the perpetrator of the attack, had used WhatsApp shortly before commencing his appalling actions. In particular, Rudd has claimed it is “unacceptable” that governmental agencies were unable to read messages protected by WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, and in an interview given to the BBC on Sunday 26th March, intimated that she would consider pursuing the enactment of new legislation which would require the providers of encrypted messaging services to grant access to the UK intelligence agencies. This sentiment has since broadly been endorsed by the UK government.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th April 2017
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
Fall in decisions for adoption orders halted but local variation remains: report – Local Government Lawyer
‘The fall in decisions for adoption and placement orders seems to have halted but this masks a high degree of variation in decision-making at a local and regional level, data collected by the Adoption Leadership Board has suggested.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th April 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Child sex offender worked at schools cricket association with ECB permission – The Guardian
‘The England and Wales Cricket Board’s child protection policies are likely to come under close scrutiny after it emerged a convicted child sex offender worked at a schools cricket association with written permission from the ECB – and also attended junior cricket festivals in the company of an ECB executive.’
The Guardian, 24th April 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Anthony McSweeney case: Abuse priest failings found – BBC News
‘Concerns raised about a Catholic priest later jailed for sexual assault were not acted upon or taken seriously by the Church, a review has found.’
BBC News, 23rd April 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Northern Waters – Nearly Legal
‘Rochdale BH is a social housing provider (of what was the council’s housing stock). The issue in this case – heard as a preliminary issue – was whether Rochdale BH was a water reseller under the terms of The Water Resale Order 2006 in that charges for water it made as a part of the rent.’
Nearly Legal, 23rd April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Debating the right to die – OUP Blog
‘There are so many reasons why we value and promote choice and autonomy. The country and news media quite rightly protests with outrage when bad things happen to good people as their lives and civil liberties are destroyed by acts of terrorism and grievous crimes.’
OUP Blog, 21st April 2017
Source: www.blog.oup.com
Woman jailed over Facebook birthday message death crash – BBC News
‘A woman who was trying to send a message on Facebook when she crashed into a pensioner’s car, killing him, has been jailed for 27 months.’
BBC News, 24th April 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
