Graham John Wheeler: When Should the Lords Reject Secondary Legislation? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted December 7th, 2015 in constitutional history, constitutional law, legal history, legislation, news, parliament, privilege, veto by sally

‘On 26 October 2015, the House of Lords debated the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015. The Regulations were approved, but subject to two riders. Critics claimed that these riders constituted “fatal” amendments, and that they were therefore tantamount to a rejection of the legislation. It was argued that it is constitutionally improper for the House of Lords to reject financial legislation in this way.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Association, 7th December 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Gatwick baggage handler jailed for drug smuggling – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in airports, drug offences, drug trafficking, news, sentencing by sally

‘A baggage handler at Gatwick airport has been jailed with three others for smuggling drugs worth a total of £700,000 into Britain.’

Full story

The Guardian, 7th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lord Janner unfit to stand trial, judge rules – BBC News

Posted December 7th, 2015 in child abuse, elderly, fitness to plead, mental health, news, public interest, sexual offences by sally

‘Lord Janner is unfit to stand trial over child sexual abuse offences dating back 50 years, a High Court judge has ruled.’

Full story

BBC News, 7th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Family law: setting aside orders – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted December 7th, 2015 in appeals, consent orders, disclosure, divorce, families, financial dispute resolution, financial provision, misrepresentation, news, setting aside, Supreme Court by sally

‘On 14 October the Supreme Court (SC) gave judgments in Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60 and Gohil v Gohil [2015] UKSC 61. Both Mrs Sharland and Mrs Gohil were successful in the respective consent orders being set aside due to significant non-disclosure by their former husbands.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 7th December 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Unlawful seizure of a table and other bits – Nearly Legal

Posted December 7th, 2015 in appeals, budgets, housing, legal aid, local government, news, trespass by sally

‘On 5 December, a Newham Council officer, together with police, seized a table from the regular Saturday street campaign of Focus E15 – the housing rights protest group. The seizure was stated to be under London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 6th December 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

MoJ considers specialist courts for issues such as domestic abuse – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in civil justice, courts, criminal justice, domestic violence, judiciary, jurisdiction, Ministry of Justice, news, rehabilitation by sally

‘The potential for developing more US-style specialist tribunals – including courts dedicated to tackling the surge in domestic abuse cases – is being examined by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).’

Full story

The Guardian, 7th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stopping jailed fathers seeing their children is a political gimmick – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in charities, children, families, news, prisons, statistics by sally

‘Prisons should nurture family relationships, but the government’s IEP scheme makes it difficult for male prisoners to maintain contact. It must be changed.’

Full story

The Guardian, 4th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stalkers to be banned from contacting victims online under plans to protect people targeted on the internet – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 7th, 2015 in consultations, harassment, internet, news, stalking, statistics, victims by sally

‘The Home Office is drawing up proposals to hit stalkers with protection orders to prevent them from contacting strangers on the internet and in person.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Supreme Court: not enough for directors to use powers ‘honestly’ or ‘in good faith’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 7th, 2015 in appeals, company directors, disclosure, news, shareholders, Supreme Court by sally

‘Directors of a publicly-listed gas exploration company were not entitled to impose voting restrictions on certain shareholders which had failed to comply with statutory disclosure notices, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 4th December 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Hunting convictions thrown into doubt after court case collapses – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 7th, 2015 in animal cruelty, bias, Criminal Cases Review Commission, cross-examination, disclosure, expert witnesses, hunting, miscarriage of justice, news, prosecutions by sally

‘The neutrality of Professor Stephen Harris, one of the UK’s leading authorities on foxes, has been called into question.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 4th December 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“Sexting” damages case: the legal issues – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted December 7th, 2015 in compensation, consent, damages, malicious communications, news, sexual grooming, sexual offences, telecommunications by sally

‘The award of damages to a victim of ‘sexting’ grabbed the attention of the media on at the beginning of December 2015. Given that the judgment appears to have been delivered in September 2015, it isn’t clear why it had not made it in to the news until this week, but such is the way of the media sometimes.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd December 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

The Human Genome and Human Rights recommendations: “aspirational and symbolic” – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 7th, 2015 in codes of practice, DNA, equality, human rights, medical ethics, news by sally

‘The International Bioethics Committee, under the auspices of UNESCO, has recently updated its guidance on the human genome and human rights. The Report of the IBC on Updating its Reflection on the Human Genome and Human Rights was published in October 2015, and takes into account the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (1997), the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data (2003) and the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005). The following summary is based on Alison Hall’s review of the recommendations in the PHG Foundation’s bulletin.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 2nd December 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Top judge leads calls to scrap mandatory daily Christian worship in UK schools – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in Christianity, consultations, diversity, education, inquiries, news, school children by sally

‘Schools should no longer face a legal requirement to provide daily acts of worship of a Christian character, under radical reforms being proposed by a top-level inquiry into the place of faith in multicultural Britain.’

Full story

The Guardian, 6th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Family of hate preacher linked to ‘Jihadi John’ win right to UK citizenship – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 7th, 2015 in asylum, citizenship, deportation, families, human rights, Islam, news, ombudsmen, terrorism, United Nations by sally

‘Hani al-Sibai has been on a terror sanctions list since 2005 and resisted deportation to his native Egypt for almost 20 years – but the High Court has ruled his family should be given UK citizenship.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Call for fewer Church of England bishops in House of Lords – BBC News

Posted December 7th, 2015 in Church of England, diversity, education, freedom of expression, news, parliament, school children, terrorism by sally

‘The number of Church of England bishops who sit as peers in the House of Lords should be cut to make way for leaders of other faiths, a new report argues.’

Full story

BBC News, 7th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Love you to death: the British women dying at the hands of their partners – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in domestic violence, homicide, media, murder, news, statistics by sally

‘In 2013, 86 women in Britain were killed by a husband, a boyfriend or a male ex-partner. A new documentary by Vanessa Engle tells the story of every one of them by giving voice to the traumatised families left behind.’

Full story

The Guardian, 6th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lord Janner judge to rule on evidence behind lack of fitness to stand trial – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2015 in child abuse, disclosure, elderly, evidence, fitness to plead, mental health, news, public interest, sexual offences by sally

‘A high court judge is expected to rule on whether Lord Janner is unfit to stand trial – and what evidence can be released regarding that decision – for a string of child sex offences dating back 50 years.’

Full story

The Guardian, 7th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan guilty of sex assaults – BBC News

Posted December 4th, 2015 in assault, child cruelty, false imprisonment, news, rape by sally

‘A Maoist cult leader who used violence, fear and sexual degradation to control women he held captive has been found guilty of a string of sex assaults.’

Full story

BBC News, 4th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Church of England pays £35,000 to man abused by expert on canon law – The Guardian

Posted December 4th, 2015 in Church of England, clergy, compensation, news, sexual offences, victims by sally

‘The Church of England has paid £35,000 in compensation and apologised to a survivor of clerical sexual abuse in the latest in a string of cases involving senior church figures. The diocese of London has also agreed to an independent review of how the church handled the allegations of abuse, which date back to the 1980s.’

Full story

The Guardian, 4th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Assisted dying: Disability rights campaigners lose court challenge – BBC News

Posted December 4th, 2015 in assisted suicide, disabled persons, news, prosecutions by sally

‘Disability rights campaigners who say the assisted suicide policy in England and Wales is too “liberal” have lost a High Court legal challenge.’

Full story

BBC News, 4th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk