Philippines abuse: Paedophile Trevor Monk jailed – BBC News
‘A paedophile who filmed himself abusing young girls in the Philippines has been jailed for 19-and-a-half years.’
BBC News, 26th January 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
MoJ and MoD join forces to protect soldiers from “parasitic litigation” – Litigation Futures
‘Justice minister Dominic Raab and armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt are to chair a working party looking at how to prevent “any malicious or parasitic litigation from being taken against our brave armed forces”, Mr Raab revealed yesterday.’
Litigation Futures, 27th January 2016
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Something to Declare – Nearly Legal
‘The power for a local authority to make an HMO declaration under s255, Housing Act 2004 is not commonly used. This power arises where a property appears to be an HMO in all respects save that it is not being used solely as an HMO. In that case the property will not fulfil the tests for an HMO under s254 of the Act but can be declared to be an HMO by the local authority of they reasonably believe that the property has “significant use” as an HMO. The declaration as an HMO can be appealed to the FTT (and from there to the UT) and that appeal operated by way of a re-hearing of that decision.’
Nearly Legal, 27th January 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Can schools ban the veil? – BBC News
‘No-one knows how many adult women in the UK wear the full face covering known as the niqab.’
BBC News, 26th January 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Top UK judges denounce ‘dangerous’ increase in court fees – The Guardian
‘Court fee increases that were hastily introduced to plug a £100m hole in the Ministry of Justice’s budget were based on “hopeless” evidence, according to the most senior civil judge in England and Wales.’
The Guardian, 26th January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
UK Government tells High Court: Same-sex couples may be shut out of Article 14 – UK Human Rights Blog
‘On 19-20 January, the England and Wales High Court (Mrs. Justice Andrews) heard the judicial review of the ban on different-sex civil partnerships brought by Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan. It was argued on behalf of the supposedly LGBTI-friendly UK Government (represented by Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities) that the High Court should follow two anti-LGBTI decisions from 2006.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd Janaury 2016
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
High Court: Wrong to assume it is “more improbable” that professionals will be dishonest – Legal Futures
‘It would be wrong to assume that it is “inherently more improbable” that a professional person will be dishonest than anyone else, the High Court has said.’
Legal Futures, 26th January 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Motorcylist jailed after filming himself speeding over 150mph – The Independent
‘A motorcyclist has been jailed after filming himself speeding over 150mph.’
The Independent, 25th January 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Full inquest to be held for murdered teacher Ann Maguire – BBC News
‘A coroner is to hold a full inquest into the death of a Leeds school teacher murdered in her own classroom.’
BBC News, 25th January 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Rulings rejecting taxi and chocolate bar shapes as trade marks reflect intentions of trade mark law, says expert – OUT-LAW.com
‘The strict circumstances in which shapes can benefit from trade mark protection have been reinforced by two new rulings issued by the High Court in London, an expert has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 22nd January 2016
Source: www.out-law.com
Enhanced Criminal Records Check Mate – Panopticon
‘One might have thought, following the judgments of the Court of Appeal (noted here) and the Supreme Court (noted here) in R (T) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police [2014] UKSC 35, that there was little left to say about enhanced criminal records certificates (ECRC). After all, the Government had, with moderate grace, gone away after the Court of Appeal loss and drafted a revised set of rules in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1198) which sought to better implement the Article 8 ECHR balance between the needs of employers and the need for long-distant misbehaviour not to be a permanent stain. But that thought fatally undervalues the ingenuity of lawyers (as well as the breadth of application of the ECRC regime).’
Panopticon, 23rd Janaury 2016
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
District council defeats judicial review challenge over neighbourhood plan – Local Government Lawyer
‘Chichester District Council has successfully defended a judicial review challenge to a neighbourhood plan.’
Full story
Local Government Lawyer, 26th January 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
EVENT: UKLSA’s 5th Annual Equalities Conference: promoting equal access to the legal profession and justice
‘The UK Law Students’ Association is organising its 5th Annual Equalities Conference, hosted by the Law Society of England and Wales and supported by its Junior Lawyers Division.
The Conference promotes equal access to the legal profession and justice. It also provides key related information as well as networking opportunities.
Speakers include:
– Chantal-Aimee Doerries QC, Chairman of the Bar; Barrister, Atkin Chambers
– Hilary Heilbron QC, Barrister and Leading international Arbitrator, Brick Court
– Sir Robin Knowles CBE, High Court Judge; Chairman of Together for Short Lives; Chair of Trustees at Legal Advice Centre (University House).
– Fergus Randolph QC, Brick Court Chambers – Conference Chair
– Koser Shaheen, Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb; Vice Chair of the Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division
– Jonathan Smithers, President of the Law Society’
Date: 2nd February 2016, 5.15-8.45pm
Location: The Law Society – 113 Chancery Lane London WC2A 1PL
Charge: Free, registration required
More information can be found here.
EVENT: LawInSport Conference – Key Issues in Sports Law in 2016 and Beyond
‘LawInSport will be hosting its second annual sports law conference on the 24 & 25 February 2016 in London.
We will be bringing together thought leaders from sport, academia and the legal profession to share their views on what they consider to be the key sports law issues to watch in 2016 and beyond.
The sports scandals of 2015 have highlighted the important role sports lawyers can play in the development of sports governance, protecting the welfare of athletes and the rights of commercial partners.
Therefore we have put together panel sessions that will to cover the most pressing issues in sports law for 2016:
Anti-Doping – what is the future of anti-doping?
Media Rights – new distribution methods, regulation and legislation.
Commercial Contracts – sponsorship, merchandising and brand protection.
Athlete Rights – employment and representation contracts, handling disciplinary procedures and selection disputes.
Anti-Corruption – dealing with corruption, running investigations, gathering intelligence and taking action.
Governance – managing change, improving structures and processes, and dealing with greater scrutiny.’
Date: 24th & 25th February 2016
Location: Twickenham Stadium, TW2 7BA
Charge: See website for details
More information can be found here.
Domain names you can bank on – Technology Law Update
‘Disputes over domain names tend to be dealt with outside of the normal court system, in panels run by dispute resolution service providers accredited by ICANN. So a decision of the UK court over as series of domain names including RBS group brands makes interesting reading.’
Technology Law Update, 22nd January 2016
Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk
Judges should be able to decline ‘unfair’ QASA evaluations, SRA says – Legal Futures
‘Judges should be able to opt out of assessing advocates under the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) if they believe it would be unfair, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said.’
Legal Futures, 26th January 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Shaken’ baby might return to parents – Daily Telegraph
‘Plainly exhausted’ mother probably shook baby in ‘momentary loss of control’, judge concludes.’
Daily Telegraph, 25th January 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Jimmy Carr’s ‘offensive’ dwarf joke broke broadcasting rules, says watchdog – The Guardian
‘Jimmy Carr’s joke about dwarves on BBC1’s The One Show was offensive and broke broadcasting rules, the media watchdog has said.’
The Guardian, 25th January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Justice demands court records are kept – The Independent
‘Open and accountable justice requires records to be kept. Those who believe they are the victim of a miscarriage of justice need to know what was said at their trial if they are to show that they have been wrongly convicted. It seems extraordinary, therefore, that official guidelines require the destruction of the recordings of court cases after seven years. ‘
The Independent, 24th January 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
