What is life like in the UK’s witness protection programme? – BBC News

Posted August 12th, 2015 in gangs, news, police, rape, witnesses by sally

The UK has a witness protection scheme but little has been revealed about it to date. Newsnight’s James Clayton has been given an exclusive insight into the programme and the people who’ve been through it.

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BBC News, 12th August 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

More parents in England prosecuted for taking children out of school – The Guardian

Posted August 12th, 2015 in children, education, fines, news, prosecutions, school children, statistics, truancy by sally

‘Increasing numbers of parents are being taken to court because their children have skipped school, with thousands facing action last year.’

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The Guardian, 12th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Wherever I lay my hat… Residence tests for allocation policies – Nearly Legal

Posted August 11th, 2015 in domestic violence, domicile, homelessness, housing, local government, news by sally

‘This is, I think, a very significant case for all Councils who have or are considering setting residence requirements in their allocation policies.’

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Nearly Legal, 9th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Lord Janner lawyers challenge court attendance ruling – The Guardian

Posted August 11th, 2015 in child abuse, elderly, human rights, news, trials by sally

‘A high court judge will consider whether it was unlawful to order dementia sufferer Lord Janner to appear in court in person to face child sexual abuse charges.’

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The Guardian, 11th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK court drops extradition case against Rwandan spy chief – The Guardian

Posted August 11th, 2015 in extradition, intelligence services, news, terrorism, war crimes by sally

‘A British court has freed Rwanda’s intelligence chief Karenzi Karake and dismissed an extradition case against him, officials said on Monday.’

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The Guardian, 10th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Appeal judges limit professional privilege where lives are at risk – Legal Futures

Posted August 11th, 2015 in appeals, mental health, news, nurses, privilege, restraint, solicitors by sally

‘Legal professional privilege can be qualified in the “rare circumstances” where it is necessary to impose a requirement that other people are present at discussions between lawyers and clients, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 10th August 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Rule committee bids to ease burden of costs management – Litigation Futures

Posted August 11th, 2015 in children, civil procedure rules, costs, news, reports by sally

‘Cases relating to children are to be excluded from the scope of costs management, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) has decided, while there will be new provisions to encourage agreement of budgets.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th August 2015,

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

An intergalactic battle over starwars.uk domain – Technology Law Update

Posted August 11th, 2015 in domain names, internet, news, trade marks by sally

‘A year after a change to UK domain names a skirmish in (web)space shows how effective Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service can be in protecting a trade mark owner’s rights.’
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Technology Law Update, 6th August 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

Successful judicial review of social services age assessment – Free Movement

‘R (on the application of GB by litigation friend, Francesco Jeff) v Oxfordshire County Council (age dispute- relevance of documents) IJR [2015] UKUT 429 (IAC) is an interesting and successful judicial review challenge to an age assessment. My colleague Shu Shin Luh was Counsel, instructed by Scott-Moncrieff & Associates.

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Free Movement, 10th August 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Co-op Bank escapes regulatory fine – BBC News

Posted August 11th, 2015 in banking, financial regulation, fines, news by sally

‘The Co-operative Bank has escaped a fine from regulators investigating the “failings” throughout 2009-13 that led to its bailout.’

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BBC News, 11th August 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Car crash not to blame for lack of training contract, judge tells litigant-in-person – Legal Futures

‘A judge has told a litigant-in-person that a road traffic accident (RTA) she was involved in was not to blame for her failure to secure a training contract.’

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Legal Futures, 10th August 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘It did seem to be expensive’ – Nearly Legal

Posted August 11th, 2015 in appeals, costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, service charges, tribunals by sally

If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?

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Nearly Legal, 9th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Max Clifford to stand trial on indecent assault charge – BBC News

Posted August 11th, 2015 in news, sexual offences, trials by sally

‘Former celebrity publicist Max Clifford is to stand trial in February accused of indecently assaulting a 17-year-old girl.’

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BBC News, 10th August 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Councils have lost or misused private data thousands of times, says watchdog – The Guardian

Posted August 11th, 2015 in data protection, local government, news, privacy, reports by sally

‘Sensitive personal information has been lost or stolen in thousands of data breaches by councils, according to a study by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch.’

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The Guardian, 11th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Council criticised over refusal of direct payments based on Working Time Regulations – Local Government Lawyer

‘A council has admitted wrongly using the Working Time Regulations to refuse the direct payments they assessed a young man as needing, following an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th August 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judge upholds anonymity of 14-year-old convicted of stabbing teacher – The Guardian

‘A judge has refused to allow the media to name a 14-year-old boy who admitted stabbing his teacher, saying the teenager’s welfare had to come before public interest in his crime.’

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The Guardian, 10th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Man jailed after seeking sex with 13-year-old in sting by Dark Justice – The Guardian

Posted August 10th, 2015 in child abuse, internet, news, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences by sally

‘A disabled man who tried to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex and brought a morning-after pill with him to stop her getting pregnant has been jailed for three and a half years.’

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The Guardian, 6th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In sexual assault cases, the idea of the ‘perfect victim’ is pernicious – The Guardian

‘Compensation has been reduced for sexual assault victims who have criminal convictions. But we need to stop insisting that traumatised people should be model citizens.’

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The Guardian, 7th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Watchdog asks DWP for ‘objective and impartial’ sanctions statements – The Guardian

Posted August 10th, 2015 in benefits, complaints, government departments, news, ombudsmen, sanctions, statistics by sally

‘The UK statistics watchdog has asked the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure its statements on jobseeker sanctions are “objective and impartial” following a series of complaints by leading experts.’

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The Guardian, 7th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Half a million missing out on flight delay compensation – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 10th, 2015 in airlines, airports, compensation, delay, EC law, news, statistics by sally

‘Passengers more than three hours late to their destination can claim up to £420, but more than 500,000 have failed to do so over the past year.’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th August 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk