The assisted dying debate – BBC News
‘Nearly 300 Britons have travelled to Zurich to die with the help of the Swiss suicide group Dignitas.’
BBC News, 26th May 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Banks face bigger PPI mis-selling bill as regulator considers compensation rules – The Guardian
‘Banks could face a bigger bill for mis-selling payment protection insurance after the City regulator said it was considering new rules on how customers should be compensated.’
The Guardian, 27th May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Sun crime reporter found guilty of paying police officer for stories – The Guardian
‘A Sun crime reporter has been found guilty of paying an anti-terrorism police officer more than £22,000 for story tips relating to Heathrow airport.’
The Guardian, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
London taxi driver jailed for minimum 38 years for killing US soldier in Iraq roadside bombing – The Independent
‘A London taxi driver convicted of killing a US soldier in an Iraqi roadside bombing has been sentenced to life with a minimum 38 years in prison.’
The Independent, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Schoolgirl jailed for filmed attack on young boy ‘told magistrate whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever when asked for her address’ – The Independent
‘A schoolgirl detained for eight months after attacking a boy reportedly told magistrates “whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever” when she was asked to list her address.’
The Independent, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Woman jailed for hiding son’s cremation from ex-husband – The Guardian
‘A “vindictive and spiteful” woman who filled in false paperwork to stop her ex-husband attending their son’s cremation has been jailed for four months.’
The Guardian, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Attempt to scrap Human Rights Act will not get past Lords, Falconer warns Gove – The Guardian
‘A new British bill of rights is expected to be included in the Queen’s speech, but shadow lord chancellor says upper house would be within its rights to reject it.’
The Guardian, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Toblerone lorry thieves jailed – The Guardian
‘Six men have been jailed after lorries and their loads including Toblerone chocolate and whiskey were stolen in Kent.’
The Guardian, 26th May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
DVLA release latest list of banned licence plates – The Independent
‘The DVLA have released a list of banned licence plates, revealing while you can ORG45M you can’t have a VA61ANA on the roads.’
The Independent, 23rd May 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
New law will force councils to merge services to improve adoption rates – The Guardian
‘Councils will be forced to merge services in order to speed up adoption rates, according to plans to be set out in the Queen’s speech next week. Adoption is “happening at too small and localised a scale”, the Department for Education said, and mergers would slash waiting times by increasing the pool of potential adopters.’
The Guardian, 23rd May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Gang leader who smuggled £5m of cocaine in children’s jigsaws jailed for 15 years – The Independent
‘The head of a drug smuggling gang, which hid £5 million-worth of cocaine in children’s presents, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.’
The Independent, 23rd May 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Je suis James: Pianist finally allowed to tell his story of sexual abuse – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The case considered whether Mr Rhodes could be prevented from publishing his memoir on the basis that to do so would constitute the tort of intentionally causing harm. Those acting on behalf of Mr Rhodes’ son were particularly concerned about the effect upon him of learning of details of his father’s sexual abuse as a child.’
Full story
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
HRA Watch: Reform, Repeal, Replace? Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: A Referendum on Repeal of the Human Rights Act? Why not? – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘So we finally we have some clarity. Of the many statements, quasi-proposals and rumours affecting constitutional reform which had been swirling around during the term of the last coalition government, we now know which will see the light of day as official government policy. With the surprise Conservative majority government, it is now clear that the Human Rights Act will be repealed and replaced with a British Bill of Rights and there will be a referendum on EU membership by 2017 at the latest. Given that many of these issues had already been touted by one part of the coalition, many, if not most, of the constitutional and political implications, and particularly the difficulties, of these proposals have already been thrashed out in different forums such as the recent report co-edited by my colleague Tobias Lock, as well as, of course, on the pages of this blog. I have read and benefited from these excellent insights and so have nothing to add here to the substance of these issues.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th May 2015
Source: http://ukconstitutionallaw.org
Non-violent extremism: some questions about laws and limits – UK Human Rights
‘Sajid Javid’s reported objections to the Government’s pre-election proposals on countering extremist ideas uncover just how controversial the new laws will be. He had objected, it seems, to a mooted expansion of Ofcom’s powers to take pre-emptive action to prevent the broadcast of programmes with ‘extremist content’ before they are transmitted.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Gender recognition: what legal recognition and rights can post-operative transsexuals expect in the UK? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘The legislative backdrop to both cases featured the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA 2004), the latter being legislation enacted by Parliament to enable persons who have changed gender to have their acquired gender recognised and certified. GRA 2004 was Parliament’s response to the decision in Strasbourg in Goodwin v United Kingdom (Application No. 65723/01) [2008] All ER (D) 113 (Jan), in which it was held that the UK had failed to comply with its positive obligation to ensure the right of a transsexual to respect for her private life, in particular by affording legal recognition to her acquired gender.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 26th May 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Bogus lawyers jailed after targeting the elderly with asset protection scam – Legal Futures
‘Eight people who pretended to be lawyers have been sentenced after scamming elderly people out of more than £500,000 in return for bogus asset protection trusts, with carrying out a reserved legal activity when not authorised one of the charges half of them faced.’
Legal Futures, 26th May 2015
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Believing victims – OUP Blog
‘Hampshire Constabulary are the latest in a long line of police forces obliged to apologise to a victim of crime for failing to investigate an allegation properly. In this case, a young woman accused a man of rape. She was not believed; forensic examination of clothing was delayed; in the meanwhile, the complainant was threatened with arrest for ‘perverting the course of justice’ and she attempted suicide. Eventually, following belated forensic analysis, the man was arrested and has since then been convicted.’
OUP Blog, 22nd May 2015
Source: http://blog.oup.com
Does the Human Rights Act prevent us deporting serious criminals? – Free Movement
‘It is very widely believed that the Human Rights Act stops the UK from deporting foreign criminals whence they came. To a limited extent, there is some truth in this. Some appeals against deportation decisions do succeed on human rights grounds. Not many, though, and none succeed because of the Human Rights Act as distinct from the European Convention on Human Rights. Other appeals against deportation succeed under EU law or the Refugee Convention.’
Free Movement, 26th May 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
Is crowdfunded litigation the future of justice? – The Guardian
‘With legal aid in crisis, CrowdJustice selects public interest cases and invites the public to fund them. But it faces many obstacles to enacting real change.’
The Guardian, 25th May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Prisons built to expel – OUP Blog
‘Every few months, a new report announces the breakdown of the British immigration system. In January, the Committee of Public Accounts issued a searing review of the Home Office’s migration policy. Three months earlier, the National Audit Office released a near-identical critique. Each publication invokes a now-familiar folk devil – the ‘foreign criminal’ – and demands better coordination between immigration enforcers and prison managers. Four times a year, we are told that governments that do not deport ‘foreign offenders’ are fundamentally unfit.’
OUP Blog, 26th May 2015
Source: http://blog.oup.com
