GP ‘disgust’ at watchdog errors – BBC News
‘GPs have told the BBC their reputations have been “tarnished by incompetence” from the health watchdog.’
BBC News, 5th December 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
UK mass surveillance laws do not breach human rights, tribunal rules – The Guardian
‘Britain’s legal regime governing mass surveillance of the internet by intelligence agencies does not violate human rights, a tribunal has ruled.’
The Guardian, 5th December 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Bijan Ebrahimi death: 16 police staff face charges – The Independent
‘Sixteen people from a single police force face criminal and disciplinary charges after the cries for help from a disabled man wrongly accused of paedophilia and killed by a drunken vigilante were allegedly ignored in the days before his murder.’
The Independent, 5th December 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Tragedy of Latvian migrant who buried her baby alive after police decided they couldn’t help her – Daily Telegraph
‘A hearing at the Old Bailey hears Elita Amantova, 39, was living off berries and bread left out for the birds before she gave birth.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Two Britons jailed for 13 years for joining jihadi group in Syria – The Guardian
‘Two British men who travelled to Syria to join an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group have been jailed for nearly 13 years.’
The Guardian, 5th December 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Probation contracts awarded to private organisations – BBC News
‘Private contracts to run probation services monitoring low and medium risk offenders have been awarded by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.’
BBC News, 5th December 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Couple who faked son’s blindness for insurance claim are jailed – Daily Telegraph
‘Former soldier Jeremy Jones and his wife Sally Anne Jones are given 12 months in prison after claiming their son had been blinded in one eye falling off his bike.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Prison book ban is unlawful, court rules – The Guardian
‘The blanket ban on sending books to prisoners in England and Wales has been declared unlawful by the high court.’
The Guardian, 5th December 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judge criticises multi-millionaire tycoon over unpaid fine for illegally felling trees – Daily Telegraph
‘Sir John Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, says ‘one law for rich and another for poor’ as he tells court penalty imposed on Philip Edward Day should not still be outstanding.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
FGM: UK plan to require professionals to report suspected cases – The Guardian
‘Campaigners against female genital mutilation (FGM) have cautiously welcomed government moves to require professionals to report suspected cases of FGM, but warned of the risk of alienating communities and forcing the practice further underground.’
The Guardian, 5th December 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Legal challenge to Government’s £2.5bn subsidy scheme for fossil fuel industry – The Independent
‘The Government may be forced to suspend a £2.5bn annual subsidy scheme designed to keep the lights on as cheaply and as greenly as possible following a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice, which claims it amounts to an “unlawful subsidy” for the fossil fuel industry.’
The Independent, 5th December 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Former DJ Ray Teret guilty of raping underage girls – The Guardian
‘A DJ friend of Jimmy Savile has been found guilty of using his celebrity status to groom and then rape underage girls. Over more than 30 years, Ray Teret, 73, used nightclubs and youth discos across Manchester to meet impressionable underage girls. He would then take them back to his flat and rape them.’
The Guardian, 5th December 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
High Court ruling will create new market for pensions debts, says expert – OUT-LAW.com
‘A new market for trading the pension debts of insolvent companies will be created as a result of a recent High Court ruling. The ruling will also result in more efficient, earlier winding up of pension schemes when companies go out of business.’
OUT-LAW.com, 4th December 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Better than nothing… helpful… mad as a bag of frogs’: judges on McKenzie Friends –
‘A new report on litigants in person in private family law cases has added to concerns over the value and legitimacy of McKenzie Friends in the legal services market. The report, commissioned and published by the Ministry of Justice, into litigants in person in the family courts (here) found the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s recommendation that professional McKenzie Friends be recognised as a legitimate part of the market (reported here) ‘somewhat surprising’.’
LegalVoice, 4th December 2014
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
Mother loses action over decision by ombudsman not to investigate records loss – Local Government Lawyer
‘The mother of a woman who died as an inpatient at a London hospital has lost a High Court challenge against the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) over its refusal to investigate the loss of her daughter’s medical records.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th December 2014
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Swearing man ‘risks life in prison’ after 176 convictions – BBC News
‘A man with 176 convictions for repeated foul-mouthed outbursts risks spending the rest of his life in prison.’
BBC News, 4th December 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
NAO questions whether legal aid reforms have delivered better value for money – Free Movement
‘On 20 November 2014, the National Audit Office – the independent Parliamentary body responsible for scrutinising the way in which the government spends public money – published a report on the implementation of the post-2010 civil legal aid reforms. Its central conclusion is an unsurprising one: while spending on civil legal aid has been reduced significantly, the Ministry of Justice failed properly to consider the wider impact of the reforms before implementing them.’
Free Movement, 5th December 2014
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
How much?! Damages for unlawfully evicted secure tenants – NearlyLegal
‘So, if a local authority unlawfully evicts a secure tenant (and yes, it happens) what should the measure of damages be? Under s.27 and s.28 Housing Act 1988, damages fall to be assessed under a valuation exercise, governed – so far as is relevant to this case – by s.28(1).’
NearlyLegal, 4th December 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
