EU court moves against ‘benefits tourism’ in landmark ruling – The Independent

Posted November 12th, 2014 in benefits, EC law, immigration, news, taxation by sally

‘The European Court of Justice has issued a historic ruling against Romanian woman living in Germany that could set a major precedent blocking so-called “benefits tourism” across the continent.’

Full story

The Independent, 11th November 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

MPs’ calls to prisoners ‘taped’, says Chris Grayling – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 12th, 2014 in confidentiality, interception, news, prison officers, prisons, telecommunications by sally

‘Private conversations between MPs and prisoners from their constituencies may have been recorded and monitored in jails, Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary has announced. The minister issued an apology to the House of Commons after disclosing that communications by at least 32 current MPs were thought to be involved.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 11th November 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Disabled man forced off bus by refusal to move pram sparks equality test case – The Guardian

‘A woman’s refusal to move a pushchair with a sleeping baby from a bay on a bus used by wheelchair passengers – causing a disabled man to have to leave the vehicle – is at the centre of a test-case legal battle in the court of appeal.’

Full story

The Guardian, 11th November 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Shoplifter assault case PC dismissed from Met Police – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 12th, 2014 in assault, dismissal, news, police, sentencing, theft by sally

‘A Metropolitan Police officer who punched a suspected shoplifter before pinning her to the ground has been dismissed from the force.’

Full story

BBC News, 11th November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Domestic violence should be specific criminal offence, says Law Commission – The Guardian

Posted November 12th, 2014 in consultations, crime, domestic violence, HIV, violence by sally

‘A specific criminal offence should be created to deal with cases of domestic violence, the Law Commission has suggested in a consultation launched on Wednesday.’

Full story

Full consultation

The Guardian, 12th November 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Harry Roberts: Police killer released from prison – BBC News

Posted November 12th, 2014 in gangs, murder, news, police, rehabilitation, sentencing by sally

‘Notorious police killer Harry Roberts has been released from prison. Roberts, now 78, was jailed for life for murdering three unarmed officers in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in 1966.’

Full story

BBC News, 12th November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Banks fined record £2bn over foreign exchange rigging – The Guardian

Posted November 12th, 2014 in banking, financial regulation, fines, news by sally

‘Regulators on both sides of Atlantic impose fines totalling £2bn on HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, JP Morgan and Citigroup.’

Full story

The Guardian, 12th November 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Connah Smith jailed for nurses murder bid – BBC News

‘A man found guilty of attempting to murder two trainee nurses who were stabbed, doused with petrol and almost set on fire has been jailed for life.’

Full story

BBC News, 11th November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Secretive terror trial to be re-run after jury is discharged – The Guardian

Posted November 11th, 2014 in juries, media, news, reporting restrictions, retrials, terrorism by sally

‘The highly secretive trial of a man accused of plotting a terrorist attack in London is to be re-run after an Old Bailey jury was discharged. Erol Incedal, 26, is expected to appear in court for a second time next year. He had pleaded not guilty to a charge, brought under the Terrorism Act 2006, that he intended to commit acts of terrorism or assist another to commit them between 1 February 2012 and 14 October last year.’

Full story

The Guardian, 11th November 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Be wary of judicial slogans – Jonathan Sumption – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted November 11th, 2014 in human rights, judges, news, proportionality, speeches by sally

‘In his lecture to the Administrative Law Bar Association earlier this month, Lord Sumption surveys the concept of “anxious scrutiny” – a judicial method which he characterises as a forerunner to the principle of proportionality. The term was actually coined by Lord Bridge in Bugdaycay (1986), and was meant to apply where the rights engaged in a case were sufficiently fundamental, and stretched the traditional “Wednesbury” test to public authority decisions or actions which were not, on the face of it, irrational. (The citation given in the PDF of the speech incidentally is incorrect). The same way of thinking had been arrived at in the US courts a few years earlier, with their “hard look” doctrine, but to Lord Sumption there was something peculiarly English about the “crab-like” way in which our courts approached and eventually acknowledged this doctrine, hitherto alien to the judicial toolbox.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 10th November 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

FCA fines and bans senior Swinton management figures over sales culture failings – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 11th, 2014 in company directors, financial regulation, fines, insurance, news by sally

‘The former chief executive, finance director and marketing director at a UK insurance provider have been served with fines by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and banned from taking senior positions at other financial services companies in the future.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th November 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Tribunal must give disputing parties chance to query legal approach neither party advocates, says High Court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 11th, 2014 in appeals, arbitration, charterparties, news, tribunals by sally

‘A Tribunal tasked with resolving a dispute that goes to arbitration should not decide the outcome of the case by adopting a legal approach neither of the parties to the dispute has put forward without allowing the parties to query that approach, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th November 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Street Tweet not so neat – Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted November 11th, 2014 in disqualification, fines, freedom of expression, internet, news, sport by sally

‘Football managers and coaches are not infrequently subjected to disciplinary sanctions by football regulatory bodies for speaking out about referees and such like. It is comparatively rarer for players to be sanctioned for expressing themselves, although this has now happened twice to QPR and sometime England midfielder and avid tweeter Rio Ferdinand.’

Full story

Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 10th November 2014

Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org

Top QC calls for enquiry into expert witness misconduct – Litigation Futures

‘A leading barrister has called for a study to examine whether anecdotal evidence of abuse and misconduct by expert witnesses is on the “industrial scale” alleged by some, as funding arrangements increase the risk of malpractice.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 10th November 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court denies Lord Chancellor relief from sanctions in legal aid dispute – Litigation Futures

Posted November 11th, 2014 in law firms, legal aid, lord chancellor, news, sanctions by sally

‘The High Court has denied the Lord Chancellor relief from sanctions in a case involving an attempt by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to reclaim £160,000 plus interest from a former law firm 16 years after the final payments were made.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 11th November 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

The Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC review – Home Office

Posted November 11th, 2014 in child abuse, government departments, police, reports, sexual offences by sally

‘This written ministerial statement was laid in the House of Commons by Theresa May and in the House of Lords by Lord Bates.’

Full statement

Full review

Home Office, 11th November 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Bar Council chief says barristers are here to stay – The Bar Council

Posted November 11th, 2014 in barristers, legal aid, press releases, speeches by sally

‘The Chairman of the Bar Council, Nicholas Lavender QC, has described the recent legal aid cuts as “the biggest onslaught on access to justice through legal aid” there has ever been, but says the justice system might be at a turning point.’

Full press release

The Bar Council, 8th November 2014

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted November 11th, 2014 in legislation by sally

The Legal Services Act 2007 (Approved Regulator) (No.2) Order 2014

The Recovery of Costs (Remand to Youth Detention Accommodation) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2014

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Regina v P (J); Regina v Lubemba – WLR Daily

Regina v P (J); Regina v Lubemba: [2014] WLR (D) 472

‘The court gave guidance as to what measures a trial judge might legitimately take to protect a vulnerable witness without impacting adversely on the right of a defendant to a fair trial.’

WLR Daily, 9th October 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Interflora Inc and another v Marks and Spencer plc (No 5) – WLR Daily

Posted November 11th, 2014 in advertising, appeals, burden of proof, internet, law reports, trade marks by sally

Interflora Inc and another v Marks and Spencer plc (No 5): [2014] EWCA Civ 1403; [2014] WLR (D) 473

‘On a claim for infringement of a trade mark under article 5(1)(a) of Council Directive 89/104/EEC through keyword advertising the onus of proof lay on the trade mark proprietor to establish that the advertisement complained of did not enable normally informed and reasonably attentive Internet users, or enabled them only with difficulty, to ascertain whether the goods or services referred to by the advertisement originated from the trade mark proprietor or an undertaking economically connected to it or, on the contrary, originated from a third party.’

WLR Daily, 5th November 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk