Vulnerable witnesses allowed to give evidence pre-trial – BBC News
‘Vulnerable witnesses can give evidence before a trial starts from Monday as part of a pilot scheme in three Crown Courts in England.’
BBC News, 28th April 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Triple killer wins £800 after belongings are damaged in prison move – The Guardian
‘A triple killer has won £800 in compensation after some of his belongings, including nose hair clippers, cranberry juice and an alarm clock, were lost or broken in prison.’
The Guardian, 28th April 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
High Court injunction stops committee from hearing village green application – Local Government Lawyer
‘A landowner has secured an injunction preventing a county council – in its role as a commons registration authority – from convening a committee of its councillors to hear an application to register land as a village green.’
Local Government Lawyer, 25th April 2014
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Ignoring the Court of Appeal? – NearlyLegal
‘There has been an odd bedroom tax development, one on which details are tantalisingly still absent. Mr & Mrs Carmichael have won their appeal to the First Tier Tribunal, apparently on the basis of Mrs Carmichael’s disability, so on grounds of Article 14 read with Art 1 Protocol 1. The Tribunal apparently found that it would be unjustifiable discrimination to impose the bedroom tax.’
NearlyLegal, 24th April 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
EAT not usually entitled to resolve factual disagreements in UK employment cases, Court of Appeal rules – OUT-LAW.com
‘The UK’s Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) will not normally be able to resolve factual disagreements between parties involved in an employment dispute without parties’ permission, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 24th April 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Boy’s ‘campaign of rape’ against nine-year-old sister – BBC News
‘A teenage boy who carried out a “campaign of rape” against his younger sister has been given a 10-year custodial sentence.’
BBC News, 24th April 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Derby baby’s death: Court ‘disempowered’ carers of killed baby boy – BBC News
‘A baby boy who suffered head injuries inflicted by his father was refused a protection order by the courts, a serious case review has found.’
BBC News, 24th April 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘King of Acid’ rave pioneer given five-year sentence for £1.25m bank cyber-fraud scheme – The Independent
‘In the 1980s, Tony Colston-Hayter was the floppy-haired “King of Acid”, the fresh-faced advocate of the emerging rave scene and feisty battler of tabloid critics who suggested his events were drug-fuelled dens of vice and sin.’
The Independent, 24th April 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Woman jailed for drunken bite attack while pregnant – Daily Telegraph
‘Fiona Leonard, who was 20 weeks pregnant, left her victim with permanent scars following the vicious attack at Royal Ascot.’
Daily Telegraph, 24th April 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Family justice reforms to benefit children – Ministry of Justice
‘The largest family justice reforms for a generation will come into effect today.’
Ministry of Justice, 22nd April 2014
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Supreme Court to hold expedited hearing on benefit cap next week – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Supreme Court will next week hold an expedited hearing of a challenge to the Government’s introduction of the controversial “benefit cap”. The case of R on the application of SG and others (previously JS and others) (Appellants) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Respondents) will be heard over two days on 29-30 April by a panel comprising Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath and Lord Hughes.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd April 2014
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Social Investment by Charities – Law Commission
‘We are opening a consultation seeking views on changes to the law that governs how charities make social investments. The consultation paper analyses the legal framework, explains the ways in which the law already supports charity trustees and proposes changes that would clarify the way in which charities can use social investments to achieve their charitable aims.’
Law Commission, 24th April 2014
Source: www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission
Relief from sanction and witness statements – The Barristers’ Hub
‘The Court of Appeal last week handed down judgment in the case of Chartwell Estate Agents v. Fergies Property & Anor. [2014] E. W. C. A. Civ. 506. It is an important decision for all civil practitioners, as it deals directly with the question of relief from sanction under the modified Rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules, and mollifies to some extent the (at least perceived) harshness of the rule in Mitchell v. News Group Newspapers [2014] 1 W. L. R. 795 – so much so that the Westlaw service run by respected legal publishers Sweet & Maxwell now state that the Mitchell decision has received “mixed or mildly negative judicial treatment”.’
The Barristers’ Hub, 23rd April 2014
Source: www.barristershub.co.uk
Travails of the War Horse orchestra – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Ashworth and others v the Royal National Theatre [2014] 1176. Anyone who saw one of the early performances of War Horse in its first season at the National Theatre will remember how profoundly moving was the live music, with the musicians visible along the sides of the theatre above the stage. Since that highly successful (and profitable) first season the role of the orchestra had been radically reduced, and now looks as if it is about to vanish altogether.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd April 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Court of Appeal upholds Honda’s liability for workplace pensions caused by faulty legal documents – OUT-LAW.com
‘A recent Court of Appeal decision committing car company Honda to between £47 million and £70m in additional pension scheme benefits due to a mistake in one of the documents is “another lesson in the importance of getting pension scheme documents right”, an expert has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 23rd April 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
In re St Lawrence, Wootton – WLR Daily
In re St Lawrence, Wootton: [2014] WLR (D) 176
‘Where disposal of church treasures was contemplated would-be petitioners and chancellors should apply a sequential approach, considering first disposal by loan, and only where that was inapposite, disposal by limited sale; and only where that was inapposite, disposal by outright sale. Chancellors merely needed to decide whether the grounds for sale were sufficiently compelling to outweigh the strong presumption against sale. For the future little weight should normally attach to “separation” of the article from the church as a reason for disposal by sale, and it was doubtful that “separation” would ever, on its own, have sufficient strength to justify sale of a church treasure.’
WLR Daily, 14th April 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Kaneria v Kaneria and others – WLR Daily
Kaneria v Kaneria and others: [2014] EWHC 1165 (Ch); [2014] WLR (D) 177
‘An in-time application for extension of time was not to be treated as if it were an application for relief from sanctions, but was to be judged against the overriding objective rather than CPR r 3.9. When dealing with an in-time application, the court was not to give paramount status to the considerations of enforcing compliance with rules, Practice Directions and orders.’
WLR Daily, 15th April 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
High Court (Administrative Court)
Source: www.bailii.org
