MLA guidelines for foreign authorities – Home Office
‘These guidelines describe mutual legal assistance (MLA) that can be provided by the UK.’
Home Office, 6th January 2014
Source: www.gov.uk/home-office
Man sentenced for stirring up racial hatred – Crown Prosecution Service
‘Christopher Philips has today (8 January 2014) been sentenced to 12 months in prison and imposed with an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) for distributing videos of himself at an extremist right-wing event on a social media site. Mr Philips pleaded guilty to one count of stirring up racial hatred contrary to section 21 of the Public Order Act 1986 at a hearing on 31 October 2013 at Wolverhampton Crown Court.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 8th January 2014
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
Personal data: Tribunal analyses the ‘relates to’ and ‘identification’ limbs – Panopticon
‘I have commented in previous posts on how infrequently the Data Protection Act 1998 has been the subject of substantive litigation before the courts. One consequence of this is persistent uncertainty over how pivotal concepts such as “personal data” are to be analysed and approached. Last year, the High Court in Kelway v The Upper Tribunal, Northumbria Police and the Information Commissioner (2013) EWHC 2575 (Admin) considered how “personal data” issues should be approached.’
Panopticon, 9th January 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
UK firm fined £25,000 for failure to monitor, supervise and manage its appointed representatives – OUT-LAW.com
‘A firm has been fined £25,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the misconduct of two of its sales staff acting as its ‘appointed representatives’ (ARs). Amongst other cases of misconduct, the ARs were found to have used “high-pressure sales tactics and misleading information” to push vulnerable customers into buying insurance policies.’
OUT-LAW.com, 8th January 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk
The Local Government Finance Act 1988 (Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers) (England) Order 2014
The Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (European Central Counterparty N.V.) Regulations 2014
The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2014
The Closure of Prisons Order 2014
The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014
Source: www.legislation.gov.uk
Prime Sight Ltd v Lavarello – WLR Daily
Prime Sight Ltd v Lavarello [2013] UKPC 22; [2013] WLR (D) 514
‘When a deed contained a valid contract of sale the parties were entitled on ordinary contractual principles to rely on the terms of the deed by which the purchase price was treated between the parties as having been paid, even though no payment had in fact been made. In those circumstances the seller’s trustee in bankruptcy was estopped by the terms of the deed from asserting that the purchase price had not been paid.’
WLR Daily, 9th July 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Robinson-Pierre v R [2013] EWCA Crim 2396 (20 December 2013)
Taylor v R [2013] EWCA Crim 2398 (20 December 2013)
High Court (Administrative Court)
Evans, R (on the application of) v Johnson & Ors [2013] EWHC 4109 (Admin) (20 December 2013)
High Court (Chancery Division)
Nugent v Nugent [2013] EWHC 4095 (Ch) (20 December 2013)
Ali Haider v Syed [2013] EWHC 4079 (Ch) (19 December 2013)
High Court (Commercial Court)
Bank of India v Svizera Holdings BV [2013] EWHC 4097 (Comm) (20 December 2013)
B.A.T. Industries Plc v Windward Prospects Ltd & Anor [2013] EWHC 4087 (Comm) (20 December 2013)
High Court (Family Division)
Button v Salama [2013] EWHC 4152 (Fam) (19 December 2013)
Kinderis v Kineriene [2013] EWHC 4139 (Fam) (18 December 2013)
High Court (Patents Court)
Blue Gentian Llc & Anor v Tristar Products (UK) Ltd & Anor [2013] EWHC 4098 (Pat) (20 December 2013)
Source: www.bailii.org
Bias has ‘significant’ effect on verdicts, jury research says – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Jurors should be tested before trials to reduce the effect of prejudices on their understanding of the burden of proof, according to the authors of a study suggesting bias has a “significant” impact on verdicts.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 10th January 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Police officer Christopher Semak jailed for sexual activity with girl, 14 – BBC News
‘A police officer who engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl has been jailed for six years.’
BBC News, 9th January 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
16-year legal battle over laptop reaches UK supreme court – The Guardian
‘All Richard Durkin wanted was a laptop with an inbuilt modem. But what he ended up with was an epic 16-year legal tussle, a £250,000 bill for legal fees and, now, a date at the supreme court. The 44-year-old married father of two has been engaged in a David-and-Goliath battle against the bank that he says “annihilated” his credit rating after he walked into his local PC World to buy a £1,500 laptop in 1998.’
The Guardian, 9th January 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Bedroom tax loophole could exempt 40,000 wrongly identified as liable – The Guardian
‘Thousands of people have been wrongly identified as liable for the bedroom tax, including some who now face eviction or have been forced to move to a smaller property, as a result of an error by Department of Work and Pensions. Housing experts believe as many as 40,000 people could be affected by the mistake. The DWP says it believes only a “small number” of tenants are affected, which it estimates number 5,000.’
Full story
The Guardian, 9th January 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Illegal tobacco seller Roger Gerrey sold cigarettes to children – BBC News
‘A man who turned his Devon home into a shop selling illegal cigarettes to school children has been spared a jail sentence.’
BBC News, 9th January 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Drug-dealing father of 22 spared jail to care for son – Daily Telegraph
‘Drug-dealing father who has 22 children with 11 women has sentence suspended after judge ruled he needed to help his girlfriend look after their seven-month-old baby.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Life terms plan for terrorists in training – Daily Telegraph
‘Maximum sentences for a range of terrorism offences including weapons training will be upgraded from 14 years to life, the Telegraph can reveal.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Parkside Nursing Home deaths: Police to review evidence – BBC News
‘Police are to review evidence given at a tribunal after five “severely” neglected patients died in two weeks at a Northampton home.’
BBC News, 9th January 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Metropolitan police corruption report prompts call for inquiry – The Guardian
‘The head of the Metropolitan police will be asked to ensure corruption no longer exists in the force after a confidential report into organised crime infiltrating Scotland Yard was leaked to a newspaper. The report said organised criminals “were able to infiltrate Scotland Yard at will by bribing corrupt officers”, according to the results of the secret internal report written in 2002.’
The Guardian, 10th January 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Corman-Collins SA v La Maison du Whisky SA – WLR Daily
Corman-Collins SA v La Maison du Whisky SA (Case C-9/12); [2013] WLR (D) 513
‘The rule of jurisdiction laid down in the second indent of article 5(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 for disputes relating to contracts for the supply of services was applicable in the case of a legal action by which a claimant established in one member state claimed, against a defendant established in another member state, rights arising from an exclusive distribution agreement, which required the contract binding the parties to contain specific terms concerning the distribution by the distributor of goods sold by the grantor. It was for the national court to ascertain whether that was the case in the before it.’
WLR Daily, 19th December 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
MacLennan v Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) plc – WLR Daily
MacLennan v Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) plc [2013] EWHC 4044 (QB); [2013] WLR (D) 509
‘The power to prohibit the calling of witnesses under CPR r 32.2(3) sat towards the more extreme end of the court’s powers and was a power to be considered after less intrusive measures had been considered and rejected.’
WLR Daily, 17th December 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Jack Alaric Simson Caird: A Code of Constitutional Standards – UK Constitutional Law Group
‘The Constitution Unit of University College London is today publishing a report which sets out a code of constitutional standards based on the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. Since 2001 the Committee has made many recommendations in its reports, and the goal of this report was to codify these recommendations in order to make the Committee’s analysis of the constitution more accessible. The report, by Robert Hazell, Dawn Oliver and myself, contains a code of 126 constitutional standards, each of which is relevant to the legislative process, and each of which has been extracted from the 149 reports of the Constitution Committee that were reviewed. The standards are organised into five sections: the rule of law; delegated powers, delegated legislation and Henry VIII clauses; the separation of powers; individual rights; and parliamentary procedure.’
UK Constitutional Law Group, 8th January 2014
Source: www.ukconstitutionalgroup.org
Putting it off – NearlyLegal
‘Before I come to the facts of Scriven and others v Calthorpe Estates [2013] UKUT 469 (LC), I need, I think, to give a fair bit of background. Even by the comprehensive standards of NL, this is pretty obscure.’
NearlyLegal, 8th January 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
