Schoolboy rapist walks free despite failure to show remorse – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 25th, 2013 in child abuse, compensation, news, rape, sentencing, sexual offences, young offenders by sally

“A schoolboy who twice raped a six-year-old girl has walked free from court after being told to pay his victim £300, despite saying he felt no remorse for his actions.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th September 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Manchester loan sharks jailed after preying on young mothers – BBC News

Posted September 25th, 2013 in debts, interest, intimidation, loans, money laundering, news by sally

“Three Manchester loan sharks who charged vulnerable people 100% interest and menaced them by mobile phone have been jailed.”

Full story

BBC News, 24th September 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ex-prisoner fails to halt police DNA-collection programme – The Guardian

“A former prisoner has failed in a legal challenge that could have forced police to destroy thousands of DNA samples collected from those convicted of serious crimes before 1994.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted September 24th, 2013 in legislation by sally

The Social Security, Child Support, Vaccine Damage and Other Payments (Decisions and Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

The Extradition Appeals (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Order 2013

The Extradition Act 2003 (Designation of Prosecutors) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Order 2013

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted September 24th, 2013 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Vehicle Control Services Ltd v HM Revenue & Customs [2013] EWCA Civ 186 (13 March 2013)

M (Children) [2013] EWCA Civ 1147 (20 September 2013)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Streeter v Hughes & Anor [2013] EWHC 2841 (QB) (20 September 2013)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Brand & Anor v Philip Lund (Consultants) Ltd [1989] EWHC 2 (Ch) (18 July 1989)

Honda Motor Europe Ltd, Re [2013] EWHC 2842 (Ch) (20 September 2013)

High Court (Family Division)

Joyce v Joyce [2013] EWHC 1353 (Fam) (16 May 2013)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Uddin, R (on the application of) v Crown Court At Leeds [2013] EWHC 2752 (Admin) (11 July 2013)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Goldman Sachs International v Videocon Global Ltd & Anor [2013] EWHC 2843 (Comm) (20 September 2013)

The London Steam Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v The Kingdom of Spain [2013] EWHC 2840 (Comm) (20 September 2013)

Deutsche Bank AG & Ors v Unitech Global Ltd & Anor [2013] EWHC 2793 (Comm) (20 September 2013)

Source: www.bailii.org

Army could have done more to stop soldier dying from heat, says coroner – The Guardian

Posted September 24th, 2013 in armed forces, health, health & safety, inquests, Iraq, news by sally

“Army chiefs could have done more to make sure soldiers were protected against the effects of soaring temperatures, a coroner has concluded after hearing the case of a reservist who died after suffering heat stroke in Iraq.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Legal Ombudsman to work on allowing complaints from non-clients – Legal Futures

Posted September 24th, 2013 in complaints, legal ombudsman, news, third parties by sally

“The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is to begin work on what types of complaints it should accept from non-clients amid reports of lawyers harassing third parties over alleged debts, violating their privacy and doling out abusive treatment in court.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 24th September 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

It cost you how much? – NearlyLegal

Posted September 24th, 2013 in costs, fees, housing, news, tribunals, valuation by sally

“Law can be expensive.

This is particularly so in relation to the process of law, i.e. the costs of going to the law. By this I mean things such as the court or tribunal fees, but particularly the costs of the lawyers. If you lose in civil litigation, the normal rule is that you’ve got to pay not just for your own lawyers, but for the other side’s too. Due to the way that costs are assessed and recovered, even the winner often has to foot the bill for some their own lawyers’ fees. It is fair to say that the general public doesn’t think too highly of the fees charged by lawyers. Now, a lot of the criticism is unfair (‘If you think a professional is expensive, wait ’til you try an amateur’) and based on misinformation and misunderstanding. Nonetheless, there is force in some of the criticism.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 24th September 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Barristers quit BSB prosecutors panel in QASA protest – Legal Futures

Posted September 24th, 2013 in barristers, costs, news, quality assurance by sally

“A number of barristers have resigned from the Bar Standards Board’s prosecutor panel in protest at the imminent launch of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA).”

Full story

Legal Futures, 24th September 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Transforming legal aid – why do the survey? – Legal Aid Handbook

Posted September 24th, 2013 in criminal justice, law firms, legal aid, news by sally

“Vicky Ling and Andrew Otterburn have been commissioned by the Law Society and MoJ to carry out a survey of firms to try to assess the impact that the government’s revised proposals will have on criminal defences practices.”

Full story

Legal Aid Handbook, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.legalaidhandbook.com

Legal aid residence test ‘will just shift cost to council taxpayers’ – The Guardian

Posted September 24th, 2013 in children, homelessness, legal aid, local government, news, reports by sally

“Introducing a proposed residence test for legal aid will lead to local authorities paying tens of millions of pounds to support children in care and prevent increased homelessness, campaigners have warned the Ministry of Justice.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Karl Clay – Coventry sex offender who doused victims in petrol – sentenced to life in prison – The Independent

Posted September 24th, 2013 in attempted murder, attempts, news, rape, sentencing, sexual offences, violent offenders by sally

“A violent offender who doused his victims in petrol has been sentenced to life in prison for a string of violent and sexual assaults.”

Full story

The Independent, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

GMC probe into Mid-Staffs slammed as “whitewash” as cases abandoned – Daily Telegraph

“The investigation into the Mid-Staffs scandal was branded a ‘whitewash’ after regulators abandoned efforts to pursue the last of 44 doctors accused of failing patients.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Two prisoners sentenced to life for murdering child killer in jail – The Guardian

Posted September 24th, 2013 in murder, news, prisons, sentencing by sally

“Two prisoners who bound and strangled to death a fellow inmate in a high-security prison have been told they will serve the rest of their lives behind bars. Gary Smith, 48, and Lee Newell, 44, who were already serving life for killings, were both given whole-life sentences by a judge for the ‘chilling’ murder of Subhan Anwar.”

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Leading civil rights lawyers Tooks Chambers closes, blaming legal aid cuts – The Independent

Posted September 24th, 2013 in barristers, human rights, legal aid, news by sally

“One of Britain’s leading civil rights barristers’ chambers, which led inquiries into the deaths of Stephen Lawrence and Princess Diana and the Hillsborough disaster, is closing due to Government cuts to legal aid.”

Full story

The Independent, 23rd September 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Keeping the “National” in National Probation Service – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly

Posted September 23rd, 2013 in news, probation, rehabilitation by sally

“The debate about the future of probation services rages on. As a previous ‘service user’, otherwise known as an offender, I can look at my experience of my regional probation service, but I can also highlight the importance of not selling this vital institution to private organizations.”

Full story

Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 20th September 2013

Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk

CHS Tour Services GmbH v Team4 Travel GmbH – WLR Daily

CHS Tour Services GmbH v Team4 Travel GmbH (Case C-435/11); [2013] WLR (D) 355

“If a commercial practice satisfied all the criteria set out in article 6(1) of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/29/EC (‘the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) for being categorised as a misleading practice in relation to the consumer, it was not necessary to determine whether such a practice was also contrary to the requirements of professional diligence as referred to in article 5(2)(a) of the Directive in order for it legitimately to be regarded as unfair and, therefore, prohibited in accordance with article 5(1).”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Betriu Montull v Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) – WLR Daily

Betriu Montull v Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) (Case C-5/12); [2013] WLR (D) 354

“Council Directives 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding and 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions did not preclude a national measure which provided that the father of a child, who was an employed person, was entitled, with the consent of the mother, who was also an employed person, to take maternity leave for the period following the compulsory leave of six weeks which the mother had to take after childbirth except where her health would be at risk, whereas a father of a child who was an employed person was not entitled to take such leave where the mother of his child was not an employed person and was not covered by a State social security scheme.”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Van Buggenhout and another v Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA – WLR Daily

Posted September 23rd, 2013 in debts, EC law, foreign companies, foreign jurisdictions, insolvency, law reports by sally

Van Buggenhout and another v Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA (Case C-251/12); [2013] WLR (D) 353

“A payment made at the behest of debtor subject to insolvency proceedings to one of the latter’s creditors did not fall within the scope of article 24(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings. That provision enabled a person who honoured an obligation ‘for the benefit of’ a debtor, who was subject to insolvency proceedings opened in another member state , when it should have been honoured for the benefit of the liquidator, to be deemed to have discharged it if he was unaware of the opening of proceedings.”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Brey – WLR Daily

Posted September 23rd, 2013 in benefits, EC law, freedom of movement, law reports, pensions by sally

Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Brey (Case C-140/12); [2013] WLR (D) 352

“European Union law—in particular, articles 7(1)(b), 8(4) and 24(1) and (2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states—precluded national legislation which, even in relation to the period following the first three months of residence, automatically barred the grant of a social security benefit to a national of another member state who was not economically active, on the grounds that, despite having been issued with a certificate of residence, he did not meet the necessary requirements for obtaining the legal right to reside on the territory of the first member state for a period of longer than three months, since obtaining that right of residence was conditional upon that national having sufficient resources not to apply for the benefit.”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk