Courtrooms to be fully digital by 2016 – BBC News
“Courtrooms in England and Wales will be fully digital by 2016, the government
says, ending what it described as ‘an outdated reliance on paper. ‘ ”
BBC News, 28th June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Oxford sex grooming gang jailed for life – Daily Telegraph
“Members of an Oxford gang who groomed vulnerable young girls for sex, repeatedly raping them and threatening to kill them if they told anyone, have been jailed for life.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th June 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
The Daily Telegraph have recently introduced a limited paywall. Users will be permitted to view 20 Daily Telegraph articles per month for free, after which they will need to pay a subscription fee to access content.
Judge had ‘lenient’ sentencing decisons overturned three times in just one year – Daily Telegraph
“Judge Martin Joy, who sits at Maidstone Crown Court, was the only judge last year to see three of his decisions challenged by the government’s senior law officer, although two other judges had two referrals apiece.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th June 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
The Daily Telegraph have recently introduced a limited paywall. Users will be permitted to view 20 Daily Telegraph articles per month for free, after which they will need to pay a subscription fee to access content.
Reforming children’s homes care: consultation on changes to The Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 (as amended) and The Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration) (England) Regulations 2010 – Department for Education
“This consultation seeks views on proposals to amend the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 (as amended) (‘the Children’s Homes Regulations’), with a related amendment to the Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration) (England) Regulations 2010 (‘the Registration Regulations’), and a minor amendment to the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 (covered at paragraph 12) (‘the Fostering Services Regulations’). The amendments are necessary to improve collaboration and partnership between children’s homes and services in their local communities so that there are effective safeguards in place for the vulnerable group of children relying on residential care.”
Full story (PDF)
Department for Education, 25th June 2013
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
Girl awarded £14m compensation after car crash left her paralysed – The Guardian
“A teenager, left paralysed from the neck down following a car crash, has been awarded £14m – one of the largest compensation payments made to a minor.”
The Guardian, 26th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
Supreme Court
Abela & Ors v. Baadarani [2013] UKSC 44 (26 June 2013)
Brown, R. v (Northern Ireland) [2013] UKSC 43 (26 June 2013)
North & Ors v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Scotland) [2013] UKSC 45 (26 June 2013)
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Thompson, R v [2013] EWCA Crim 988 (25 June 2013)
Cox, R v [2013] EWCA Crim 1025 (25 June 2013)
Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Secretary of State for the Home Department v Raju & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 754 (25 June 2013)
Emezie v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 733 (26 June 2013)
Boyd v Incommunities Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 756 (26 June 2013)
High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)
Cruddas v Calvert & Ors [2013] EWHC 1791 (QB) (26 June 2013)
Amin v Director General of the Security Service (MI5) & Ors [2013] EWHC 1579 (QB) (26 June 2013)
High Court (Chancery Division)
Avrahami & Ors v Biran & Ors [2013] EWHC 1776 (Ch) (25 June 2013)
JSC BTA Bank v Usarel Investments Ltd [2013] EWHC 1780 (Ch) (24 June 2013)
High Court (Administrative Court)
High Court (Commercial Court)
Sea-Cargo Skips AS v State Bank of India [2013] EWHC 177 (Comm) (26 June 2013)
High Court (Patents Court)
Eli Lilly & Company v Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy [2013] EWHC 1737 (Pat) (25 June 2013)
Source: www.bailii.org
Abela v Baadarain – WLR Daily
Abela v Baadarain [2013] UKSC 44; [2013] WLR (D) 251
“The court’s power, when the parties were within the jurisdiction, to make an order under CPR r 6.15(2), that steps already taken to bring the claim form to the attention of the defendant by an alternative method or at an alternative place was good service, was applicable to claims where the defendant was outside the jurisdiction in a state in respect of which no relevant bilateral convention on service of judicial documents existed.”
WLR Daily, 26th June 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Hate Crime: The Case for Extending the Existing Offences – Law Commission
“This project came to the Law Commission by a reference from the Ministry of Justice, following the Government’s publication of its three-year hate crime action plan in 2012.”
Law Commission, 27th June 2013
Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk
Daily Mail in £100,000-plus payout over Syrian chemical weapons story – The Guardian
“The Daily Mail has apologised and paid £110,000 in libel damages to a London defence firm it wrongly linked with an alleged chemical weapons plot in Syria.”
The Guardian, 26th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Patrick O’Brien: Does the Lord Chancellor really exist? – UK Constitutional Law Group
“On 12 June 2003 a minor constitutional revolution began with the resignation of Lord Irvine as Lord Chancellor and the announcement of a package of reforms including the abolition of his office and the creation of a Supreme Court, later to become the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA). To commemorate the tenth anniversary of these events, the Judicial Independence Project held a private seminar on 12 June 2013 at which some of those directly involved in the changes spoke about the experience and the effects it has had on constitutional change. A note of the seminar is available here. In part the seminar brought out the drama and the comedy of the day itself. An old friendship ended in acrimony: Irvine had been the Prime Minister’s pupil master and had introduced him to his wife. At the same time the senior judiciary, at an away day with civil servants, were taken by surprise by the announcement and had to have the details explained to them whilst they huddled, increasingly angry, around a single phone in a country pub.”
UK Constitutional Law Group, 26th June 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
Supreme Court gives green light to school staff to bring equal pay claims – Local Government Lawyer
“The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a 251-strong group of female council employees and restored an Employment Tribunal decision that they could bring equal pay claims.”
Local Government Lawyer, 26th June 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 26th June 2013
Abela and others (Appellants) v. Baadarani (Respondent) – Supreme Court
Abela and others (Appellants) v. Baadarani (Respondent) [2013] UKSC 44 | UKSC 2012/0023 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 26th June 2013
Judges look again at £2m claims exemption – Law Society’s Gazette
“Exempting mandatory costs budgeting for claims in excess of £2m may be ‘unnecessary and inappropriate’, a newly established sub-group of the Civil Procedure Rule committee has suggested.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 26th June 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
The good Samaritan doctor and the Human Tissue Act – UK Human Rights Blog
“You would have thought the law would be entirely behind a person who intervenes to help a stranger in distress. Indeed most civil law countries impose a positive duty to rescue, which means that if a person finds someone in need of medical help, he or she must take all reasonable steps to seek medical care and render best-effort first aid. A famous example of this was the investigation into the photographers at the scene of Lady Diana’s fatal car accident: they were suspected of violation of the French law of “non-assistance à personne en danger” (deliberately failing to provide assistance to a person in danger), which can be punished by up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 70,000 euros. But the position in common law countries like the UK and the United States is completely different: you can watch a child drown and not be held to account.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 26th June 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Stephen Lawrence claims: High Court ‘should approve undercover operations’ – BBC News
“Revelations about Stephen Lawrence’s family show police forces should be required to get High Court approval for undercover operations, campaigners say.”
BBC News, 26th June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Public less likely to trust lawyers – Law Society’s Gazette
“Declining public confidence in the professions continues to take its toll on lawyers, according to an annual survey commissioned by watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 27th June 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences draft guideline – Sentencing Council
“The Sentencing Council is updating guidance for courts so that all fraud offences are covered by a consistent set of guidelines that will also deal with corporate offenders.”
Sentencing Council, 27th June 2013
