BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted February 20th, 2012 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Crawford & Anor v Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust [2012] EWCA Civ 138 (17 February 2012)

Oxford City Council v Basey [2012] EWCA Civ 115 (15 February 2012)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

AB & Anor v Home Office [2012] EWHC 226 (QB) (16 February 2012)

Gold & Anor v Cox & Anor [2012] EWHC 272 (QB) (17 February 2012)

Independent Police Complaints Commission v Warner & Ors [2012] EWHC 271 (QB) (17 February 2012)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Bevan & Clarke LLP & Ors v Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council [2012] EWHC 236 (Admin) (17 February 2012)

Hurley & Moore, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Business Innovation & Skills [2012] EWHC 201 (Admin) (17 February 2012)

HA, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Hillingdon & Anor [2012] EWHC 291 (Admin) (17 February 2012)

Polestar Maritime Ltd v YHM Shipping Co Ltd & Anor [2012] EWHC 153 (Admin) (17 February 2012)

Jenkins v Gloucestershire County Council [2012] EWHC 292 (Admin) (17 February 2012)

High Court (Family Division)

Z (A Child), Re [2012] EWHC 139 (Fam) (02 February 2012)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Bank of Scotland Plc & Anor v United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd [2012] EWHC 134 (Comm) (13 January 2012)

Progress Bulk Carriers Ltd v Tube City IMS LLC [2012] EWHC 273 (Comm) (17 February 2012)

Source: www.bailii.org

Boy, 11, gets criminal record after arson attack – The Independent

Posted February 20th, 2012 in arson, children, criminal records, news by sally

“A schoolboy has become one of the youngest people in the country to be given a criminal record after he admitted vandalism during an arson attack when he was 10 years old.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th February 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Shared parenting after divorce: lessons from Australia – Halsbury’s Law Exhange

Posted February 20th, 2012 in children, custody, divorce, news by sally

“The recent Government Response to the Family Justice Review has at its centre an entitlement to a legally binding presumption of shared parenting. Legislation in favour of shared parenting would represent the greatest change to the Children Act since its creation in 1989. Arguably, the proposal represents a levelling of the playing field, addressing a perceived imbalance in the treatment of parents post-separation, to others it is a legislative minefield detracting from the primary consideration – the child.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th February 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Is it legal to teach gay hate in schools? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 20th, 2012 in education, equality, homosexuality, news, sexual orientation discrimination by sally

“Following the news recently it would seem that the UK is convulsed by a raging battle between religious observers and, in the words of Baroness Warsi, militant secularists. On the same day, the High Court ruled that Christian prayers held before a council meeting were unlawful, and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the High Court that two Christian hotel owners had discriminated against gay clients by not offering them a double room.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 19th February 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Bailiff regulations ‘could cost debtors more’ – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2012 in bailiffs, fees, news by sally

“Bailiffs chasing debts may be able to increase the fees they charge some debtors from £42.50 to £305 if government proposals come into force.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Doctor barred after 20 years of sex abuse – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 20th, 2012 in disciplinary procedures, doctors, news, professional conduct, sexual offences by sally

“A doctor who sexually abused female patients over a 20-year period has finally been barred from working.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 19th February 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Facebook hacker jailed for eight months – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2012 in computer crime, intellectual property, internet, news, sentencing by sally

“A student who hacked into Facebook in ‘the most extensive and grave’ case of social media hacking ever to come before a British court has been sentenced to eight months in prison.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bulger killer could be in line for compensation from News of the World – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 20th, 2012 in interception, media, news, privacy by sally

“One of the killers of James Bulger is seeking to sue News International for more than £50,000 after he was informed that his phone may have been hacked by the News of the World.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 19th February 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jail for £96,000 benefit cheat Helen Ryan, who had £184,000 in savings – BBC News

Posted February 20th, 2012 in benefits, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

“A mother-of-six has been jailed for claiming benefits when she had over £180,000 hidden in nine bank accounts.”

Full story

BBC News, 17th February 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Bideford council to appeal against ban on prayers during meetings – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2012 in Christianity, judicial review, local government, news by sally

“Until this week, perhaps, Bideford owed its greatest claim to fame to its 1682 witch trials when three women were sent to the gallows in the reputed last hangings for witchcraft in England.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

£1m payout to child asylum seekers – The Independent

Posted February 20th, 2012 in asylum, children, compensation, detention, news by sally

“The Home Office has paid compensation of more than £1m, plus £1m costs, in a case involving 40 child asylum seekers who were wrongly detained as adults, it has been reported.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th February 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Freedom of Information: this scaremongering leads to nothing but misinformation – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2012 in data protection, freedom of information, government departments, news by sally

“The information commissioner writes that Whitehall insiders’ criticisms of the Freedom of Information laws are nonsense.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Secrecy laws ‘don’t harm the work of ministers’, says information commissioner – The Guardian

Posted February 20th, 2012 in freedom of information, government departments, news by sally

“Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, has hit out against the ‘distinguished Whitehall insiders’ who have called for the repeal of the freedom of information laws currently under review by parliament.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Drugs smuggler ordered to pay £2.6m – The Independent

Posted February 20th, 2012 in conspiracy, drug trafficking, news, proceeds of crime by sally

“A drugs gang ‘Mr Big’ who smuggled £25 million of cannabis into the UK from Holland in lorry loads of flowers has been ordered to pay £2.6 million.”

Full story

The Independent, 17th February 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Dragon’s Den fraudster sentenced – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted February 17th, 2012 in fraud, media, news, sentencing by sally

“Mark James-Dawson, Crown Advocate for the CPS said:

‘This was a particularly brazen and audacious fraud, carried out on national television. Jean-Claude Baumgartner claimed to own software vital to the business opportunity he pitched on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, and went on to fabricate evidence of advance orders for his product from overseas retailers and the world famous department store, Harrods.'”

Full story

Crown Prosecution Service, 17th February 2012

Source: blog.cps.gov.uk

Trial by jury: the importance of “ordinary” jurors – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted February 17th, 2012 in juries, news, trial without jury by sally

“You can never write too much about the importance of trial by jury, particularly since there are moves afoot to restrict it. This month is no exception as Professor Richard Dawkins advocated a scientific resolution for criminal proceedings in The New Statesman, and The Times published an article by David Pannick QC effectively supporting the removal of jury trial in less serious cases.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th February 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Teenage students lose high court battle to overturn tuition fees rise – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 17th, 2012 in equality, fees, human rights, judicial review, news, universities by sally

“Two students, Callum Hurley and Katy Moore, have failed in their High Court attempt to overturn the Government’s decision to allow universities to almost treble tuition fees.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Basey and others v Oxford City Council – WLR Daily

Posted February 17th, 2012 in benefits, community care, housing, law reports by sally

Basey and others v Oxford City Council [2012] EWCA Civ 115; [2012] WLR (D) 34

“Since the social security and housing legislation had not defined what ‘sheltered accommodation’ was, it was not legitimate for a housing authority to claim that a sheltered accommodation should have a warden or resident caretaking manager and emergency alarm to qualify as such to impose an obligation on the housing authority to pay the costs of fuel and cleaning of the rooms and windows of the housing benefit tenants living in the accommodation. Therefore, a special needs adult living in a four-bedroom property with three other special needs tenants each occupying a bedroom and sharing a kitchen, bath room, two toilets and two sitting rooms, provided with 24-hour care and support supervision staff to meet the tenants’ needs, was a sheltered accommodation such as to oblige the housing authority to pay the costs of fuel and cleaning expenses as part of the rent out of the housing benefit.”

WLR Daily, 15th February 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

British Broadcasting Corporation and another v Sugar (No 2) – WLR Daily

Posted February 17th, 2012 in BBC, freedom of information, law reports, media by sally

British Broadcasting Corporation and another v Sugar (No 2) [2011] UKSC 4; [2012] WLR (D) 33

“Once it was established that information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was held by the BBC as a public authority for the purposes of journalism, it was effectively exempt from production under the Act, even if it was also held by the authority for other, possibly more important, purposes.”

WLR Daily, 15th February 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Abu Qatada could be deported if UK can get guarantees on torture evidence – The Guardian

Posted February 17th, 2012 in deportation, detention, human rights, news, terrorism, torture by sally

“The Islamist preacher Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan if Strasbourg is given ‘watertight guarantees’ he will not be tried on evidence extracted under torture, Europe’s most senior human rights official has signalled.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th February 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk