Tempest Tossed? – NearlyLegal
“Does the landlord’s repairing duty under Section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 extend to damage by fire, flood or tempest?”
NearlyLegal, 24th October 2012
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Pro bono – minding the gap – Law Society’s Gazette
“The tough economic climate, coupled with the threat to frontline advice agencies from local authority and legal aid cuts, has dramatically increased demand for free legal help. National Pro Bono Week, which starts on 5 November, will focus attention on the question ‘is something better than nothing?’ as law firms of all sizes explore how they can best respond, and in-house counsel press for regulatory change so they can offer more pro bono support.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 25th October 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Fiancée fights for her right to a Scientology wedding in landmark legal bid to overturn ‘unfair’ marriage laws in England and Wales – The Independent
“Scientologists have launched a landmark legal bid to overturn marriage laws in England and Wales. Followers of the controversial new religion believe it is unfair that Protestants, Catholics, Quakers, Jews and Non-Conformists are allowed to have state sanctioned marriages in their religious buildings whilst other faiths are not.”
The Independent, 24th October 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Prisoner votes row will lose the government respect – The Guardian
“Cameron’s depressing announcement means the UK’s reputation will suffer – and it was a snub to his attorney general.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Blow to Sarah’s Law as judges rule paedophiles’ human rights should be considered – Daily Telegraph
“A High Court ruling said paedophiles should be allowed to make representations before their details are revealed to members of the public.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th October 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Disclosure of sex offender information – new high court judgment – Panopticon
“The High Court has today handed down an important judgment on the legality of the Government’s Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSOD): X(South Yorkshire) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 2954 (Admin). CSOD is a non statutory scheme which police forces nationally have been free to adopt since 2010. It enables members of the public to ask the police to provide details of a person who has some form of contact with children with a view to ascertaining whether that person had convictions for sexual offences against children or whether there is other relevant information about him or her which ought to be made available.”
Panopticon, 24th October 2012
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Reginald Davies convicted of sex abuse dating back 63 years – The Guardian
“An elderly man has been convicted of the rape and sexual abuse of four young girls in south Wales up to 63 years ago, in one of the oldest historic cases of sex offences ever to be prosecuted in this country.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
I won’t give prisoners the vote, says David Cameron – The Guardian
“Prime minister at odds with attorney general as he tells MPs prisoners will never get the vote under his government.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Change law that puts children in jail for minor offences, says report – The Guardian
“Minor offences by children should be treated as a public health issue and not as crimes, according to a new report revealing failings in the justice system have cost 190 lives in a decade.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
DPP to launch urgent investigation into failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile over child abuse allegations – The Independent
“Mr Starmer will examine why the Crown Prosecution Service failed to act on evidence about Savile’s activities passed to it in 2009 by Surrey Police.”
The Independent, 24th October 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Victoria station killing: man convicted over Sofyen Belamouadden death – The Guardian
“The last teenager to stand trial for the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was hunted down at a central London railway station has been convicted of his killing.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Secretary of State for the Home Department v CC and another – WLR Daily
“Where it was alleged that illegal actions of state agents constituted an abuse of the process of the court, it was not necessary to prove actual knowledge of that illegality for abuse of process to be established. There might be situations where mere recklessness or even negligent conduct could justify a stay on grounds of abuse of process.”
WLR Daily, 19th October 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regina (EM (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (MA (Eritrea)) v Same; Regina (AE (Eritrea)) v Same; Regina (EH (Iran)) v Same – WLR Daily
“Persons who had sought, or been granted, asylum in Italy but had since come to the United Kingdom could not resist return to Italy on the ground that they faced inhuman or degrading treatment there unless it could be shown that there was a systemic deficiency in the system of refugee protection in that country. Short of such evidence, in respect of which the view of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’) was pre-eminent, even powerful evidence of individual risk was of no avail.”
WLR Daily, 17th October 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Women who worked for Birmingham council win equal pay court fight – The Guardian
“Scores of women who worked for a local authority have won an equal pay compensation fight at the UK’s highest court.”
The Guardian, 24th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Mohan v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1363 (23 October 2012)
Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road RTM Company Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1372 (23 October 2012)
PC Harrington Contractors Ltd v Systech International Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1371 (23 October 2012)
Spencer & Anor v Secretary of State for Defence [2012] EWCA Civ 1368 (23 October 2012)
Hussain v Hussain & Anor [2012] EWCA Civ 1367 (23 October 2012)
Barkas v North Yorkshire County Council [2012] EWCA Civ 1373 (23 October 2012)
High Court (Chancery Division)
High Court (Administrative Court)
Price v Cheshire East Borough Council [2012] EWHC 2927 (Admin) (11 October 2012)
High Court (Commercial Court)
ED & F Man Sugar Ltd v Unicargo Transportgesellschaft mbH [2012] EWHC 2879 (Comm) (23 October 2012)
Source: www.bailii.org
New tool to fight economic crime – Ministry of Justice
“A new measure announced today [23 October] will help prosecutors combat corporate offending including fraud, money laundering and bribery – which cost the UK billions of pounds each year.”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd October 2012
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
Only smarties have the answer – collective cabinet responsibility and the sale of Rowntree Mackintosh – Panopticon
“The question of whether the convention on collective cabinet responsibility operates, in effect, as a trump card in the FOIA context has been considered in a number of tribunal cases (see further for example the Lamb case concerning a request for disclosure of the Iraq war cabinet minutes and the Cabinet Office case concerning cabinet discussions over the Westland takeover (‘the Westland case’)). Last week, in Cabinet Office v IC, the First-Tier Tribunal handed down a decision in which it reconfirmed the principle that the convention, whilst undoubtedly an important consideration in the FOIA context, does not create any absolute bar against disclosure.”
Panopticon, 23rd October 2012
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Community sentences to deliver proper punishment – Ministry of Justice
“The Government today publishes the new legislation, in the Crime and Courts Bill, that will mean adult community sentences will now contain a punitive element.”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd October 2012
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
