Tony Blair’s ‘disastrous’ wars to blame for secret courts, says Ken Clarke – The Guardian

“Ken Clarke has blamed Tony Blair’s ‘disastrous war on terror’ for the need to introduce secret courts to protect sensitive intelligence material.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Related link: The justice and security bill is on the right track

Advertise your Chambers’ vacancies with us for free

Posted September 20th, 2012 in news by sally

The ‘Classifieds’ section of the Current Awareness blog features advertisements for chambers’ vacancies.

Chambers can submit advertisements to classifieds@innertemplelibrary.com, including the following information:

Chambers name
Title of vacancy
Description of responsibilities
Contact information
Deadline for submission of applications

Users can keep track of vacancies by RSS feed or by Email.

Any new vacancies received will be added on Mondays.

Man with locked-in syndrome prepares to appeal for right to assisted death – The Guardian

Posted September 20th, 2012 in appeals, assisted suicide, euthanasia, news, prosecutions by sally

“Lawyers for a man with locked-in syndrome, who says his life is intolerable and wants help to die, are to take his case to the appeal court within weeks and are then prepared to go to the highest court in the land, the supreme court, if necessary.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

HRH the Prince of Wales: advocacy of an ordinary man – Panopticon

“The Upper Tribunal’s judgment in Evans v IC and Others (Seven Government Departments) [2012] UKUT 313 (AAC) (Mr Justice Walker, Professor John Angel and Suzanne Cosgrave), handed down yesterday, has received extensive media coverage – unsurprisingly so, given the subject matter (Prince Charles’ correspondence with government departments) and the requester (Rob Evans of the Guardian). The judgment is stupendously long (65 pages, plus 3 open annexes). Here are the salient points.”

Full story

Panopticon, 19th September 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

The Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property: Where next? – House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee

Posted September 19th, 2012 in copyright, intellectual property, news, reports by sally

The Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property: Where next? (PDF)

House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, September 2012

Source: www.parliament.uk

Facing Up To Offending: Use of restorative justice in the criminal justice system – Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary

Posted September 19th, 2012 in criminal justice, news, rehabilitation, restorative justice, victims by sally

“The aim of this review was to identify the benefits of restorative justice practices across the criminal justice system. It was a joint inspection, carried out by HMIC, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons.”

Full story

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, 18th September 2012

Source: www.hmic.gov.uk

Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted September 19th, 2012 in parliamentary papers by sally

Government Response to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Report of Session 2012-13: British Foreign Policy and the ‘Arab Spring’, Cm 8436 (PDF)

Fuel Poverty: changing the framework for measurement, Cm 8440 (PDF)

The Financial Services Bill: the Financial Policy Committee’s macro-prudential tools, Cm 8434 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

Evaluation: How can we measure access to justice for individual consumers? – Legal Services Board

Posted September 19th, 2012 in civil justice, criminal justice, legal services, Legal Services Board, news by sally

Evaluation: How can we measure access to justice for individual consumers? (PDF)

Presentation made by LSB Research Project Manager at the LSRC conference.

Legal Services Board, September 2012

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

Access to transactional justice: A comparison of consumer responses to transactional and justiciable problems – Legal Services Board

Posted September 19th, 2012 in civil justice, criminal justice, legal services, Legal Services Board, news by sally

Access to transactional justice: A comparison of consumer responses to transactional and justiciable problems (PDF)

Presentation made by LSB Head of Development and Research at the LSRC conference

Legal Services Board, September 2012

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted September 19th, 2012 in legislation by sally

The Social Fund Cold Weather Payments (General) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2012

The Stamp Duty Land Tax (Avoidance Schemes) (Specified Proposals or Arrangements) Regulations 2012

The Stamp Duty Land Tax Avoidance Schemes (Prescribed Descriptions of Arrangements) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

The Value Added Tax (Refund of VAT to Chief Constables and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis) Order 2012

The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (Local Returning Officers’ and Police Area Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2012

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Disabled prisoners’ lives put at risk by poor care and treatment in jail – The Guardian

Posted September 19th, 2012 in disabled persons, medical treatment, news, prisons, statistics by sally

“The plight of a man who had to be rushed to hospital hours after arriving in jail highlights the limitations of prison care.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The UK and Strasbourg: a victim fantasy – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted September 19th, 2012 in human rights, news, prisons, sentencing, statistics by sally

“Another defeat for the United Kingdom in Strasbourg yesterday. In James, Wells and Lee v. the United Kingdom, a chamber of the Court’s Fourth Section held that indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection infringed Article 5 of the Convention.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 19th September 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Teenage victims of domestic violence targeted as definition is extended – The Guardian

Posted September 19th, 2012 in domestic violence, news, victims, young persons by sally

“The official definition of domestic violence is to be changed from March to ensure that thousands of teenage victims who are abused while in a relationship get the help and support they need, ministers are to announce today. It is also to be widened to explicitly include ‘coercive control’, which is defined as complex patterns of abuse by one partner using power and psychological control over another, such as financial, verbal abuse or enforced social isolation.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘The disappeared’: prisoners on indeterminate sentences – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2012 in human rights, news, sentencing by sally

“The European court of human rights has ruled that indeterminate prison sentences (IPPs) breached prisoner’s human rights. There are over 6,000 IPP prisoners in England and Wales currently without a release date, leading a senior high court judge to describe them as ‘the disappeared’. 3,500 of these prisoners have already served their time but have no idea when they will leave prison.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Prince Charles’s letters to ministers should be disclosed, judges rule – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2012 in disclosure, freedom of information, news, royal family, tribunals by sally

“The government has for the first time been ordered to disclose copies of confidential letters that Prince Charles wrote to ministers.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Man jailed over extremist documents – The Independent

Posted September 18th, 2012 in documents, news, sentencing, terrorism by sally

“A Muslim man with extremist literature on his computer was jailed for a year today.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th September 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Strasbourg court orders payout to woman evicted from Welsh caravan site – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2012 in compensation, human rights, news, travellers, Wales by sally

“The European court of human rights has ordered the government to pay £6,500 in compensation to a mother who was forced to leave a council’s Gypsy site in Wales.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Indefinite sentences ruled unlawful – The Independent

Posted September 18th, 2012 in human rights, news, rehabilitation, sentencing by sally

“Jailing dangerous prisoners indefinitely on the grounds of risk without giving them access to rehabilitation courses breaches their human rights, European judges ruled today.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th September 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted September 18th, 2012 in law reports by sally

High Court (Technology and Construction Court)

ADS Aerospace Ltd v EMS Global Tracking Ltd [2012] EWHC 2310 (TCC) (03 August 2012)

Smith & Ors v South Eastern Power Networks Plc [2012] EWHC 2541 (TCC) (17 September 2012)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Ace European Ltd & Ors v Howden Group Ltd & Anor [2012] EWHC 2427 (Comm) (17 September 2012)

Source: www.bailii.org

The Cardiff Three: the long wait for justice – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2012 in complaints, miscarriage of justice, murder, news, perjury, police, reports by sally

“The case of the Cardiff Three was a gross miscarriage of justice which, 24 years on, remains unresolved. Can a report into the failed prosecution of eight police officers shed new light?”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk