How we changed the law on stalking – The Guardian
“Just a year after starting a campaign on stalking, who would have thought it would become an offence on the statute book?”
The Guardian, 10th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Alternative Families and Children: A review of the recent case of A v B and C – Family Law Week
“Alex Verdan QC and Charles Hale, both of 4 Paper Buildings, counsel for the father in A v B and C, consider the lessons that can be learned by practitioners from the Court of Appeal judgment.”
Family Law Week, 5th April 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.com
Guidance : Care Monitoring System Guidance for Practitioners – Family Law Bar Association
Guidance : Care Monitoring System Guidance for Practitioners
Family Law Bar Association, 5th April 2012
Source: wwww.flba.co.uk
Clarification of the ‘public interest’ defence is badly needed – The Guardian
“Sky News’s decision to approve the hacking of emails belonging to John Darwin, the once-missing, presumed-dead ‘canoe man’, can be argued to be one of those finely balanced editorial decisions. The public interest argument runs fairly straightforwardly, after all. Darwin pleaded guilty to deception in March 2008 – you will recall he went out to sea in a canoe and somehow paddled his way from the north-east to the Panama canal, suggesting he was not so dead after all. But his wife, Anne, was going to trial – a life insurance policy had been cashed in by her – and it was at that point Sky’s journalist, Gerard Tubb, was given the green light to try to access John Darwin’s email communications. As he did so, he uncovered information that made it clear that Anne Darwin was in on the plot, and having shared this with Cleveland police, the broadcaster believes it helped secure her conviction and produced a very detailed post-conviction backgrounder.”
The Guardian, 8th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk
The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2012
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) Order 2012
The Offshore (Oil and Gas) Installation and Pipeline Abandonment Fees Regulations 2012
The Licensing Act 2003 (Permitted Temporary Activities) (Notices) (Amendment) Regulations 2012
The Alternative Provision Academies (Consequential Amendments to Acts) (England) Order 2012
The Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No.2) Order 2012
The Trade Marks and Trade Marks (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2012
The Non-Domestic Rating and Business Rate Supplements (Deferred Payments) (England) Regulations 2012
Source: www.legislation.gov.uk
Cigarette and tobacco displays banned in supermarkets – The Guardian
“Packets of cigarettes will disappear from the shelves of supermarkets in England on Friday and must stay hidden in closed cupboards, out of sight and – the government and campaigners hope – out of mind.”
The Guardian, 5th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Nolan & Anor v R [2012] EWCA Crim 671 (04 April 2012)
Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Solicitors Regulation Authority v Lawrence & Anor [2012] EWCA Civ 421 (03 April 2012)
High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)
McGrath & Anor v Dawkins & Ors [2012] EWHC B3 (QB) (30 March 2012)
Aziz v Lim [2012] EWHC 915 (QB) (05 April 2012)
High Court (Administrative Court)
Weszka, R (on the application of) v The Parole Board [2012] EWHC 827 (Admin) (05 April 2012)
Source: www.bailii.org
Is the UK shackled by its deportation rules? – UK Human Rights Blog
“In the wake of France’s apparently unencumbered expulsion of individuals on public interest grounds there has been a fresh outcry from the press about the shackles imposed by the Human Rights Convention on the UK authorities which other signatory states seem to ignore with impunity.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 7th April 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Appeal court finds dishonest solicitor should have been struck off – Legal Week
“The Court of Appeal has ruled that a legal disciplinary body should have struck off a solicitor that had been found to have acted dishonestly.”
Legal Week, 5th April 2012
Source: www.legalweek.com
Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials – The Guardian
“In 2004, Fatima Bouchar and her husband, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, were detained en route to the UK, and rendered to Libya. This is the story of their imprisonment, and the trail of evidence that reveals the involvement of the British government.”
The Guardian, 8th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Palestinian activist wins appeal against deportation – The Guardian
“The home secretary was ‘misled’ when she moved to throw a leading Palestinian activist out of the UK, according to an immigration tribunal ruling that strongly criticised her decision and found in favour of his appeal against the government’s attempts to deport him.”
The Guardian, 9th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Drink driving case abandoned after magistrate ‘fell asleep’ – Daily Telegraph
“A drink driving case was abandoned after a magistrate appeared to fall asleep while the defence solicitor was speaking.”
Daily Telegraph, 5th April 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Abu Hamza can be extradited to US, human rights court rules – The Guardian
“Abu Hamza, the radical cleric who became the face of violent extremism in Britain, can be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges, the European court of human rights has ruled.”
The Guardian, 10th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
The dangers of data snooping – UK Human Rights Blog
“Civil liberties and the coalition have been happily filling the political pages this week. The damning conclusion of the Joint Committee on Human Rights that there is no evidence to justify expanding closed proceedings (expertly dissected by Rosalind English earlier in the week) vied for column inches with leaks that the Government planned to introduce ‘real time’ monitoring of how we use the internet in the interests of national security.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 6th April 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
X-ray trial on asylum seekers started without formal approval – The Guardian
“The UK Border Agency embarked on a controversial trial of using dental x-rays to establish the age of young asylum seekers without the formal approval of the NHS watchdog which ensures medical research is ethical, the Guardian can reveal.”
The Guardian, 5th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
UK riots: Laura Johnson faces jail, says judge – The Guardian
“A millionaire’s daughter who drove a gang of looters around London during the riots last August is facing a jail sentence, a judge has said.”
The Guardian, 5th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Attorney general to warn hacking committee about prejudice risk – The Guardian
“An influential parliamentary committee is to be warned by the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, that its imminent report into phone-hacking could prejudice criminal cases being brought against a number of journalists and editors.”
The Guardian, 8th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Vulnerable adults still protected by High Court’s “great safety net” – UK Human Rights Blog
“Where adults have capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005), does the ‘great safety net’ of the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction still exist to guard them from the effect on their decision making of undue influence, coercion, duress etc? In its judgment handed down on 28 March 2012, the Court of Appeal confirmed that it does.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 6th April 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Courts confiscate firearms and knives in east of England – BBC News
“Seven firearms, about 50 replica guns and nearly 3,000 knives have been confiscated in courts in the east of England over the past three years, the BBC can reveal.”
BBC News, 9th April 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Energy regulator to get augmented powers – The Guardian
“Energy companies guilty of overcharging households will be forced to compensate consumers by a beefed-up industry watchdog under government proposals to be published this week.”
The Guardian, 9th April 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
