Children: Public Law Update – Family Law Week
“John Tughan, Barrister, of 4 Paper Buildings reviews recent developments in Public Law Children.”
Family Law Week, 19th February 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
English cricket is shamed as Westfield jailed for spot-fixing – The Independent
“On a grim day for English cricket, Mervyn Westfield, a former Essex player, was sent to prison at the Old Bailey yesterday for corruption. The 23-year-old, who was sentenced to four months for spot-fixing in a county match, is the first English player to be jailed for such an offence.”
The Independent, 18th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Analysis | Court of Appeal upholds hotel gay discrimination ruling – UK Human Rights Blog
“On 10th February 2012, the Court of Appeal upheld a Judge’s ruling that a Christian couple, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, had discriminated against Martin Hall and Steven Preddy on grounds of sexual orientation when they refused them a double-bedded room at their hotel near Penzance.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 19th February 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
BAILII: Recent Decisions
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)
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)
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
“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.”
The Independent, 18th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Shared parenting after divorce: lessons from Australia – Halsbury’s Law Exhange
“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.”
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
“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.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 19th February 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Bailiff regulations ‘could cost debtors more’ – The Guardian
“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.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Doctor barred after 20 years of sex abuse – Daily Telegraph
“A doctor who sexually abused female patients over a 20-year period has finally been barred from working.”
Daily Telegraph, 19th February 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Facebook hacker jailed for eight months – The Guardian
“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.”
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
“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.”
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
“A mother-of-six has been jailed for claiming benefits when she had over £180,000 hidden in nine bank accounts.”
BBC News, 17th February 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Bideford council to appeal against ban on prayers during meetings – The Guardian
“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.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
£1m payout to child asylum seekers – The Independent
“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.”
The Independent, 18th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Freedom of Information: this scaremongering leads to nothing but misinformation – The Guardian
“The information commissioner writes that Whitehall insiders’ criticisms of the Freedom of Information laws are nonsense.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Secrecy laws ‘don’t harm the work of ministers’, says information commissioner – The Guardian
“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.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Drugs smuggler ordered to pay £2.6m – The Independent
“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.”
The Independent, 17th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Dragon’s Den fraudster sentenced – Crown Prosecution Service
“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.'”
Crown Prosecution Service, 17th February 2012
Source: blog.cps.gov.uk
Trial by jury: the importance of “ordinary” jurors – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
“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.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th February 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
