Credit card firms agree fairer terms – The Guardian

Posted December 12th, 2008 in consumer credit, interest, news by sally

“Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise interest rates overnight, and will only be able to implement an increase twice a year, under a new government agreement.”

Full story

The Guardian, 12th December 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

IVF doctor cleared of sex charge – BBC News

Posted December 12th, 2008 in doctors, news, sexual offences by sally

“A fertility doctor has been cleared of sexually assaulting one his long-term female IVF patients.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th December 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Failings found in sex abuse case – BBC News

Posted December 12th, 2008 in child abuse, criminal records, news, sexual offences by sally

“Proper criminal checks were not carried out on a convicted child sex offender who went on to film the abuse of boys on field trips, an inquiry has found.”

Full story

BBC News, 12th December 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Shamed solicitor Jim Beresford plans legal services ‘supermarket’ – The Times

Posted December 12th, 2008 in claims management, industrial injuries, news, solicitors by sally

“Jim Beresford aims to bounce back from yesterday’s public humiliation with a multimillion-pound marketing campaign to set up Britain’s first ‘legal services supermarket’.”

Full story

The Times, 12th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Struck off: lawyers who milked sick miners for millions – The Independent

“A solicitor who became Britain’s richest lawyer was yesterday struck off after being found guilty of creaming millions of pounds from compensation paid to sick miners. Jim Beresford, 58, and his partner Douglas Smith, 52, were also ordered to pay substantial costs for serious professional misconduct over the handling of personal injury claims made under a compensation scheme for miners suffering coal dust-related diseases and other injuries.”

Full story

The Independent, 12th December 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

British surrogacy ruling saves baby twins from Ukraine orphanage – The Times

Posted December 12th, 2008 in news, surrogacy by sally

“A High Court judge called yesterday for a review of Britain’s surrogacy laws after making a ruling that rescued baby twins from a legal limbo, which had left them ‘marooned, stateless and parentless’  in Ukraine.”

Full story

The Times, 12th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Hartnett gets sex claim damages – BBC News

Posted December 11th, 2008 in defamation, news by sally

“Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett has accepted libel damages of £20,000 over allegations of a ‘sexual dalliance’ in a public area of a London hotel.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th December 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted December 11th, 2008 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

D v Buckinghamshire County Council [2008] EWCA Civ 1372 (10 December 2008)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Anderson v Lyotier & Anor (t/a Snowbizz) [2008] EWHC 2790 (QB) (14 November 2008)

TCD v Harrow Council & Ors [2008] EWHC 3048 (QB) (10 December 2008)

High Court (Family Division)

T v B & Anor [2008] EWHC 3000 (Fam) (10 December 2008)

A B v J L B [2008] EWHC 2965 (Fam) (01 December 2008)

KSO v MJO & Ors [2008] EWHC 3031 (Fam) (08 December 2008)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Zhang, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] EWHC 3050 (Admin) (10 December 2008)

High Court (Technology and Construction Court)

Balfour Beatty Construction Northern Ltd v Modus Corovest (Blackpool) Ltd [2008] EWHC 3029 (TCC) (04 December 2008)

J Murphy & Sons Ltd v Johnston Precast Ltd (Formerly Johnston Pipes Ltd) [2008] EWHC 3024 (TCC) (10 December 2008)

Kehr & Tucker Ltd v Astronomical Ltd [2008] EWHC 2862 (TCC) (07 November 2008)

Air Design (Kent) Ltd v Deerglen (Jersey) Ltd [2008] EWHC 3047 (TCC) (10 December 2008)

Source: www.bailii.org

Recent Statutory Instruments – OPSI

Posted December 11th, 2008 in legislation by sally

The Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Limited (Determination of Compensation) Order 2008

Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (Disclosure of Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2009

The Heritable Bank plc (Determination of Compensation) Order 2008

The Bradford & Bingley plc Compensation Scheme Order 2008

The UK Borders Act 2007 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2008

The School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2008

The Gambling (Operating Licence and Single-Machine Permit Fees) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2008

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk

The Woolf Reforms: A singular event or an ongoing process? – Speech by Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls

Posted December 11th, 2008 in civil justice, civil procedure rules, speeches by sally

The Woolf Reforms: A singular event or an ongoing process?

Speech by Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls

British Academy, 2nd December 2008

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

R (Wellington) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted December 11th, 2008 in extradition, human rights, law reports, murder by sally

R (Wellington) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 72; [2008] WLR (D) 380

“A mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole imposed for two offences of murder in the first degree did not amount to inhuman or degrading punishment so that the Secretary of State had not acted unlawfully in ordering the extradition of an applicant to stand trial in the United States of America.”

WLR Daily, 10th December 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

R v Chargot (trading as Contract Services) and others – WLR Daily

Posted December 11th, 2008 in burden of proof, health & safety, law reports by sally

R v Chargot (trading as Contract Services) and others [2008] UKHL 73; [2008] WLR (D) 379

“When criminal proceedings were brought against an employer under ss 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 it was sufficient for the prosecution to prove merely a risk of injury arising from a state of affairs at work, and it was not necessary to identify, allege and prove specific breaches of duty by the employer. Once that was done a prima facie case of breach was established. The onus then passed to the employer to make good the defence of reasonable practicability.”

WLR Daily, 10th December 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Earl Cadogan and another v Sportelli and another – WLR Daily

Posted December 11th, 2008 in enfranchisement, law reports, leases, valuation by sally

Earl Cadogan and another v Sportelli and another [2008] UKHL 71; [2008] WLR (D) 378

“In determining the price payable by tenants for leasehold enfranchisement, landlords and freeholders generally were not entitled to ‘hope value’ as an element in the value of their interests.”

WLR Daily, 10th December 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – Times Law Reports

Posted December 11th, 2008 in hospitals, human rights, law reports, mental health, suicide by sally

Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

House of Lords

“The right to life protected by article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights imposed an operational obligation on medical authorities to do all that could reasonably be expected of them to prevent a patient detained in a mental hospital who was known to be at a real and immediate risk of committing suicide from doing so.”

The Times, 11th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

‘Feck’ is not an offensive word, rules ASA – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 11th, 2008 in advertising, news by sally

“A poster for Magners cider that featured the words ‘Feck off bees’ has been cleared by the UK’s advertising watchdog. The word ‘feck’ is unlikely to be seen as a swearword, said the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th December 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Brown adviser: Labour’s rights record dismal – The Guardian

Posted December 11th, 2008 in human rights, news by sally

“One of the eminent outsiders brought into Gordon Brown’s ‘government of all the talents’ has revealed that he quit in disgust at what he describes as Labour’s ‘dismal’ lack of political leadership on human rights.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th December 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Leading legal figures review effectiveness of Law Society – Legal Week

Posted December 11th, 2008 in Law Society, news by sally

“A group of high-profile legal figures including Linklaters senior partner David Cheyne and Simmons & Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins have questioned the effectiveness of the Law Society as a single regulator.”

Full story

Legal Week, 11th December 2008

Source: www.legalweek.com

Sir James Dyson in High Court attempt to see off rival vacuum design – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 11th, 2008 in news, patents by sally

“The tycoon Sir James Dyson, whose trademark ‘double cyclone’ vacuum cleaner has become a world beater, has gone to the High Court to try to block a rival design from Samsung Electronics.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 10th December 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Gordon Brown refuses to back law allowing assisted suicides – The Times

Posted December 11th, 2008 in assisted suicide, news by sally

“Campaigners seeking to lift the ban on assisted suicide were dealt a blow yesterday when Gordon Brown repeated his opposition to a change in the law.”

Full story

The Times, 11th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Three children a week – the death toll from abuse – The Independent

Posted December 11th, 2008 in child abuse, news by sally

“The true scale of child abuse in the UK was revealed yesterday when Christine Gilbert, the chief executive of the children’s services watchdog, told MPs that three children a week died as a result of abuse – more than triple the previous estimate.”

Full story

The Independent, 11th December 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk