Child witnesses ‘wait too long’ – BBC News
“Young witnesses in sex abuse or violence cases are being forced to wait more than a year to give evidence in England and Wales, a report has said.”
BBC News, 3rd July 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Family courts in crisis, says Sir Mark Potter – The Times
“Britain’s most senior family judge called last night for urgent action over a crisis in the family courts fuelled by increasing delays in child abuse cases and lack of funds.”
The Times, 3rd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Sentences for student killers ‘not unduly lenient’ – The Independent
“The families of two murdered French students today criticised the decision not to refer their sons’ killers’ sentences to the Court of Appeal.”
The Independent, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Gang rapists’ sentences increased – BBC News
“Two young men involved in the gang-rape of a girl who was then attacked with caustic soda have had their sentences increased by the Court of Appeal.”
BBC News, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Analysis: no longer the divorce capital of the world – The Times
“Pre-nuptial contracts have won the clear backing of the English courts after years of suspicion and even hostility.”
The Times, 3rd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Child porn inquiry faces legal challenge – The Independent
“One of Britain’s biggest online paedophile investigations will be challenged in the Court of Appeal following allegations that hundreds of men may have been wrongly convicted in a ‘huge miscarriage of justice’, it was reported today.”
The Independent, 3rd July 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Fast-track asbo system planned – The Guardian
“Delays of up to two years in issuing an asbo are to be cut under proposals unveiled by the new home secretary, Alan Johnson, in his first major speech on crime and antisocial behaviour.”
The Guardian, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lords ruling reduces contracts’ certainty, says expert – OUT-LAW.com
“A landmark House of Lords ruling will undermine the certainty of contracts and could make it more expensive to take cases over contract interpretation to court, according to a contract law expert.”
OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.out-law.com
Straw refuses pardon for jailed football fan – The Independent
“Justice Secretary Jack Straw today refused an appeal for a pardon by jailed football fan Michael Shields.”
The Independent, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
BAILII: Recent Decisions
Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Holland v Revenue and Customs & Anor [2009] EWCA Civ 625 (02 July 2009)
Generics (UK) Ltd v Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co Ltd & Anor [2009] EWCA Civ 646 (02 July 2009)
VH (Malawi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] EWCA Civ 645 (02 July 2009)
High Court (Queen’s Bench)
Levi v Bates [2009] EWHC 1495 (QB) (02 July 2009)
High Court (Chancery Division)
The Republic of Croatia v The Republic of Serbia [2009] EWHC 1559 (Ch) (02 July 2009)
Source: www.bailii.org
Call for fewer criminals to be jailed – The Independent
“The prisons system in England and Wales is in crisis, reformers said today, as they called for drastic cuts in the number of criminals jailed.”
The Independent, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Heiress wins battle to uphold pre-nuptial contract – The Times
“A wealthy German heiress worth £100 million today won a Court of Appeal case that will leave her former husband, now an impoverished student, with only maintenance money for his daughters.”
The Times, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Innocents accused of net piracy – BBC News
“Some 20 net users have come forward claiming they have been wrongly accused of illegally sharing video games.”
BBC News, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Met slow to change after death of Jean Charles de Menezes, says report – The Guardian
“Scotland Yard has failed to carry out a series of changes it was ordered to make after disastrous blunders led its officers to kill Jean Charles de Menezes, according to an official report.”
The Guardian, 1st July 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Jack Straw launches first mental health courts – Ministry of Justice
“Problem-solving courts for offenders with mental health problems or learning disabilities, the first of their kind in England and Wales, were today formally launched by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.”
Ministry of Justice, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
Draft guideline: Overarching principles – Sentencing youths – Sentencing Guidelines Council
“On Tuesday 30 June 2009, the Sentencing Guidelines Council published a draft guideline on the principles which apply when courts sentence young offenders. The guideline is set in the context of new laws for sentencing young people which are expected to come into force later this year.”
Consultation guideline: Overarching principles – Sentencing youths (PDF)
Letter to consultees (PDF)
Advice: Sentencing principles – youths (PDF)
Press Notice (PDF)
Sentencing Guidelines Council, 30th June 2009
Source: www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
Chartbrook Ltd and another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and another – WLR Daily
Chartbrook Ltd and another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and another [2009] UKHL 38; [2009] WLR (D) 223
“The admission of pre-contractual negotiations as an aid to the construction of a contract would create uncertainty of outcome in disputes over interpretation and would add to the cost of advice and litigation. The law of contract was designed to enforce promises with a high degree of predictability and if conventional meanings and syntax were to be displaced by inferences drawn from pre-contractual negotiations, the less predictable the outcome was likely to be. The availability of the remedies of rectification and estoppel by convention were safeguards which would in most cases prevent any injustice caused by the exclusion of that evidence.”
WLR Daily, 1st July 2009
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.
Boyle v SCA Packaging Ltd (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) – WLR Daily
“When determining whether a person was disabled within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 by reason of having an impairment which, though capable of being controlled by measures taken to treat or control it, would be likely to have substantial adverse effects but for those measures, the word “likely” did not mean probable but ‘could well happen’. It followed that a woman whose propensity to develop vocal nodules was controlled by a strict management regime based on avoiding raising her voice, but which “could well” return and cause substantial adverse effects if that regime was not followed, was disabled for the purposes of the Act and her former employer, who had decided to place her in a noisier work environment despite her claim that it would require her to speak louder and so jeopardise her voice management regime, had to answer her claim that they had failed to make reasonable adjustments for her disability.”
WLR Daily, 1st July 2009
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.
Birmingham City Council v Ali and others; Moran v Manchester City Council (Women’s Aid Federation of England and another intervening) – WLR Daily
“Although it had not been reasonable for families to remain in their current accommodation indefinitely, the local housing authority had been entitled to leave them there in the short term, it being a question of fact whether the period was too long, but the authority had not been entitled to rely on its allocation policy to fulfil its duty. It had not been reasonable for a woman to continue to occupy a women’s refuge indefinitely, and she had accordingly remained “homeless” under the Housing Act 1996.”
WLR Daily, 1st July 2009
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.
