Current Awareness

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

“Lax standards” on data security – BBC News

Posted March 14th, 2008 in data protection, government departments, news by sally

“The government has persistently failed to take data protection ‘sufficiently seriously’ the Joint Committee on Human Rights has warned.”

BBC News, 14th March 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Doctor ‘gave 17 women with cancer all-clear’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 14th, 2008 in doctors, negligence, news by sally

“A doctor made ‘barn door-sized errors’ in reading breast scans that led him to wrongly tell 17 women with cancer that they were healthy, a tribunal heard yesterday.”

Daily Telegraph, 14th March 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

UK Poles attack Daily Mail ‘bias’ – The Guardian

Posted March 14th, 2008 in defamation, media, news by sally

“The Federation of Poles in Great Britain has ‘reluctantly’ filed a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission accusing the Daily Mail of defaming Polish residents in the UK.”

The Guardian, 14th March 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Canoe man facing long prison sentence after admitting fraud – The Guardian

Posted March 14th, 2008 in fraud, news by sally

“John Darwin, the former prison officer accused of staging a canoeing accident at sea to fake his death, was yesterday facing a long prison sentence after admitting to a string of fraud charges totalling nearly £250,000.”

The Guardian, 14th March 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Reprieve for gay Iranian who fears he will be killed – The Times

Posted March 14th, 2008 in asylum, homosexuality, Iran, news by sally

“A gay Iranian teenager is to be allowed to stay in Britain because his case is now so notorious that it would be dangerous to deport him to Tehran.”

The Times, 14th March 2008

Brain-damaged woman clears way for victims to sue over baby scandal – The Times

Posted March 14th, 2008 in birth, hospitals, negligence, news by sally

“Families of patients with severe brain damage after heart surgery as children are preparing to sue the NHS after a profoundly disabled woman won her case for compensation in the wake of the Bristol heart babies scandal.”

The Times, 14th March 2008

‘Happy slap’ teenagers sentenced – BBC News

Posted March 13th, 2008 in murder, news, sentencing, young offenders by sally

“Two teenagers who beat a man to death in a ‘revolting’ attack, while a 15-year-old girl filmed it on her mobile phone, have been sentenced.”

BBC News, 13th March 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Wannabe gangster’ jailed for 30 years for doorstep shooting – The Guardian

Posted March 13th, 2008 in murder, news, sentencing by sally

“A ‘wannabe gangster’ was jailed for life today after being convicted of shooting dead a pregnant neighbour in a cold-blooded execution after a doorstep row.”

The Guardian, 13th March 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

McCartney decision due on Monday – Reuters

Posted March 13th, 2008 in divorce, news by sally

“Paul McCartney is expected to find out on Monday how much of his fortune he must hand over to estranged wife Heather Mills when a judge rules on their acrimonious and highly public divorce.”

Reuters, 13th March 2008

Source: www.reuters.com

New code for watchdog’s public sector data mining – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 13th, 2008 in codes of practice, consultations, data protection, fraud, news by sally

“The Audit Commission has published a revised code of practice which will govern its extended powers to obtain and search data from public sector bodies.”

OUT-LAW.com, 13th March 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Current Awareness email delivery

Posted March 13th, 2008 in news by sally

Please be aware that we are experiencing problems with the timing of email alerts sent out to subscribers. We hope that this will be resolved soon and apologise for any inconvenience.

Campaigners petition MPs to clear executed admiral – The Guardian

Posted March 13th, 2008 in courts martial, legal history, news by sally

“The moment that guaranteed Admiral Byng’s immortality was, sadly, his last. In March 1757 the unfortunate sailor was found guilty of neglect of duty by a court martial, hauled onto the quarter-deck of his flagship and shot dead by a firing squad.”

Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon Homes Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 183 (12 March 2008)

The Guardian, 13th March 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted March 13th, 2008 in law reports by sally

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Furniss v Firth Brown Tools Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 182 (12 March 2008)

Emmott v Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 184 (12 March 2008)

Kelly & Ors R. (On the Applications of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2008] EWCA Civ 177 (12 March 2008)

RHJ Ltd v FT Patten (Holdings) Ltd & Anor [2008] EWCA Civ 151 (12 March 2008)

Secretary of State for Justice v Rayner [2008] EWCA Civ 176 (12 March 2008)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Calvert v William Hill Credit Ltd [2008] EWHC 454 (Ch) (12 March 2008)

Source: www.bailii.org

Smith v Northamptonshire County Council – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2008 in health & safety, law reports, personal injuries by sally

Smith v Northamptonshire County Council [2008] EWCA Civ 181; WLR (D) 83

“An employer had no responsibility to maintain a ramp on which its employee was injured which was installed by a third party on premises of a third party and over which it had no control.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2008

Emmott v Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 184; WLR (D) 82

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

Emmott v Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2008 in arbitration, confidentiality, disclosure, law reports by sally

“The interests of justice required an English court to ensure as far as possible that parties to London arbitrations should not seek to use the cloak of confidentiality with a view to misleading foreign courts particularly where the cases being presented in the foreign courts raised essentially the same or similar allegations and were proceeding in parallel.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2008

Norris v Government of the United States of America [2008] UKHL 16; WLR (D) 81

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

Norris v Government of the United States of America – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2008 in extradition, law reports, price fixing by sally

“During the period from 1989 to 2000 price fixing was not illegal under English law so that it was not an extradition offence for the purposes of s 137 of the Extradition Act 2003.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2008

Revenue and Customs Comrs v Total Network SL [2008] UKHL 19; WLR (D) 80

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

Revenue and Customs Comrs v Total Network SL – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2008 in conspiracy, fraud, law reports, VAT by sally

“No intention that the Revenue and Customs Commissioners should be barred from recovering damages for conspiracy in the form of a carousel fraud was to be attributed to the legislature in the enactment of the scheme in the Value Added Tax Act 1994. Criminal conduct could constitute unlawful means and be actionable as conspiracy whether or not it would be separately actionable if committed by an individual.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2008

R (Animal Defenders International) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport [2008] UKHL 15; WLR (D) 79

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

R (Animal Defenders International) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – WLR Daily

Posted March 13th, 2008 in advertising, human rights, law reports, media by sally

“The prohibition in ss 319 and 321 of the Communications Act 2003 on political advertising was compatible with art 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as being necessary in a democratic society.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2008

Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Total Network SL

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

Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Total Network SL – Times Law Reports

Posted March 13th, 2008 in conspiracy, fraud, law reports, VAT by sally

House of Lords

“Nothing in the Value Added Tax 1994 prevented the Revenue and Customs Commissioners from recovering damages for conspiracy against a participant in a carousel fraud; criminal conduct was actionable as conspiracy whether or not it would be actionable as a separate tort if committed by an individual.”

The Times, 13th March 2008