Current Awareness

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

Lawyers fight plans for case-worker trials – The Times

Posted April 21st, 2008 in barristers, magistrates, news, rights of audience by sally

“Barristers begin an offensive today over plans to allow non-lawyers to conduct magistrates’ courts trials.”

The Times, 21st April 2008

New anti-terrorism rules ‘allow US to spy on British motorists’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in data protection, news, privacy, road traffic by sally

“Routine journeys carried out by millions of British motorists can be monitored by authorities in the United States and other enforcement agencies across the world under anti-terrorism rules introduced discreetly by Jacqui Smith.”

Daily Telegraph, 21st April 2008

Inquiry reveals errors in investigation of Eddie Gilfoyle – The Times

Posted April 21st, 2008 in murder, news, police by sally

“Nine blunders were made by police investigating the death of a woman whose husband claims he was wrongly jailed for her murder, an inquiry report seen by The Times shows.”

The Times, 21st April 2008

Man jailed for first Friends Reunited murder – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in internet, murder, news by sally

“A Sardinian who stabbed his wife’s British lover to death has become the first person to be convicted of a murder involving the website Friends Reunited.”

Daily Telegraph, 19th April 2008

Drink-drive offenders could keep licences – The Times

Posted April 21st, 2008 in alcohol abuse, news, road traffic by sally

“Drink drivers would no longer automatically lose their licences under government plans to lower the alcohol limit for motorists to the equivalent of less than a pint of beer or glass of wine.”

The Times, 21st April 2008

Increase in sex offender arrests – BBC News

Posted April 21st, 2008 in children, news, sexual offences by sally

“The number of suspected child sex offenders arrested in the UK has risen threefold in the past year, says the organisation set up to tackle abuse.”

BBC News, 20th April 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Government to quiz households on sex lives and salaries – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in news, statistics by sally

“More than 500,000 people a year are to be questioned about their sex lives and salaries by Government inspectors, it has emerged.”

Daily Telegraph, 21st April 2008

Judge sums up with Shakespeare – The Guardian

Posted April 21st, 2008 in boundaries, easements, news by sally

“A senior appeal court judge livened up a hearing over a boundary dispute yesterday by quoting from Shakespeare.”

The Guardian, 19th April 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Unfair’ royal succession law may be changed – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in equality, news, royal family, succession by sally

“The law that forces the eldest daughter of a monarch to make way for her younger brother in the succession could be abolished under new equality legislation.”

Daily Telegraph, 20th April 2008

Almost 3,000 children now held in custody – The Independent

Posted April 21st, 2008 in news, prisons, young offenders by sally

“A drive to cut the number of children behind bars in England and Wales – the highest in western Europe – has failed.”

The Independent, 19th April 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Thalidomide compensation demanded – BBC News

Posted April 21st, 2008 in birth, medicines, news, personal injuries by sally

“Dozens of people born with deformities due to the drug thalidomide have demanded compensation from the company that invented the drug 50 years ago.”

BBC News, 18th April 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Detention centres attacked as figures reveal self-harm by asylum-seekers – The Independent

Posted April 21st, 2008 in asylum, detention, news, self-harm by sally

“The true cost of using detention centres to lock up failed asylum-seekers has been exposed by statistics showing the extent of self-harm among those held.”

The Independent, 19th April 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Coroner blames MoD again over troops’ deaths – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in armed forces, inquests, Iraq, news by sally

“An outspoken coroner has condemned shortages of military equipment again and claimed that two British soldiers would not have died in Iraq had they been in armoured vehicles.”

Daily Telegraph, 19th April 2008

Cherie Blair’s firm hired to stop EU treaty – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 21st, 2008 in EC law, judicial review, news, referendums, treaties by sally

“One of Britain’s richest men has hired Cherie Blair’s law firm to advise him on a £750,000 High Court battle that could force Gordon Brown to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.”

Daily Telegraph, 21st April 2008

Abramovich and Berezovsky begin £2bn legal battle over disputed assets – The Independent

Posted April 21st, 2008 in breach of trust, intimidation, news by sally

“A £2bn legal tussle between Britain’s two most high-profile Russian oligarchs which began with a skirmish in a Hermes boutique reached the High Court yesterday with claims that the entire case revolved around an unrecorded oral agreement as they haggled over the sale of former Soviet assets.”

The Independent, 19th April 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Guantanamo Britons to sue MI5 over ‘illegal interrogation’ – The Guardian

Posted April 21st, 2008 in detention, news, terrorism by sally

“Eight men freed from Guantanamo Bay are suing the British Government for millions of pounds, claiming that it was complicit in the process in which they were detained and sent for interrogation at the detention camp.”

The Times, 19th April 2008

Help for forgotten victims of miscarriages of justice – The Guardian

Posted April 21st, 2008 in miscarriage of justice, special report, victims by sally

“The euphoria lasts for a few weeks, or possibly months, before the reality of freedom for a victim of miscarriage of justice sets in, says John McManus. The reality can mean depression, drug addiction, alcoholism and a premature death.”