Court to rule if banks overcharged customers with “punitive” fees – The Independent

Posted January 14th, 2008 in banking, news by sally

“The long-awaited court case that will determine whether thousands of aggrieved bank customers can pursue overcharging claims against banks begins today.”

Full story

The Independent, 14th January 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

PM backs removal of body parts without consent – The Independent

Posted January 14th, 2008 in hospitals, human tissue, news by sally

“Gordon Brown is sympathetic to calls for hospitals to be allowed to remove organs from dead patients without explicit consent, but families would have a veto which would allow them to stop organs being used to save the lives of others if, as expected, the Government brings in a system of ‘presumed consent’.

Full story

The Independent, 14th January 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Government crackdown on knife crime in cities – The Times

Posted January 14th, 2008 in news, offensive weapons by sally

“Anyone caught carrying a blade will be prosecuted and will not be allowed to escape with a caution under a crackdown on knife crime promised by Gordon Brown.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Prison for air-rage flier who wanted to go business class – The Times

Posted January 14th, 2008 in airlines, assault, news, sentencing by sally

“A middle-aged man has been jailed after marching into the business-class section of a flight from Thailand and hurling a passenger into the aisle so he could take his seat.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Public schools reject charity rules – The Times

Posted January 14th, 2008 in charities, education, news by sally

“Britain’s leading public schools have rejected as unworkable regulations that would force them to open their doors to pupils from poor families.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Reshuffle for top lawyers when supreme court opens – The Times

Posted January 14th, 2008 in courts, judiciary, news by sally

“Britain’s most senior judge is being tipped to take over as head of the first supreme court in what will trigger a major reshuffle of top judicial posts.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Equality watchdog drops its backing for low-paid women’s challenge – The Times

Posted January 14th, 2008 in equal pay, news, women by sally

“Thousands of low-paid women, including cleaners and care workers, will see their hopes of better pay set back tomorrow when the equality watchdog drops its support for their legal battle.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Police to use text message tactics to snare rape suspects – The Guardian

Posted January 14th, 2008 in news, police, rape, self-incrimination, telecommunications by sally

“Police and prosecutors in rape cases are set to experiment with controversial techniques designed to make suspects incriminate themselves through phone calls or text messages.”

Full story

The Guardian, 14th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bail rules inquiry after officer on murder charge kills himself and trial witness – The Guardian

Posted January 14th, 2008 in bail, murder, news, suicide by sally

“The Ministry of Justice said last night it will urgently review its guidance to judges in the wake of the tragic consequences of a decision to grant bail to a senior police officer accused of murdering his wife.”

Full story

The Guardian, 14th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Schools face ban on sex bias in careers advice – The Guardian

Posted January 14th, 2008 in education, news by sally

“Schools will be ordered to offer impartial careers guidance to pupils amid concerns that teachers’ ‘sexist’ attitudes are promoting hairdressing courses to girls and construction apprenticeships to boys.”

Full story

The Guardian, 14th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Early jail releases reach 14,000 – BBC News

Posted January 11th, 2008 in news, prisons by sally

“Almost 14,000 prisoners have been freed early from jail to ease overcrowding, Ministry of Justice figures show.”

Full story

BBC News, 11th January 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Muslim teenager unlawfully killed – The Guardian

Posted January 11th, 2008 in inquests, news, unlawful killing by sally

“The Muslim teenager Shafilea Ahmed, whose body was found on the banks of a river, was unlawfully killed, a coroner ruled today.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

We will all end up paying for the rising cost of litigation – The Times

Posted January 11th, 2008 in costs, news by sally

“Courts are seeing an increase in cases in which the amount recovered bears no relation to the costs.”

Full Story

The Times, 11th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – OPSI

Posted January 11th, 2008 in legislation by sally

The Insolvency Practitioners and Insolvency Services Account (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2008

The European Regional Development Fund (East Midlands Operational Programme) (Implementation) Regulations 2007

The European Regional Development Fund (East of England Operational Programme) (Implementation) Regulations 2007

The European Regional Development Fund (South West Operational Programmes) (Implementation) Regulations 2007

The European Regional Development Fund (North West Operational Programme) (Implementation) Regulations 2007

The European Regional Development Fund (South East Operational Programme) (Implementation) Regulations 2007

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk

Human Rights Insight Project – Ministry of Justice

Posted January 11th, 2008 in human rights, reports by sally

“The report presents the findings from the Human Rights Insight Project, which set out to establish whether human rights could be used empirically as a tool to improve the public’s experience of public services and if so, how we in government could encourage and facilitate this.”

Full Report (PDF)

Ministry of Justice, 10th January 2008

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Legal aid problems emerge – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 11th, 2008 in legal aid, news by sally

“The year started badly for legal aid lawyers, with the prospect of the general civil contract being terminated and confusion over whether police station fixed fees include VAT.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 10th January 2008

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Solicitor-advocates finally put on wigs in court – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 11th, 2008 in court dress, news, solicitors by sally

“A Yorkshire criminal law specialist has laid claim to being the first solicitor-advocate to wear a wig in court after appearing at 10am last Wednesday at Doncaster Crown Court.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 10th January 2008

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Kostic v Chaplin and Others – Times Law Reports

Posted January 11th, 2008 in costs, law reports, probate by sally

Kostic v Chaplin and Others

Chancery

“When deciding costs in a contentious probate action, the two long-established exceptions to the normal rule that costs followed the event that survived the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules were: (i) where a testator had been the cause of the litigation, costs should come out of the estate; and (ii) where the circumstances led reasonably to an investigation of the matter, costs should be borne by both sides.”

The Times, 11th January 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.

Kingdom of Sweden v Commission of the European Communities Case – Times Law Reports

Posted January 11th, 2008 in disclosure, EC law, law reports by sally

Kingdom of Sweden v Commission of the European Communities Case C-64/05P

Court of Justice of the European Communities

“A request by an EU member state to a Community institution not to disclose to a third party documents originating from that state and held by the institution was to be regarded not as instruction with which the institution was bound to comply but as the first step in a process of inquiry as to whether one of the exceptions to disclosure set out in the Community regulation on access to documents applied.”

The Times, 11th January 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.

Pressure grows to raise ‘lenient’ 4½ -year term given to terrorist – The Times

Posted January 11th, 2008 in news, sentencing, terrorism by sally

“The Government is facing pressure from police and prosecutors to challenge the perceived leniency of a jail term imposed on a terrorist who planned to kill British troops in Afghanistan.”

Full story

The Times, 11th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk