Manchester Arena survivors to take ‘disaster troll’ to court – BBC News
‘Manchester Arena bomb survivors have filed landmark legal action against a conspiracy theorist who claims the attack was faked.’
BBC News, 3rd April 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Council decision to extend conservation area to save department store building was unlawful, High Court rules – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has found that Spelthorne Borough Council fell into a number of legal errors when extending a conservation area to include a former department store that developers were seeking to demolish.’
Local Government Lawyer, 31st March 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Transgender children GP: Helen Webberley wins suspension appeal – BBC News
‘A GP offering treatment for transgender patients online has won a High Court appeal against her suspension as a doctor and can now work again.’
BBC News, 1st April 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Thousands of homeless people arrested under archaic Vagrancy Act – The Guardian
‘More than 1,000 homeless people have been arrested for sleeping rough or begging since the government pledged to scrap the nearly 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, new figures show.’
The Guardian, 2nd April 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
Party Walls – no notice, no Act! – Tanfield Chambers
‘Katie Gray discusses the Court of Appeal decision in Power & Kyson v Shah [2023] EWCA Civ 239 and the impact it has on the Party Wall Act 1996.’
Tanfield Chambers, 24th March 2023
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
G4S admits its failures in the running of a prison amounts to breach of the Article 2 systemic duty – Garden Court Chambers
‘G4S’s running of the prison failed to meet the standards of public service required, such that HMP Birmingham was put in special measures, and its running was taken over by the Ministry of Justice. The Chief Inspector of Prisons at the time, Peter Clarke, invoked the Urgent Notification process in respect of the prison.’
Garden Court Chambers, 23rd March 2023
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
Predatory Marriage – The Great Inheritance Scam? – Gatehouse Chambers
‘The term “predatory marriage” is not a legal concept, but rather a convenient descriptor for a marriage entered into in circumstances where one party to the marriage is vulnerable and has been induced to enter into the marriage by the other party who is acting solely for financial gain. The effects of a later life predatory marriage are pernicious and sad, and the current state of the law, particularly in the context of inheritance rights, is unsatisfactory.’
Gatehouse Chambers, 11th March 2023
Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk
Owen v Black Horse Limited [2023] EWCA Civ 325 – No Strike Out Despite the Claimant’s Absence at Trial – Pump Court Chambers
‘The Court of Appeal has interpreted the rules for non-attendance on the small claims track in a manner consistent with rule 39.3 in finding that an absent Claimant nevertheless “appeared” at his trial, through his legal representative.’
Pump Court Chambers, 29th March 2023
Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com
Tarun Khaitan: A Fourth Branch of the State? On Constitutional Guarantors in the UK – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘In its Report setting the agenda for a likely Labour government after the next elections, the Brown Commission has set out an ambitious programme of constitutional reform. In a previous post, I examined its recommendation in relation to a fully elected second chamber to replace the House of Lords. In this post, I will examine its recommendations concerning bodies that comparative constitutional scholarship calls ‘fourth branch’ or guarantor institutions. The Report recommends the setting up of three new independent constitutional guarantors: an Integrity & Ethics Commission to enforce the code of ministerial conduct, an Appointments Commission for merit-only appointments to public bodies, and an Anti-Corruption Commissioner. It also recommends further empowerment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to provide evidence on the implementation of the new proposed social rights, ‘with a remit, membership and staffing substantially altered to give it capacity to do so.’ It seeks to offer a new constitutional mandate to the UK Infrastructure Bank and rename it as the British Regional Business Investment Bank.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th March 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
Part 36 Offers: Say It Like You Mean It! – Ropewalk Chambers
‘In Mundy v TUI UK Ltd [2023] EWHC 385 (Ch) (judgment available here), Collins Rice J heard an appeal which considered the implications of the Claimant’s Part 36 offer to split “liability” at 90%/10%.’
Ropewalk Chambers, 6th March 2023
Source: ropewalk.co.uk
Remote hearings have “no impact” on outcomes of Crown Court cases – Legal Futures
‘Judges and lawyers can be reassured that holding Crown Court hearings and trials remotely makes no difference to the outcome, a major analysis has concluded.’
Legal Futures, 31st March 2023
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Sexual Risk Orders: Lowering the Standard – Doughty Street Chambers
‘Sexual Risk Orders (‘SRO’) under section 122A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’) were introduced in 2015 by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Unlike the similar Sexual Harm Prevention Orders introduced at the same time, SROs may be obtained without a criminal conviction for a sexual offence. Being civil orders obtained in the Magistrates’ Court the applicant authority (a police force or the National Crime Agency) is able to rely on the admissibility of hearsay evidence under the Civil Evidence Act 1995 (‘the 1995 Act’) and the Magistrates’ Courts (Hearsay Evidence in Civil Proceedings) Rules 1999. However, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 significantly altered the process by amending section 122A(6) to state that the court need only be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that a defendant has done at least one act of a sexual nature as alleged. Previously, the standard of proof had been held to be the criminal standard, though the statute was silent as to the standard required. This amendment took effect on 29 November 2022 and there has already been a noticeable upsurge in the number of applications for these Draconian orders.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 12th March 2023
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
Time Limits in Fitness to Practise Appeals & Statutory Appeals – 5SAH
‘All of the statutory healthcare regulators – the GMC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GCC, GOsC, HCPC, NMC – as well as SWE have a time limit for filing appeals of 28 days. Those appeals lie to the High Court. Only two of those have any provision within their legislation permitting an extension of the time limit for filing an appeal. The GPhC’s legislation contains a provision permitting the Court to extend the time limit for filing an appeal.’
5SAH, 16th March 2023
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
The New Football Regulator – Blackstone Chambers
‘On Thursday 23 February 2023, following much anticipation, the UK Government Department for Culture, Media & Sport (‘DCMS’) published its White Paper “A sustainable future – reforming club football governance.”1 It has been described as the “biggest shake up in football for decades”, “revolutionary” and “landmark”. These are not exaggerations. The government proposals represent the first and only independent statutory regulator of football.’
Blackstone Chambers, March 2023
Source: www.blackstonechambers.com
The Illegal Migration Bill and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol: The return of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – UK Human Rights Blog
‘This is not a post about the conflict between the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill and the European Convention on Human Rights (an issue which has already attracted a considerable amount of critical academic commentary – see here and here). Instead, it is a post about the Bill’s potential conflict with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (“CFR”) and the UK’s commitments under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, whether (and why) such a conflict matters in domestic law and how (if at all) that conflict could be resolved.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 31st March 2023
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Bitcoin Security: Should Developers Be Held Liable? – 3PB
‘Most of us have experienced the sense of frustration and helplessness when losing a purse or wallet. Imagine your wallet was digital, and contained $4 billion in assets. Now imagine the device which held your wallet containing $4 billion in assets was hacked, and your assets disappeared into the ether.’
3PB, 2nd March 2023
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
UK to clamp down on sanctions loopholes used by Wagner group head – The Guardian
‘UK ministers have tightened up sanctions rules to avoid a repeat of a recent controversy in which lawyers acting for the head of the Wagner group obtained an exemption from curbs to sue a British journalist.’
The Guardian, 30th March 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
Why are there so many cases against lawyers for contempt of court? – 4 New Square
‘There has been a spate of cases in the past couple of years where contempt of court proceedings have been brought against lawyers. Prompted by the recent decision by Leech J to imprison struck off solicitor Soophia Khan for a further period of 12 months for failing to deliver up her firm’s files to SRA intervention agents, Helen Evans KC examines what is going on. When can contempt proceedings be brought against lawyers, and are they becoming more frequent?’
4 New Square, 20th March 2023
Source: www.4newsquare.com
A Summary Assessment of Dishonesty: Gupta v Shah [2023] EWHC 540 (Ch) – Tanfield Chambers
‘The High Court recently handed down judgment in the case of Gupta v Shah [2023] EWHC 540 (Ch), a double-barrelled summary judgment and strike out application in an idiosyncratic international fraud worth $14 million. The case involved extravagant defences of clandestine US-Iranian Commercial dealings, secret caches of US dollar reserves, Chinese State Security, and a systematic theft of funds by major multinational banks.’
Tanfield Chambers, 28th March 2023
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
