19/03/2012 – Current Awareness

“The body of jurisprudence relating to freedom of information has continued to develop apace over the last year. The exponential growth in appeals being heard by both the first-tier and upper tribunals has meant that practitioners are having to work ever harder to keep abreast of changes to both the substantive law and practice and procedure.1 Rather than attempt a comprehensive review, this paper aims merely to address some of the more important developments in this area over the past year.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 16th March 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

The FSA’s Investigations and Enforcement Regime Challenge in the Tribunal – Thirty Nine Essex Street

Posted March 19th, 2012 in financial services ombudsman, news, tribunals by sally

“The Tribunal’s function under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is to:
‘determine what (if any) is the appropriate action for the decision-maker [i.e. the Financial services Authority] to take in relation to the matter referred … to it’ (section 133(5)).”

Full story (PDF)

Thirty Nine Essex Street, 21st February 2012

Source: www.39essex.com

Freedom of Information and the Seven Year Itch – 11 KBW

Posted March 19th, 2012 in freedom of information, news, select committees by sally

“The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) came fully into force on 1st January 2005. Since then there has been a right of access to information, on request, exercisable against a wide range of public authorities. So we have a little over 7 years’ experience of a fully functioning FOIA regime.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 16th March 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Employment: ECJ Considers Definition of “Workers” – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted March 19th, 2012 in EC law, employment, judiciary, news, part-time work, pensions by sally

“Morayo Fagborun Bennett says the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) decision in O’Brien v Ministry of Justice ‘sweeps away’ many of the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) justifications for distinguishing between part-time and full-time judges. ‘The MoJ is going to have to think hard how it handles the case when it comes back to the Supreme Court,’ she says. ‘It doesn’t lend itself to any easy settlement and there are thousands eagerly awaiting the outcome.'”

Full story

Hardwick Chambers, 14th March 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Three Articles on Academies – 11 KBW

Posted March 19th, 2012 in education, local government, news by sally

Academies – Land Transfers (PDF)

The Staffing, SEN and Admissions Issues for Local Authorities of Academy Creation (PDF)

The Process for Opening a Free School (PDF)

11 KBW, 13th March 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

The Atomic Veterans Litigation – 4 New Square

Posted March 19th, 2012 in appeals, damages, limitations, news, nuclear weapons, personal injuries by sally

“The Supreme Court handed down judgment in the Atomic Veterans Litigation (AVL) on 14 March 2012. The appeal is the first time the highest court has considered the law of limitation in group actions. The decision as to the correct approach to knowledge for the purpose of s.14(1) Limitation Act 1980 is relevant not only to personal injury claims but also to actions in respect of defective products (ss. 11A(4)(b) and 5(b)) and negligence actions not involving personal injury (s.14A). The decision is also relevant to the law of causation in tort and the extent to which claims may be proved by merely showing a material increase in the risk of harm.”

Full story (PDF)

4 New Square, 14th March 2012

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Regina v Feeley – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2012 in appeals, child abuse, indictments, law reports, rape, retrials by sally

Regina v Feeley [2012] WLR (D) 83

“Where a defendant was being retried, following a successful appeal against conviction, there was no reason in principle why additional counts should not be added to the indictment.”

WLR Daily, 15th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Chinn – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2012 in admissibility, hearsay evidence, law reports, witnesses by sally

Regina v Chinn [2012] EWCA 501; [2012] WLR (D) 82

“Where a witness’s oral evidence in chief indicated that he had earlier made a witness statement and to the best of his belief he had made the statement concerned and that the statement stated the truth, and the statement identified or described a person, object or place connected with an alleged offence or other relevant event, those parts of the witness statement would be admissible under section 120(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. However, other parts of the witness statement, which went beyond identification or description of the person object or place, would not be admissible under section 120(4) and (5).”

WLR Daily, 15th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Società Consortile Fonografici (SCF) v Del Corso (Procuratore generale della Repubblica intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2012 in copyright, EC law, law reports by sally

Società Consortile Fonografici (SCF) v Del Corso (Procuratore generale della Repubblica intervening) (Case C-135/10); [2012] WLR (D) 81

“‘Communication to the public’ for the purposes of article 8(2) of Directive 92/100/EEC did not cover the broadcasting, free of charge, of phonograms within private dental practices engaged in professional economic activity for the benefit of patients of those practices and enjoyed by them without any active choice on their part. Therefore such an act of transmission did not entitle the phonogram producers to the payment of remuneration.”

WLR Daily, 15th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Government presses ahead with plans for single competition authority – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 19th, 2012 in competition, markets, news, ombudsmen by sally

“The Government is to press ahead with its plans to merge the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) with those of the Competition Commission (CC).”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 16th March 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Student arrested for filming buildings wins police payout – The Guardian

Posted March 19th, 2012 in complaints, news, police, terrorism, video recordings by sally

“An Italian student has won an out-of-court settlement with police after she was stopped under anti-terrorist legislation while filming buildings in London, and later arrested, held in a cell for five hours and then fined.”

Full story

The Guardian, 19th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Vos J threatens phone-hacking firms with group litigation order as costs spiral – The Lawyer

Posted March 19th, 2012 in claims management, costs, interception, law firms, media, news by sally

“High Court judge Mr Justice Vos has ordered firms involved in the wave of phone-hacking cases to find a more efficient method of working or risk their clients being forced into a group litigation order [GLO] represented by a single firm.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 19th March 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

New research examining the markets for probate and estate administration released – Legal Services Board

Posted March 19th, 2012 in news, probate, wills by sally

“The Legal Services Board (LSB) is today [15 March] publishing two new pieces of research into probate and estate administration.”

Full story

Legal Services Board, 15th March 2012

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

Tackling alcohol-related crime – Ministry of Justice

Posted March 19th, 2012 in alcohol abuse, news, recidivists, sentencing, violent disorder by sally

“Violent and disruptive drinkers will be targeted by a new Sobriety Order to reduce reoffending and cut crime, Justice Minister Nick Herbert announced today [16 March].”

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 16th March 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk