Supreme Court sits in secret for first time in history – The Independent

“The highest court in the land controversially sat in secret for the first time in its history today but insisted it had reached the decision with ‘great reluctance’.”

Full story

The Independent, 21st March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Lords plan parliamentary ‘ping pong’ to win battle over secret courts – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2013 in bills, closed material, news, parliament, private hearings by sally

“Peers intend to change justice and security bill as it shuttles between houses of parliament, government is warned.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Norfolk rapist who held Cambridge woman hostage gets life – BBC News

Posted March 21st, 2013 in assault, domestic violence, kidnapping, news, rape, sentencing by sally

“A man who beat and raped his girlfriend and kept her hostage in his Norfolk flat for two weeks has been jailed for life.”

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BBC News, 21st March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Probation officers face social media gag as outsourcing row rumbles on – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2013 in civil servants, freedom of expression, internet, news, probation by sally

“The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has issued instructions that probation officers face the risk of disciplinary action if they publicly criticise on Twitter or other social media his plans to outsource 70% of their work with offenders.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Helen Fenwick: The Report of the Bill of Rights Commission: disappointing Conservative expectations or fulfilling them? – UK Constitution Law Group

“The Commission delivered its Report – A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – to the Government in December 2012. It is an odd document, dominated by the lack of agreement in the Commission as to the role that any human rights’ instrument in Britain should play. That was unsurprising since at the inception of the Commission the Coalition partners appeared to want it to play two different roles – defending or attacking the HRA. From the very outset the Commission and the idea of a Bill of Rights (BoR) was relied upon by Cameron and other senior Conservatives to allay anger in the Conservative party, and among some voters, directed at decisions made under the Human Rights Act. David Cameron announced the Commission’s inception in March 2011 at Prime Ministers’ Questions as a reaction to criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court that sex offenders should be able to challenge their inclusion on the Sex Offenders’ register. He indicated that a BoR would address the concerns expressed (17.3.11; see the Telegraph in relation to R and Thompson v SSHD). The idea that a BoR could right the wrongs of the HRA – would provide a panacea for the HRA’s ills – had apparently been embedded in the Conservative party psyche for some years: David Cameron in a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies in 2006 Balancing freedom and security – A modern British Bill of Rights said that the HRA should be repealed: ‘….The Human Rights Act has a damaging impact on our ability to protect our society against terrorism…. . I am today committing my Party to work towards the production of a Modern Bill of Rights’. In contrast, the 2010 Liberal Democrat election manifesto promised to ‘Ensure that everyone has the same protections under the law by protecting the Human Rights Act.'”

Full story

UK Constitution Law Group, 21st March 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionllaw.org

Man sued council for £33,000 after slipping on some berries – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 21st, 2013 in compensation, local government, news, personal injuries by sally

“A man successfully sued his town council for nearly £33,000 after slipping on some berries while walking through a churchyard and breaking a bone.”

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Daily Telegraph, 21st March 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Bart Simpson faces Mr Burns in court – but this is real-life Warwick, not Springfield – The Independent

Posted March 21st, 2013 in aircraft, community service, firearms, news by sally

“Judge Mr Recorder Burns gives company director Barton Simpson community order for attempting to board flight with antique hand gun.”

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The Independent, 21st March 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Damages-Based Agreements: potential or potential pitfall? – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted March 21st, 2013 in agreements, damages, fees, news by sally

“As part of the Jackson Reforms the much talked about Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 come into force on 1st April 2013. Damages Based agreements (‘DBAs’) open up the prospect of fees becoming entirely divorced from the actual hours worked on a case. This can lead to much higher fees than those which will arise using the hour-based method, even on a CFA with a 100% uplift. However, there are some potentially serious implications to consider. Don McCue takes a closer look at the potential impact of using DBAs, how they compare to Conditional Fee Agreements (‘CFAs’) in different litigation scenarios, and how DBAs relate to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (‘SRA’) Code of Conduct.”

Full story (PDF)

11 Stone Buildings, March 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Another Distinction Between Professional Disciplinary Proceedings and Internal Employment Disciplinary Hearings: Christou v London Borough of Haringey – Littleton Chambers

“If an individual has already been charged and given a warning for misconduct in a disciplinary process, can that process later be reopened, re-run and the individual dismissed for the same charge on the same evidence?”

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Littleton Chambers, 14th March 2013

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Has The Golden Thread Finally Been Snapped? – Zenith Chambers

“‘Throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner’s guilt subject to what I have already said as to the defence of insanity and subject also to any statutory exception

No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained.’

Per Viscount Sankey in Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462 – emphasis added.

There cannot be an English lawyer who is unaware of this paragraph in Viscount Sankey’s judgment in Woolmington. Many non-lawyers who have chanced to read the Rumpole stories will also be as aware of, if not as attached to, it.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 19th March 2013

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

QASA: part of a sustained attack on legal aid? – LegalVoice

Posted March 21st, 2013 in advocacy, barristers, legal aid, legal profession, news, quality assurance by sally

“Amongst criminal lawyers, the issues surrounding QASA – the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates – that have been rumbling on for a few years, is coming to a head, writes Dan Bunting. The Criminal Bar Association have come out very strongly against it which prompted a strong response from Baroness Ruth Deech, the Chair of the Bar Standards Board. It has also managed to achieve the impossible – uniting barristers and solicitors.”

Full story

LegalVoice, 21st March 2013

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Secret commissions and proprietary claims – where are we now? – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted March 21st, 2013 in agency, appeals, bribery, constructive trusts, news by sally

“Practitioners were trained to believe that an agent would hold a bribe on trust for his principal. Then came Sinclair v Versailles which appeared to have decided that the principal’s remedy would be merely personal. Now everything seems to have changed again. In this ‘Insider’ note Peter Head examines the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in FHR European Ventures LLP v Mankarious and considers where we are now.”

Full story (PDF)

11 Stone Buildings, March 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

Half a Century of Change: The Evidence of Child Victims – Speech by The Right Honourable the Lord Judge

Posted March 21st, 2013 in child abuse, children, evidence, speeches, witnesses by sally

Half a Century of Change: The Evidence of Child Victims (PDF)

Speech by The Right Honourable the Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Toulmin Lecture in Law and Psychiatry, 20th March 2013

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Is rights replication undermining the international human rights system? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 21st, 2013 in human rights, international law, news, treaties by sally

“Rapid expansion of human rights obligations at the European and international levels arguably undermines the system of International Human Rights Law. Countries like the UK, which place strong emphasis on the need to protect individuals from abuses, are faced with ever more obligations stemming from rights inflation. One crucial way in which this occurs is through rights replication.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 20th March 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Family Law Week’s Budget Briefing 2013 – Family Law Week

Posted March 21st, 2013 in benefits, budgets, families, news, social security, taxation by sally

“Jan Ellis, chartered accountant, of Ellis Foster LLP, a firm which specialises in advising family lawyers on tax-related family law issues, explains the budget changes of most relevance to practitioners.”

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Family Law Week, 20th March 2013

Source: www.familylawweek.com

Are future criminal barristers out of touch with reality? – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2013 in barristers, crime, legal profession, news by sally

“The criminal bar may be facing its darkest moment but applications for bar school continue to rise.”

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The Guardian, 21st March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jack Straw – Dilemmas of a Foreign Secretary – UCL Constitution Unit

Posted March 21st, 2013 in ministers' powers and duties, news, speeches by sally

“Jack Straw served continuously on the Labour front-bench for 30 years- from November 1980 until October 2010.

He was a senior member of the Labour Cabinet for the whole period of the 1997-2000 Labour Government. He served successively as Home Secretary (1997-2001), Foreign Secretary (2001-2006), Leader of the Commons (2006-7), and then Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (2007-2010).”

Video

UCL Constitution Unit, 7th March 2013

Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Command Papers – official-documents.gov.uk

Posted March 21st, 2013 in parliamentary papers by sally

Review of the monetary policy framework, Cm 8588 (PDF)

Economic and fiscal outlook, Cm 8573 (PDF)

Source: www.official-documents.gov.uk

Hayes (FC) (Respondent) v Willoughby (Appellant) – Supreme Court

Posted March 21st, 2013 in crime, defences, harassment, law reports, Supreme Court by sally

Hayes (FC) (Respondent) v Willoughby (Appellant) [2013] UKSC 17 | UKSC 2012/0010 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 20th March 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Call for research into effects on children of giving evidence in abuse cases – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2013 in child abuse, children, evidence, news, speeches, witnesses by sally

“Research should be carried out into the long-term affects on those who give evidence about sexual abuse when they are a child, the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, has urged.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk