April 2013 – Current Awareness

“Michael Turner QC has robust views on the proposed reforms which will have a considerable impact on access to justice, the profession, the public and have a devastating effect on the very cornerstone of our democracy.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 30th April 2013

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Regulatory dilemmas – NearlyLegal

Posted April 30th, 2013 in consultations, housing, news, regulations by sally

“The Regulatory Committee of the HCA has published Protecting Social Housing Assets in a More Diverse Sector, which is styled as a discussion paper, but which also contains some thought-provoking questions about how regulation can and should work in a much diversified, increasingly risky and entrepreneurial social housing domain. We are working in an environment which is almost unrecognisable from what it was in the 1990s and perhaps even just a few years ago. This creates regulatory dilemmas about how best to protect assets in the most proportionate manner (a familiar dilemma, and one which does not seem to have been particularly affected by the financial crash, one might think).”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 30th April 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Dappy loses appeal against conviction – The Guardian

Posted April 30th, 2013 in affray, appeals, assault, news by sally

“N-Dubz rapper Dappy, who was found guilty of assault and affray, has lost a challenge against his conviction.”

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The Guardian, 30th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Michelle Mills jailed for Edward Miller’s murder in Scalford – BBC News

Posted April 30th, 2013 in domestic violence, murder, news, sentencing by sally

“A mother-of-two who portrayed herself as a ‘fearful victim’ of domestic violence has been given a life sentence for stabbing her boyfriend to death.”

Full story

BBC News, 30th April 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mediation and alternative dispute resolution – OUP Blog

Posted April 30th, 2013 in arbitration, civil procedure rules, dispute resolution, news, proportionality by sally

“Why compromise? Increasingly in civil litigation there are no winners — not even the lawyers, following the review and implementation of Sir Rupert Jackson’s report into costs. The question is rapidly being re-phrased as ‘Why litigate?'”

Full story

OUP Blog, 27th April 2013

Source: www.blog.oup.com

Court agrees Facebook and Twitter users breached injunction – Attorney General’s Office

Posted April 30th, 2013 in contempt of court, injunctions, internet, news, photography by sally

“Two men who published photographs on Twitter and Facebook said to show the killers of James Bulger have admitted being in contempt of court.”

Full story

Attorney General’s Office,

Source: www.gov.uk/ago

Defamation Act becomes law, establishes new statutory defences against libel – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 30th, 2013 in bills, defamation, defences, legislation, news, public interest by sally

“Changes to libel laws in England and Wales have been implemented after the Defamation Bill received Royal Assent late last week.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Fortress Value Recovery Fund I LLC and others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund LP and others – WLR Daily

Posted April 30th, 2013 in agreements, appeals, arbitration, law reports, partnerships, stay of proceedings, third parties by sally

Fortress Value Recovery Fund I LLC and others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund LP and others [2013] EWCA Civ 367; [2013] WLR (D) 154

“Section 8(1) of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 allowed for a promisor to give a third party an enforceable substantive right subject to a procedural condition on which the promisor might but need not insist. Section 8(2) of the Act allowed for a promisor to give a third party an enforceable procedural right which the third party might but need not exercise, since the right was unilateral.”

WLR Daily, 17th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Asociaţia ACCEPT v Consiliul Naţional pentru Combaterea Discriminǎrii – WLR Daily

Posted April 30th, 2013 in burden of proof, EC law, law reports, recruitment, sexual orientation discrimination, sport by sally

Asociaţia ACCEPT v Consiliul Naţional pentru Combaterea Discriminǎrii (Case C-81/12); [2013] WLR (D) 153

“Homophobic statements made by a person perceived as playing a leading role in a football club but who did not have legal capacity to bind it in recruitment matters were capable of constituting ‘facts from which it may be presumed that there has been … discrimination’ pursuant to articles 2(2) and 10(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L303, p16).”

WLR Daily, 25th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Verma v Barts and The London NHS Trust (NHS Employers intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted April 30th, 2013 in contract of employment, doctors, hospitals, law reports, part-time work, remuneration by sally

Verma v Barts and The London NHS Trust (NHS Employers intervening) [2013] UKSC 20; [2013] WLR (D) 152

“Where a part-time locum doctor, as a step towards achieving a consultant’s post, took a one-year full time training post at a lower rate of pay but under the relevant NHS terms and conditions was entitled to pay protection, that entitlement was not limited to preserving her previous annual earnings but required her employer to pay all her new full-time hours at an hourly-rate equivalent to her previous part-time work.”

WLR Daily, 24th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

In re C (A Child) (Adoption: Placement order) – WLR Daily

Posted April 30th, 2013 in adoption, appeals, law reports, parental rights by sally

In re C (A Child) (Adoption: Placement order) [2013] EWCA Civ 431; [2013] WLR (D) 151

“Guidance as to the steps to be followed where an application to the Court of Appeal was made for permission to appeal against the making of a placement order, or of any order consequent upon the making of a placement order, in adoption proceedings.”

WLR Daily, 25th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Copyright law reforms in pipeline after Royal Assent given to Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 30th, 2013 in bills, copyright, intellectual property, legislation, news, regulations by sally

“New legislation that will impact on the UK’s intellectual property (IP) law framework has received Royal Assent.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

A brighter future? – New Law Journal

Posted April 30th, 2013 in case management, civil procedure rules, disclosure, electronic filing, news by sally

“As of 1 April 2013, standard disclosure is no longer the default provision in most multi-track cases. With disclosure often being the most expensive and time consuming part of the litigation process, this should be welcome news to litigants and solicitors alike. The recent decision in West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited v Willbros Global Holdings Inc. [2012] EWHC 396 (TCC) highlighted the significant issues encountered in the disclosure process, especially in high value claims involving e-disclosure. The new rules aim to tackle these problems by introducing stricter case management in the disclosure process.”

Full story

New Law Journal, 26th April 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Deferred prosecution agreements for England and Wales “on track for 2014” as legislation approved – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 30th, 2013 in codes of practice, consultations, deferred prosecution agreements, legislation, news by sally

“US-style ‘plea bargains’ will be introduced in England and Wales from 2014, following Parliamentary approval of the relevant laws.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Eoin Carolan: An oligarchy of the self-interest or enthusiastic?: Open Public Services in the Big Society – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted April 30th, 2013 in government departments, local government, news, parliamentary papers, reports, social services by sally

“The coalition government’s programme of public service reform continues apace. The coming into effect of parts of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 on April 1st was the latest in a series of changes to the structure and delivery of public services through measures like the Localism Act 2011 or the Free Schools programme. As the White Paper on Open Public Services indicates, these individual changes form part of a broader plan to fundamental re-model how Britain’s government operates. The White Paper is clear that this reform programme is wide-ranging and ambitious. What is less clear from government pronouncements, however, is whether or how it is intended to ensure the democratic legitimacy and character of the proposed reforms.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 29th April 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Caldicott review: unlawful personal data processing and sharing should be reported as ‘data breach’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 30th, 2013 in data protection, health, news, reports, social services by sally

“Health and social care bodies should be required to publish details of cases where they have processed or shared patients’ personal data without having a legal basis to do so, Dame Fiona Caldicott has recommended.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Tenants! Be the best that you can be! – NearlyLegal

Posted April 30th, 2013 in agreements, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news by sally

“At the very beginning of social housing, with the Peabody Estates in the 1860s, prospective tenants faced imposed requirements that we would now consider to be extraneous to the tenancy: Mandatory smallpox vaccinations; curfews; and cleaning rotas before 10 am for communal areas, sinks and WCs. But even the Victorian paternalists didn’t lower themselves to the patronising, small minded and teeth-grindingly passive-aggressive approach apparently in vogue for 21st century social landlords.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 29th April 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

DJ cleared of manslaughter of man who had penis drawn on face – The Guardian

Posted April 30th, 2013 in assault, homicide, news, self-defence by sally

“A DJ has been cleared of the manslaughter of a man who died after waking up at a party and finding a penis drawn on his face.”

Full story

The Guardian, 29th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk