27/06/2013 – Current Awareness

Reforming children’s homes care: consultation on changes to The Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 (as amended) and The Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration) (England) Regulations 2010 – Department for Education

Posted June 27th, 2013 in care homes, children, consultations, news, regulations by sally

“This consultation seeks views on proposals to amend the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 (as amended) (‘the Children’s Homes Regulations’), with a related amendment to the Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration) (England) Regulations 2010 (‘the Registration Regulations’), and a minor amendment to the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 (covered at paragraph 12) (‘the Fostering Services Regulations’). The amendments are necessary to improve collaboration and partnership between children’s homes and services in their local communities so that there are effective safeguards in place for the vulnerable group of children relying on residential care.”

Full story (PDF)

Department for Education, 25th June 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

Girl awarded £14m compensation after car crash left her paralysed – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2013 in accidents, compensation, news, personal injuries by sally

“A teenager, left paralysed from the neck down following a car crash, has been awarded £14m – one of the largest compensation payments made to a minor.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

BAILII: Recent Decisions

Posted June 27th, 2013 in law reports by sally

Supreme Court

Abela & Ors v. Baadarani [2013] UKSC 44 (26 June 2013)

Brown, R. v (Northern Ireland) [2013] UKSC 43 (26 June 2013)

North & Ors v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Scotland) [2013] UKSC 45 (26 June 2013)

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Thompson, R v [2013] EWCA Crim 988 (25 June 2013)

Cox, R v [2013] EWCA Crim 1025 (25 June 2013)

Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Secretary of State for the Home Department v Raju & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 754 (25 June 2013)

Emezie v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 733 (26 June 2013)

The Pollen Estate Trustee Company Ltd & Anor v HM Revenue and Customs [2013] EWCA Civ 753 (26 June 2013)

Boyd v Incommunities Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 756 (26 June 2013)

High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)

Cruddas v Calvert & Ors [2013] EWHC 1791 (QB) (26 June 2013)

Amin v Director General of the Security Service (MI5) & Ors [2013] EWHC 1579 (QB) (26 June 2013)

High Court (Chancery Division)

Avrahami & Ors v Biran & Ors [2013] EWHC 1776 (Ch) (25 June 2013)

JSC BTA Bank v Usarel Investments Ltd [2013] EWHC 1780 (Ch) (24 June 2013)

High Court (Administrative Court)

Hopkins Development Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Anor [2013] EWHC 1783 (Admin) (25 June 2013)

High Court (Commercial Court)

Sea-Cargo Skips AS v State Bank of India [2013] EWHC 177 (Comm) (26 June 2013)

High Court (Patents Court)

Eli Lilly & Company v Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy [2013] EWHC 1737 (Pat) (25 June 2013)

Source: www.bailii.org

Are you committed to the justice system? – Bar Standards Board

Posted June 27th, 2013 in barristers, legal profession, news by sally

“The Bar Standards Board is looking for a new lay member and a new Barrister member to contribute to our Board.”

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 26th June 2013

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Abela v Baadarain – WLR Daily

Posted June 27th, 2013 in appeals, documents, foreign jurisdictions, law reports, news, service, Supreme Court by sally

Abela v Baadarain [2013] UKSC 44; [2013] WLR (D) 251

“The court’s power, when the parties were within the jurisdiction, to make an order under CPR r 6.15(2), that steps already taken to bring the claim form to the attention of the defendant by an alternative method or at an alternative place was good service, was applicable to claims where the defendant was outside the jurisdiction in a state in respect of which no relevant bilateral convention on service of judicial documents existed.”

WLR Daily, 26th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Hate Crime: The Case for Extending the Existing Offences – Law Commission

Posted June 27th, 2013 in consultations, crime, disabled persons, harassment, hate crime, homosexuality, incitement, Law Commission, news by sally

“This project came to the Law Commission by a reference from the Ministry of Justice, following the Government’s publication of its three-year hate crime action plan in 2012.”

Full story

Law Commission, 27th June 2013

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk

Daily Mail in £100,000-plus payout over Syrian chemical weapons story – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2013 in damages, defamation, media, news, weapons by sally

“The Daily Mail has apologised and paid £110,000 in libel damages to a London defence firm it wrongly linked with an alleged chemical weapons plot in Syria.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Patrick O’Brien: Does the Lord Chancellor really exist? – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted June 27th, 2013 in constitutional reform, government departments, judiciary, lord chancellor, ministers' powers and duties, news by sally

“On 12 June 2003 a minor constitutional revolution began with the resignation of Lord Irvine as Lord Chancellor and the announcement of a package of reforms including the abolition of his office and the creation of a Supreme Court, later to become the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA). To commemorate the tenth anniversary of these events, the Judicial Independence Project held a private seminar on 12 June 2013 at which some of those directly involved in the changes spoke about the experience and the effects it has had on constitutional change. A note of the seminar is available here. In part the seminar brought out the drama and the comedy of the day itself. An old friendship ended in acrimony: Irvine had been the Prime Minister’s pupil master and had introduced him to his wife. At the same time the senior judiciary, at an away day with civil servants, were taken by surprise by the announcement and had to have the details explained to them whilst they huddled, increasingly angry, around a single phone in a country pub.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 26th June 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Supreme Court gives green light to school staff to bring equal pay claims – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 27th, 2013 in appeals, education, employment tribunals, equal pay, news, Scotland, sex discrimination, Supreme Court by sally

“The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a 251-strong group of female council employees and restored an Employment Tribunal decision that they could bring equal pay claims.”

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 26th June 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court

Posted June 27th, 2013 in appeals, education, employment tribunals, equal pay, law reports, local government, Scotland, sex discrimination, Supreme Court by sally

North and others (Appellants) v Dumfries and Galloway Council (Respondent) (Scotland) [2013] UKSC 45 | UKSC 2011/0046 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 26th June 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

R v Brown (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) – Supreme Court

Posted June 27th, 2013 in age of consent, appeals, burden of proof, consent, law reports, Northern Ireland, rape, sexual offences, Supreme Court, young offenders by sally

R v Brown (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) [2013] UKSC 43 | UKSC 2011/0233 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 26th June 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Abela and others (Appellants) v. Baadarani (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Posted June 27th, 2013 in appeals, documents, law reports, service, Supreme Court, time limits by sally

Abela and others (Appellants) v. Baadarani (Respondent) [2013] UKSC 44 | UKSC 2012/0023 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 26th June 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Judges look again at £2m claims exemption – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 27th, 2013 in budgets, civil procedure rules, consultations, costs, news by sally

“Exempting mandatory costs budgeting for claims in excess of £2m may be ‘unnecessary and inappropriate’, a newly established sub-group of the Civil Procedure Rule committee has suggested.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 26th June 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The good Samaritan doctor and the Human Tissue Act – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 27th, 2013 in blood products, coroners, doctors, human tissue, news by sally

“You would have thought the law would be entirely behind a person who intervenes to help a stranger in distress. Indeed most civil law countries impose a positive duty to rescue, which means that if a person finds someone in need of medical help, he or she must take all reasonable steps to seek medical care and render best-effort first aid. A famous example of this was the investigation into the photographers at the scene of Lady Diana’s fatal car accident: they were suspected of violation of the French law of “non-assistance à personne en danger” (deliberately failing to provide assistance to a person in danger), which can be punished by up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 70,000 euros. But the position in common law countries like the UK and the United States is completely different: you can watch a child drown and not be held to account.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 26th June 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Stephen Lawrence claims: High Court ‘should approve undercover operations’ – BBC News

Posted June 27th, 2013 in bills, investigatory powers, judiciary, news, police by sally

“Revelations about Stephen Lawrence’s family show police forces should be required to get High Court approval for undercover operations, campaigners say.”

Full story

BBC News, 26th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Public less likely to trust lawyers – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 27th, 2013 in consumer protection, legal profession, news by sally

“Declining public confidence in the professions continues to take its toll on lawyers, according to an annual survey commissioned by watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 27th June 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences draft guideline – Sentencing Council

Posted June 27th, 2013 in bribery, consultations, fraud, money laundering, news, sentencing by sally

“The Sentencing Council is updating guidance for courts so that all fraud offences are covered by a consistent set of guidelines that will also deal with corporate offenders.”

Full story

Sentencing Council, 27th June 2013

Source: http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk

US bloggers banned from entering UK – BBC News

Posted June 27th, 2013 in freedom of expression, immigration, inciting religious hatred, internet, news by sally

“Two prominent US bloggers have been banned from entering the UK, the Home Office has said.”

Full story

BBC News, 26th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Will Article 6 come to the rescue after the legal aid reforms? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 27th, 2013 in civil procedure rules, consumer credit, human rights, interpreters, legal aid, legal representation, litigants in person, news by sally

“The absence of legal representation for defendants to an action for debt who contended they could not speak English resulted in the High Court granting an application that the trial be adjourned for a second time. The judgment is a good example of the interaction of Article 6 ECHR (right to a fair trial) with the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 26th June 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Payday loans industry to face competition inquiry – BBC News

Posted June 27th, 2013 in competition, consumer credit, consumer protection, inquiries, loans, news by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred the payday lending industry to the Competition Commission because of concerns about ‘deep-rooted problems with the way competition works’.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk