‘A government policy that bans books being sent to prisoners in England and Wales may face a legal challenge.’
BBC News, 7th May 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘FOIA provides an exemption (s. 42) expressly for legal professional privilege; as is well known, there is ‘strong inherent weight’ in maintaining that exemption. What about the EIRs? LPP is not expressly mentioned, but regulation 12(5)(b) EIR applies to information the disclosure of which would adversely affect “the course of justice, the ability of a person to receive a fair trial or the ability of a public authority to conduct an inquiry of a criminal or disciplinary nature”. Does information attracting LPP automatically come within that exception? Many practitioners operate on the assumption that the answer is ‘yes’. The Upper Tribunal has on a previous occasion, however, left that question open: DCLG v IC and Robinson [2012] UKUT 103 (AAC); [2012] 2 Info LR 43.’
Panopticon, 6th May 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
‘Remote gambling operators in Great Britain (GB) will be forced to ensure that they source their gambling software from a GB licensed provider to remain compliant with a new licensing regime being brought into force.’
OUT-LAW.com, 6th May 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
‘One of the changes introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 was to amend section 63 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which provides that the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) must select candidates for judicial office ‘solely on merit’. Schedule 13 of the 2013 Act clarified that making selections solely on merit does not prevent the JAC from recommending a candidate on the basis of improving diversity on the bench where there are two candidates of equal merit. This is variously known as the ‘equal merit’, ‘tie-break’ or ‘tipping point’ provision and derives from s 159 of the Equality Act 2010. After a consultation exercise last summer, the JAC last month published its policy on how it will implement the equal merit provision. In this post, we draw on research conducted as part of an AHRC-funded project on The Politics of Judicial Independence to explain why the JAC’s policy is disappointingly cautious, limits the prospect of further progress on diversity and offers further evidence of what we believe is the excessive judicial influence on judicial appointments.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 6th May 2014
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Chris Grayling announced an intention to amend the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to include a provision providing for a six-month minimum sentence for a second knife-related offence. This was met with opposition from Grayling’s Liberal coalition partners (more of which later).’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th May 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
‘A judge has halted a serious fraud trial after defendants claimed they could not get adequate representation because cuts to legal aid, and as a result they would not get a fair trial under common law or Article 6 of the Convention. This case could be the first of a number of reversals following the government’s legal aid reforms with seven further trials due to start before September 2015 involving 28 defendants in similar positions.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 6th May 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Judges should warn juries about the common misconceptions people have about rape before they are allowed to hear any evidence, two of the leading figures in the fight against sex crime say today.’
The Independent, 6th May 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Forced marriage is not confined to Britain’s Muslim communities but exists among all minority groups, the head of a commission into the issue has said.’
The Independent, 6th May 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
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