Authorisation to Practise process now open – Bar Standards Board

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in barristers, press releases by tracey

‘The annual Authorisation to Practise process has now opened, featuring a new method for calculating a barristers’ Practising Certificate Fee (PCF). Barristers have until 31 March 2015 to renew their practising certificates, which is a compulsory part of the Authorisation to Practise process.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Speaking to witnesses at court: consultation – Attorney General’s Office

‘We are committed to giving an excellent service to all victims and witnesses who attend court as part of our overall commitment to support victims and witnesses effectively throughout their time in the criminal justice system. The aim of this consultation is to ask for responses to the draft guidance which sets out the role played by prosecutors at or before court in ensuring that witnesses give their best evidence. This is a core part of the prosecutor’s job and will, if done properly, impact positively on both the quality of the witness’s evidence in court and the perception of the service they receive from us.’

Full consultation

Attorney General’s Office, 19th January 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/ago

Ealing London Borough Council and others v Notting Hill Housing Trust and another – WLR Daily

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in council tax, evidence, housing, law reports, local government, regulations by tracey

Ealing London Borough Council and others v Notting Hill Housing Trust and another;[2015] EWHC 161 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 37

‘Article 3 of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992 provided that a dwelling was an exempt dwelling for the purposes of section 4 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 if it fell into Class B: “a dwelling owned by a body established for charitable purposes only, which is unoccupied and has been so for a period of less than sixmonths since the last occupation day, and was last occupied in furtherance of the objects of the charity”. When seeking exemption from council tax under that provision applicants were required to provide sufficient evidence to show that those conditions were satisfied.’

WLR Daily, 29th January 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Edwards v Kumarasamy – WLR Daily

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in appeals, covenants, landlord & tenant, law reports, repairs by tracey

Edwards v Kumarasamy; [2015] EWCA Civ 20; [2015] WLR (D) 40

‘A tenant was not required to give notice of a defect to a landlord for the latter to be liable under section 11(1A) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 for injury or loss to the tenant resulting from the failure of the landlord to keep in repair any part of the building in which the landlord had an interest.’

WLR Daily, 28th January 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

In re S-W (Children) (Care Proceedings: Case Management Hearing) – WLR Daily

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in appeals, care orders, case management, children, law reports by tracey

In re S-W (Children) (Care Proceedings: Case Management Hearing): [2015] EWCA Civ 27; [2015] WLR (D) 38

‘It would not be appropriate in care proceedings to dispose of a case at the case management hearing where there remained any significant issue as to threshold, assessment, or placement; nor could it ever be appropriate where the children’s guardian had not at least had an opportunity of seeing the child or children in question and to prepare a case analysis. Where, unusually, a case was to be disposed of at that hearing adequate notice had to be given to the parties; reluctance on the part of the parents or the children’s guardian would ordinarily be fatal. Furthermore a care order should not be made without some reasons or a judgment, no matter how concise, noting the available options, the positions of the parties and confirming that the outcome for the child was in his or her best interests and was proportionate.’

WLR Daily, 30th January 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in legislation by tracey

The Films (Definition of “British Film”) Order 2015

The Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund (Winding Up) Order 2015

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Freezing of Funds) (Revocation) Regulations 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (Code of Practice) Order 2015

The Child Poverty Act 2010 (Extension of Publication Deadline) Order 2015

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Prescribed Police Stations) Regulations 2015

The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2015

The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2015

The Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling) Order 2015

The Use of Invalid Carriages on Highways (Amendment) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015

The Noise Emission in the Environment by Equipment for use Outdoors (Amendment) Regulations 2015

The Export Control (Various Amendments) Order 2015

The Health and Care Professions Council (Registration and Fees) (Amendment) Rules Order of Council 2015

The General Medical Council (Maximum Period of Provisional Registration) Regulations Order of Council 2015

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Wrongly accused man case reopened by North Wales Police – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in closed circuit television, evidence, news, police, taxis by tracey

‘Police are to reopen a case into a taxi driver who sexually assaulted three women after the man initially convicted cleared his name. Mohammed Islam, 40, was found guilty of touching the women as he drove them home to north east Wales in his taxi.
But he paid for an expert to enhance CCTV which prosecutors had claimed showed his taxi – and it proved he had not been at the scene.’

Full story

BBC News, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Children: Private Law Update (January 2015) – Family Law Week

‘Alex Verdan QC, of 4 Paper Buildings, reviews recent important judgments in private law children cases.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 28th January 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Children held at Campsfield House immigration centre – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in children, detention, immigration, news, reports by tracey

‘Three children were detained at a UK immigration centre despite a government commitment to end the practice, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons has found.’

Full story

BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Innocent people’ on police photos database – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in data protection, news, police, privacy by tracey

‘Police forces in England and Wales have uploaded up to 18 million “mugshots” to a facial recognition database – despite a court ruling it could be unlawful.’

Full story

BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

University professors decry Theresa May’s campus anti-terrorism bill – The Guardian

‘More than 500 university professors have urged the home secretary, Theresa May, to urgently rethink her proposals to curb campus extremists.’

Full story

The Guardian, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Thirsk slaughterhouse ‘attacks’ probed by FSA – BBC News

Posted February 3rd, 2015 in animal cruelty, food, news, slaughter by tracey

‘One man has been sacked and three others at a North Yorkshire slaughterhouse have had their operating licences suspended after hidden cameras filmed alleged mistreatment of animals.’

Full story

BBC News, 3rd February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

GP jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing children – Daily Telegraph

‘As Dr Hugh Blaise O’Neill is sentenced it is revealed that he is facing further allegations relating to “sexual conduct while in a position of trust”.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 30th January 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court of Appeal slams judge for “unprincipled” approach to final care orders – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care orders, case management, children, judges, local government, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has sharply criticised a county court judge for adopting a “ruthlessly truncated” and “fundamentally unprincipled” process when he made final care orders at what the parties expected to be a directions hearing.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Magna Carta explained – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in human rights, legal history, magna carta, news, rule of law by sally

‘As the four original surviving copies of the Magna Carta are brought together under the same roof for the first time, here is a Q&A about the document.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Appointment to the bench is not a licence for judges to be gratuitously rude to those appearing before them – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care orders, case management, children, judges, local government, news by sally

‘HHJ Dodds is well known to readers of this blog. His style of case management was also analysed (and found wanting) by the Court of Appeal the following day in Re S-W (children) [2015] EWCA Civ 27 (30 January 2015). The judgments leave one to ponder whether these cases are a product of the stresses that have emerged from the greater expectations now put on the shoulders of judges to case manage litigation or whether, as previously discussed in this blog by David Hart QC here, it is a problem that arises with clever judges who find that they are, by temperament, not inclined to listen patiently to other people (generally considered to be a core part of the job description).’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 1st February 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Supreme Court: legal expenses insurance premium could not be recovered with costs – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, costs, expenses, insurance, news, proportionality, Supreme Court by sally

‘The successful party in a civil court case is not entitled to recover the cost of any ‘after the event’ (ATE) legal expenses insurance premium from an unsuccessful opponent, no mater how “reasonable” it was to have taken out the policy in the first place, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 30th January 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Court of Appeal: Solicitors cannot recover costs if CFAs failed to comply with cancellation regulations – Litigation Futures

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, care homes, contracts, costs, fees, news, notification, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘Appeal judges have ruled that solicitors cannot recover their costs where conditional fee agreements (CFAs) fail to comply with the cancellation of contracts regulations, with a potential impact on a significant number of cases.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Judge to see forensics that point to Tower Hamlets vote fraud – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in elections, expert witnesses, forensic science, fraud, news by sally

‘Evidence from an independent forensic scientist will form the centrepiece of a rare election fraud trial opening at the High Court on Monday.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 1st February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

European Court to rule on ‘whole life tariff’ legality of triple murderer Arthur Hutchinson – The Independent

Posted February 2nd, 2015 in appeals, human rights, murder, news, rape, sentencing by sally

‘One of the UK’s most notorious killers will learn this week whether he has anything more than the faintest of hopes of ever leaving prison. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is set to rule whether triple murderer Arthur Hutchinson should be eligible for release from Frankland prison, Durham.’

Full story

The Independent, 1st February 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk