Phone hacking: massive privacy damages – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 27th, 2015 in compensation, damages, interception, media, news, privacy by sally

‘For some years in the early and mid 2000s, a routine form of news-gathering in the Mirror Group was phone hacking – listening to voicemails left for celebrities by their friends, and then dishing up revelations in their papers. And this judgment amounts to a comprehensive pay-back time for the years of distress and upset sustained by those celebrities, as the ins and outs of their private lives were played out for the Mirror Group’s profit. The damages awarded well exceeded those previously payable, as justified in the tour de force of a judgment by Mann J.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Tories’ legislation to protect zero-hours workers called ‘toothless’ by lawyers – The Guardian

Posted May 27th, 2015 in contract of employment, employment, enforcement, news by sally

‘Legislation that the prime minister, David Cameron, boasted will protect workers on zero-hours contracts has been described as toothless by employment lawyers.’

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The Guardian, 26th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The assisted dying debate – BBC News

Posted May 27th, 2015 in assisted suicide, bills, euthanasia, news, parliament, statistics by sally

‘Nearly 300 Britons have travelled to Zurich to die with the help of the Swiss suicide group Dignitas.’

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BBC News, 26th May 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Banks face bigger PPI mis-selling bill as regulator considers compensation rules – The Guardian

‘Banks could face a bigger bill for mis-selling payment protection insurance after the City regulator said it was considering new rules on how customers should be compensated.’

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The Guardian, 27th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Sun crime reporter found guilty of paying police officer for stories – The Guardian

‘A Sun crime reporter has been found guilty of paying an anti-terrorism police officer more than £22,000 for story tips relating to Heathrow airport.’

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The Guardian, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

London taxi driver jailed for minimum 38 years for killing US soldier in Iraq roadside bombing – The Independent

Posted May 27th, 2015 in armed forces, conspiracy, explosives, Iraq, murder, news, sentencing, terrorism by sally

‘A London taxi driver convicted of killing a US soldier in an Iraqi roadside bombing has been sentenced to life with a minimum 38 years in prison.’

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The Independent, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Schoolgirl jailed for filmed attack on young boy ‘told magistrate whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever when asked for her address’ – The Independent

Posted May 26th, 2015 in assault, news, sentencing, young offenders by sally

‘A schoolgirl detained for eight months after attacking a boy reportedly told magistrates “whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever” when she was asked to list her address.’

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The Independent, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Woman jailed for hiding son’s cremation from ex-husband – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2015 in burials and cremation, compensation, news, sentencing by sally

‘A “vindictive and spiteful” woman who filled in false paperwork to stop her ex-husband attending their son’s cremation has been jailed for four months.’

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The Guardian, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Attempt to scrap Human Rights Act will not get past Lords, Falconer warns Gove – The Guardian

‘A new British bill of rights is expected to be included in the Queen’s speech, but shadow lord chancellor says upper house would be within its rights to reject it.’

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The Guardian, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Toblerone lorry thieves jailed – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2015 in conspiracy, gangs, news, sentencing, theft by sally

‘Six men have been jailed after lorries and their loads including Toblerone chocolate and whiskey were stolen in Kent.’

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The Guardian, 26th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

DVLA release latest list of banned licence plates – The Independent

Posted May 26th, 2015 in news, obscenity, road traffic by sally

‘The DVLA have released a list of banned licence plates, revealing while you can ORG45M you can’t have a VA61ANA on the roads.’

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The Independent, 23rd May 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

New law will force councils to merge services to improve adoption rates – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2015 in adoption, bills, local government, news, social services by sally

‘Councils will be forced to merge services in order to speed up adoption rates, according to plans to be set out in the Queen’s speech next week. Adoption is “happening at too small and localised a scale”, the Department for Education said, and mergers would slash waiting times by increasing the pool of potential adopters.’

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The Guardian, 23rd May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Gang leader who smuggled £5m of cocaine in children’s jigsaws jailed for 15 years – The Independent

Posted May 26th, 2015 in conspiracy, drug trafficking, news, sentencing by sally

‘The head of a drug smuggling gang, which hid £5 million-worth of cocaine in children’s presents, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.’

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The Independent, 23rd May 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Je suis James: Pianist finally allowed to tell his story of sexual abuse – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 26th, 2015 in appeals, child abuse, children, injunctions, news, publishing, Supreme Court by sally

‘The case considered whether Mr Rhodes could be prevented from publishing his memoir on the basis that to do so would constitute the tort of intentionally causing harm. Those acting on behalf of Mr Rhodes’ son were particularly concerned about the effect upon him of learning of details of his father’s sexual abuse as a child.’
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UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

HRA Watch: Reform, Repeal, Replace? Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: A Referendum on Repeal of the Human Rights Act? Why not? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘So we finally we have some clarity. Of the many statements, quasi-proposals and rumours affecting constitutional reform which had been swirling around during the term of the last coalition government, we now know which will see the light of day as official government policy. With the surprise Conservative majority government, it is now clear that the Human Rights Act will be repealed and replaced with a British Bill of Rights and there will be a referendum on EU membership by 2017 at the latest. Given that many of these issues had already been touted by one part of the coalition, many, if not most, of the constitutional and political implications, and particularly the difficulties, of these proposals have already been thrashed out in different forums such as the recent report co-edited by my colleague Tobias Lock, as well as, of course, on the pages of this blog. I have read and benefited from these excellent insights and so have nothing to add here to the substance of these issues.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th May 2015

Source: http://ukconstitutionallaw.org

Non-violent extremism: some questions about laws and limits – UK Human Rights

‘Sajid Javid’s reported objections to the Government’s pre-election proposals on countering extremist ideas uncover just how controversial the new laws will be. He had objected, it seems, to a mooted expansion of Ofcom’s powers to take pre-emptive action to prevent the broadcast of programmes with ‘extremist content’ before they are transmitted.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Gender recognition: what legal recognition and rights can post-operative transsexuals expect in the UK? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted May 26th, 2015 in gender, human rights, news by sally

‘The legislative backdrop to both cases featured the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA 2004), the latter being legislation enacted by Parliament to enable persons who have changed gender to have their acquired gender recognised and certified. GRA 2004 was Parliament’s response to the decision in Strasbourg in Goodwin v United Kingdom (Application No. 65723/01) [2008] All ER (D) 113 (Jan), in which it was held that the UK had failed to comply with its positive obligation to ensure the right of a transsexual to respect for her private life, in particular by affording legal recognition to her acquired gender.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 26th May 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Bogus lawyers jailed after targeting the elderly with asset protection scam – Legal Futures

Posted May 26th, 2015 in elderly, fraud, news, sentencing, trusts by sally

‘Eight people who pretended to be lawyers have been sentenced after scamming elderly people out of more than £500,000 in return for bogus asset protection trusts, with carrying out a reserved legal activity when not authorised one of the charges half of them faced.’

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Legal Futures, 26th May 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Believing victims – OUP Blog

Posted May 26th, 2015 in news, police, sexual offences, victims by sally

‘Hampshire Constabulary are the latest in a long line of police forces obliged to apologise to a victim of crime for failing to investigate an allegation properly. In this case, a young woman accused a man of rape. She was not believed; forensic examination of clothing was delayed; in the meanwhile, the complainant was threatened with arrest for ‘perverting the course of justice’ and she attempted suicide. Eventually, following belated forensic analysis, the man was arrested and has since then been convicted.’

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OUP Blog, 22nd May 2015

Source: http://blog.oup.com

Does the Human Rights Act prevent us deporting serious criminals? – Free Movement

Posted May 26th, 2015 in deportation, human rights, immigration, news, reports, statistics, treaties by sally

‘It is very widely believed that the Human Rights Act stops the UK from deporting foreign criminals whence they came. To a limited extent, there is some truth in this. Some appeals against deportation decisions do succeed on human rights grounds. Not many, though, and none succeed because of the Human Rights Act as distinct from the European Convention on Human Rights. Other appeals against deportation succeed under EU law or the Refugee Convention.’

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Free Movement, 26th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk