Grenfell Tower fire: Police ask for £38m to fund investigation – BBC News
‘The Metropolitan Police has asked the Home Office to pay £38m for its Grenfell Tower fire investigation.’
BBC News, 4th January 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Month: January 2018
Family win five-figure sum after Grandmother choked to death on egg sandwich -Daily Telegraph
‘The family of a grandmother who died in hospital after choking on an egg sandwich have received a five-figure payout. Lilian Hugill, who had previously survived cancer, was admitted to York Hospital with a bladder infection, but later died after staff wrongly gave her the sandwich rather than soft food.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th January 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
MPs say plans to tackle Westminster sex assault claims ‘too vague’ – The Guardian
‘Proposals to tackle sexual harassment and assault in Westminster have been criticised by campaigners and MPs for being “too vague” and leaving “too much power” with the party whips.’
The Guardian, 5th January 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Trio who used trafficked girls to work in nail bars jailed under slavery laws – The Guardian
‘A woman and man who forced children trafficked from Vietnam to work in nail bars in the UK have been jailed under modern slavery legislation. Police say it is the first time a successful prosecution involving children has taken place since the laws were brought in two years ago.’
The Guardian, 2nd January 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Hundreds of boys ‘tortured’ at youth detention centres in 1970s and 1980s – The Independent
‘Hundreds of boys say they were subjected to sexual and physical abuse amounting to “torture” in youth detention centres, sparking calls for a public inquiry.’
The independent, 4th January 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Jeremiah Regis-Ngaujah murder: ‘Death could not be predicted’ – BBC news
‘The brutal murder of a two-year-old boy by his stepfather could not have been predicted, a review has found.’
BBC news, 5th January 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
John Worboys: Parole board chief ‘very concerned’ over black cab rapist’s early release – The Independent
‘The chairman of the Parole Board has said he is “very concerned” that the victims of serial rapist John Worboys were not told of his imminent release. Amid criticisms of the decision, Professor Nick Hardwick added he recognises there is a “lack of transparency” in the board’s processes and will be launching a public consultation.’
The Independent, 5th February 2017
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Tribunal unimpressed by Mastercard’s “wholly unreasonable” costs in Merricks case – Litigation Futures
‘The costs incurred by Mastercard in defending an attempt to bring one of the largest class actions ever appear “wholly unreasonable and disproportionate”, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has found.’
Litigation Futures, 2nd January 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
The open justice principle: a child’s crimes and a parent’s misdemeanour – Transparency Project
‘What legal principles connect publicity for the 17 year-old Charlie Pearce (born 3 July 2000), a double rapist and attempt murderer (R v Pearce (Press Restrictions) Haddon-Cave J (7 December 2017)) and privacy for a stalking mother who, with her cohabitant (‘Mr JM’) tried to disrupt her 10 year-old daughter T’s foster placement (Re T (A Child) [2017] EWCA Civ 1889 (23 November 2017)).’
Transparency Project, 31st January 2018
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
New guidance on the use of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 – UK Police Law Blog
‘Revised Guidance has been published on 24 December 2017. The Home Office website states:
New guidance on the use of anti-social behaviour powers will help police and councils continue to take appropriate action against nuisance behaviours while ensuring the most vulnerable, including the homeless, are not disproportionately targeted.’
UK Police Law Blog, 27th December 2017
Source: ukpolicelawblog.com
Leading employment law provider unfairly dismissed senior employee, tribunal finds – Legal Futures
‘The leading unregulated provider of employment law services unfairly dismissed a senior employee, an employment tribunal has found.’
Legal Futures, 3rd January 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Court of Appeal Overturns Decision Denying Trans Parent Contact With Children – Rights Info
‘An ultra-Orthodox Jew who left her community to start a new life as a woman has been allowed an appeal by The Court of Appeal. This overturned an earlier ruling that she should have no direct contact with her five children.’
Rights Info, 2nd January 2018
Source: rightsinfo.org
The Bedworth bedroom conundrum – Nearly Legal
‘A very interesting (and perhaps surprising) Upper Tribunal 3 judge decision on the issue of ‘what is a bedroom’ for the purposes of Housing Benefit Reg 13 – the bedroom tax.’
Nearly Legal, 31st December 2017
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
10 cases that defined 2017 – UK Human Rights Blog
‘2017 has been a dramatic year in global politics and no less in the world of human rights law.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd December 2017
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Taking stock of the gig economy: lessons for technology companies – Panopticon
‘A combination of high profile cases and policy announcements about the so-called “gig economy” has a particular resonance for technology companies. Technological change has transformed the labour market, which has given added urgency to finding better solutions to three much older problems:
– How should we best draw the line between the independent contractors, workers and employees?
– Should the self-employed and employees be taxed differently?
– How should personal service companies be treated for tax purposes?’
Panopticon, 2nd January 2018
Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk
Candy Crush (-es Holyoake) – Panopticon
‘Readers of this blog will recall an important DPA judgment, particularly on the legal professional privilege exemption, which came out in January 2017 called Holyoake v Candy & CPC [2017] EWHC 52 (QB) (see the blogpost here). That case has, however, involved various pieces of satellite litigation including a 193 page judgment of Nugee J handed down just before Christmas in Holyoake & Hotblack v Candy & Candy & others [2017] EWHC 3397 (Ch).For some reason the parties to the extensive Chancery proceedings appear to have seen as most important the multi-million pound claims for misrepresentation, duress, unlawful means conspiracy, interference with economic interests, undue influence, breach of consumer credit legislation, breach of the rule against penalty clauses and the exotically named extortion under colour of due process. For very detailed and lengthy reasons which it is unnecessary to set out here, Nugee J rejected all of Mr Holyoake’s various claims. The judge made numerous adverse findings in respect Mr Holyoake’s performance as a witness, although it is fair to say that the Candy brothers did not escape without some measure of criticism either. (I should declare that I acted for Candy and CPC in the earlier DPA proceedings; although all of the Panopticon editors were on one side or the other.)’
Panopticon, 29th December 2017
Source: panopticonblog.com
Rules on properties requiring HMO licence to be strengthened from April – Local Government Lawye
‘Landlords renting properties in England occupied by five or more people, from two or more separate households, will need to hold a house of multiple occupation (HMO) licence from April 2018, Housing Minister Alok Sharma has announced.’
Local Government Lawyer, 2nd January 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
MoJ spending huge sums on consultants to help deliver digital courts – The Guardian
‘The Ministry of Justice is spending tens of millions of pounds on management consultants to help deliver online and digital court programmes that are designed to save money and improve access to justice.’
The Guardian, 2nd January 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
