Category: bills

Reforming judicial review: cutting pointless delay or preventing legitimate challenge? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 25th, 2014 in bills, costs, human rights, judicial review, news, public interest by sally

‘For law students who slept their way through their first Latin 101 lessons in ‘ultra vires’, public law and judicial review may have seemed very detached from the realities of everyday life; less relevant to the man on the Clapham Omnibus than the rigours of a good criminal defence or protection from eviction offered by landlord and tenant law.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 24th February 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

The High Court’s new Planning Court – Thirty Nine Essex Street

Posted February 14th, 2014 in bills, courts, judicial review, news, planning by sally

‘The High Court is now to include a formally designated Planning Court and permission to apply will be required for section 288 applications against planning decisions in the latest government reforms to judicial review and related proceedings. Ministers have just published their response to the latest reform proposals and the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014 proposing changes to judicial review.’

Full story

Thirty Nine Essex Street, February 2014

Source: www.39essex.com

Judicial Review Concessions, Gay Olympic Controversy, and Defamation in Europe – the Human Rights Roundup – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 11th, 2014 in bills, defamation, human rights, judicial review, news, sexual orientation discrimination, sport by tracey

‘Last week, the Justice Secretary published the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. The implications of his revised proposals for judicial review reform are considered in this week’s roundup, along with controversy over gay rights at the Winter Olympics and recent trends in defamation cases before the Court of Human Rights.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 10th February 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Smoking in cars carrying children to be banned – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 11th, 2014 in bills, children, health, news, smoking by tracey

‘MPs vote overwhelmingly in favour of banning smoking in cars carrying children after David Cameron says “time has come” to make it illegal.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 10th February 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Judicial review reforms will discourage “ill-conceived and vexatious claims”, experts say – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 10th, 2014 in bills, consultations, judicial review, local government, news, protective costs orders, public interest, vexatious litigants by tracey

‘Changes to the rules governing judicial review (JR) claims will ensure that those challenging the decisions of public bodies face a “fair level of financial risk”, the Government has said.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 7th February 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Grayling’s proposals for environmental and planning judicial review – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 10th, 2014 in Administrative Court, bills, consultations, costs, courts, environmental protection, judicial review, news, planning by tracey

‘At first sight, proposals full of sound and fury, and signifying not a great deal for planning and environmental challenges. There are some slippery costs changes which we need to look at, but some of the potentially more concerning proposals do not fully apply to this area, as I shall explain. There are also some perfectly sensible proposals about harmonising planning challenges which lawyers have been advocating for years.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 9th February 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

“Mandatory” mediation – not mandatory enough! – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted February 10th, 2014 in bills, case management, dispute resolution, divorce, domestic violence, legal aid, news by tracey

‘In recent weeks there has been widespread reporting of government measures to introduce “mandatory mediation” for separating couples. This will be brought in under the Children and Families Bill, which is due to come into force in April. So, what exactly will the proposals mean? Will they actually result in couples moving away courts, and resolving their disputes through mediation, as the government wants?’

Full story

Halsburys Law Exchange, 10th February 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Tube strikes – should the law be changed? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted February 10th, 2014 in bills, data protection, industrial action, international law, news, trade unions, transport by tracey

‘We asked the business lobbying group CBI, the Institute of Directors (IOD) and Trade Union lawyer Richard Arthur for their views on reform of this prickly area of law.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 7th February 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Criminals to pay towards cost of running courts – Ministry of Justice

Posted February 7th, 2014 in bills, costs, courts, criminal justice, press releases by tracey

‘Criminals will be made to pay towards the cost of their court case under legislation introduced to Parliament today by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 5th February 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Ben Jaffey and Tom Hickman: Loading the Dice in Judicial Review: The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014 – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted February 7th, 2014 in bills, criminal justice, judicial review, legal aid, news by tracey

‘Public lawyers across the country are anxiously scrutinising yesterday’s response by the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, to the Judicial Review consultation and the associated Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. They are seeking to ascertain the extent to which access to judicial review will be restricted and, in the case of many firms with legal aid contracts in public law, to see if whether their business will remain financially viable at all.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 6th February 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Jurors face two-year jail sentence for researching cases on the internet – The Independent

Posted February 6th, 2014 in bills, contempt of court, crime, internet, juries, news by sally

‘Jurors who are found to be researching cases on the internet will be jailed for up to two years, under a new criminal offence announced today.’

Full story

The Independent, 5th February 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Secret hearings could allow police to seize journalists’ notes if bill passes – The Guardian

Posted February 3rd, 2014 in bills, closed material, disclosure, inquiries, media, news, police by tracey

‘The seizure of journalists’ notebooks, photographs and digital files could be conducted in secret hearings, owing to a little-publicised clause in a government bill aimed at cutting red tape, media organisations have warned. Requests for notebooks, computer disks, photographs or videos must currently be made in open court and representatives of news groups can be present. But the clause – in the deregulation bill, which comes before the Commons on Monday – significantly alters the way courts consider so-called “production orders”, stripping out current safeguards.’

Full story

The Guardian, 31st January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Barristers tell Parliament that some GCHQ mass surveillance is illegal – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 30th, 2014 in bills, illegality, intelligence services, interception, investigatory powers, news, select committees, weapons by sally

‘Two barristers have advised a Parliamentary committee that some mass surveillance allegedly undertaken by the UK’s security services is probably illegal. Jemima Stratford QC and Tim Johnston’s advice (PDF) was commissioned by the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 29th January 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Domestic abuse – why creating a specific offence is not the answer – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted January 30th, 2014 in assault, bills, crime, domestic violence, news, sentencing by sally

‘The Offences Against the Person Act has been in law since 1861. It covers all forms of physical assault ranging from the most serious, such as stabbing someone, to common assault which can be committed merely by spitting at someone. Marital rape is an offence, as is pursuing a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. Despite these laws, MPs are now seeking to introduce a new offence of Domestic Abuse, aimed solely at offences carried out within relationships. The offence would be defined as, “intentionally, wilfully or recklessly causing, or attempting to cause, physical injury or psychological harm to a person”.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 29th January 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Regina (Buckinghamshire County Council and others) v Secretary of State for Transport; Regina ( HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Same; Regina (Heathrow Hub Ltd and another) v Same – WLR Daily

Posted January 29th, 2014 in appeals, bills, consent, EC law, environmental protection, judicial review, law reports, local government, news, planning, railways, Supreme Court, transport by sally

Regina (Buckinghamshire County Council and others) v Secretary of State for Transport; Regina ( HS2 Action Alliance Ltd)vSame; Regina (Heathrow Hub Ltd and another) v Same [2014] UKSC 3; [2014] WLR (D) 28

‘The Government’s paper High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future—Decisions and Next Steps (2012) (Cm 8247) (“the DNS”), in which it had set out its proposed strategy for the promotion, construction and operation of a new high speed rail network, was not a plan or programme which set the framework for future development consent by the decision-maker (ie Parliament) and thus did not come within the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42/EC) (“the SEA Directive”).’

WLR Daily, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Mark Elliot: Reflections on the HS2 case: a hierarchy of domestic constitutional norms and the qualified primacy of EU law – UK Constitutional Law Group

Posted January 24th, 2014 in bills, consultations, EC law, environmental protection, local government, news, railways, Supreme Court by sally

‘Earlier this week, the UK Supreme Court gave judgment in R (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport [2014] UKSC 3. A good overview of the issues at stake in the case can be found in the Court’s press summary, as well as in a post by David Hart on the UK Human Rights Blog. This post is concerned only with one aspect of the decision, and with some very interesting dicta concerning not only the relationship between UK and EU law, but the nature of the UK’s constitutional order itself.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

R (on the application of HS2 Action Alliance Limited) (Appellant) v The Secretary of State for Transport and another (Respondents); R (on the application of Heathrow Hub Limited and another) (Appellants) v The Secretary of State for Transport and another (Respondents); R (on the application of Buckinghamshire County Council and others) (Appellants) v The Secretary of State for Transport (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Posted January 23rd, 2014 in appeals, bills, consultations, EC law, environmental protection, law reports, local government, railways, Supreme Court by sally

R (on the application of HS2 Action Alliance Limited) (Appellant) v The Secretary of State for Transport and another (Respondents) UKSC 2013/0172; R (on the application of Heathrow Hub Limited and another) (Appellants) v The Secretary of State for Transport and another (Respondents) UKSC 2013/0173; R (on the application of Buckinghamshire County Council and others) (Appellants) v The Secretary of State for Transport (Respondent) UKSC 2013/0187

Supreme Court, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Marital coercion defence ‘to be scrapped’ – BBC News

Posted January 23rd, 2014 in bills, defences, harassment, married persons, news by sally

‘The historical defence of marital coercion is to be abolished in England and Wales, the government has said.’

Full story

BBC News, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Thank the Lords! – Sovereign Chambers

Posted January 22nd, 2014 in ASBOs, bills, injunctions, news, nuisance, parliament by sally

‘If last Wednesday’s vote in the House of Lords was not a reminder as to why we need a second house to protect us then nothing will be. Many members of the public will not realise just how close this country came to fundamentally damaging the democratic society we live in and abandoning the principle of free speech, whilst simultaneously providing an unwieldy weapon against practically anybody for doing pretty much anything that another person does not like.’

Full story

Sovereign Chambers, 15th January 2014

Source: www.sovereignchambers.co.uk

Supreme Court rejects HS2 legal bid – BBC News

Posted January 22nd, 2014 in bills, consultations, EC law, environmental protection, news, railways by sally

‘The Supreme Court has rejected a legal bid by objectors of the HS2 national high-speed rail link to force further scrutiny of the government’s plans.’

Full story

BBC News, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk