Will-writers face jail as new code of practice scheme goes live – Legal Futures

Posted June 18th, 2013 in codes of practice, consumer protection, drafting, news, wills by sally

“Members of the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) who fail to comply with its code of practice face fines or even imprisonment, as a new UK-wide scheme to strengthen self-regulation by setting standards for such codes goes live.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th June 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New CCTV Code of Practice: surveillance and the protection of freedoms – Panopticon

“Surveillance of the covert and digital variety has been dominating the news of late. The legal contours of the practices leaked by Edward Snowden (the NSA’s obtaining of internet metadata) and covered by The Guardian (most recently, GCHQ’s monitoring of certain communications of ‘friendly’ foreign allies) may be matters of some debate.”

Full story

Panopticon, 17th June 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Consumer codes scheme aims to improve customer confidence – The Guardian

Posted June 18th, 2013 in codes of practice, consumer protection, news by sally

“Rogue traders who break the law by ripping off customers with sub-standard work and shoddy services face unlimited fines and even imprisonment under a UK-wide scheme to improve industry self-regulation.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ofcom resolves BBC boat race swearing case – BBC News

Posted June 18th, 2013 in BBC, codes of practice, complaints, news, obscenity by sally

“Ofcom has resolved a complaints case against the BBC over offensive language broadcast live during the 2013 Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race.”

Full story

BBC News, 17th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BBC breached code after airing ‘offensive’ word on Today programme – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 18th, 2013 in BBC, codes of practice, complaints, news, obscenity by sally

“BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme breached the broadcasting code when it aired an offensive word describing people with learning difficulties, watchdog Ofcom has ruled.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 17th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jack Simson Caird: A Proposal for a Code of Legislative Standards? – UK Constitutional Law Group

“On the 20 of May the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (the PCR) published its report on legislative scrutiny standards titled ‘Ensuring standards in the quality of legislation’. The Report contains two eye catching and ambitious proposals for parliamentary reform: the creation of a joint committee on legislative standards and the adoption of a code of legislative standards. This blog is about the second of these proposals. The proposal is a significant one, and if implemented it would dramatically improve the information available to parliamentarians in their scrutiny of government bills. The PCR’s code is in effect a series of questions and demands for information relating to the content and to the timetable of a bill, that the government would answer within the explanatory notes to a bill. In this blog post, I draw attention to the code proposed by the PRC and I offer a critique of their approach, and in particular of the decision not to include substantive legislative standards.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 14th June 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Social media advertisers responsible for user generated content they ‘positively invite’, says CAP – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 17th, 2013 in advertising, codes of practice, consumer protection, internet, news by sally

“Advertisers that encourage users of social media to respond to promotional questions they pose are responsible for ensuring that the content those users submit complies with UK advertising rules, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 14th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Advertising industry takes steps to address concerns about online copyright infringement – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 13th, 2013 in advertising, codes of practice, copyright, internet, news by sally

“The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK is working on a new set of principles to govern advertising in a scheme that will take account of concerns about online copyright infringement.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 13th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

CPS publishes guidelines on prosecutors’ approach to Child Sexual Abuse cases – Crown Prosecution Service

“Ground breaking new guidelines for prosecutors on how to tackle cases involving child sexual abuse have today been issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions and will take immediate effect. At the same time, the College of Policing has issued guidance for investigators and both documents are now open to a three month public consultation.”

Full story

Crown Prosecution Service, 11th June 2013

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Acas revises its draft Code of Practice on extended confidential settlement agreements – OUT-LAW.com

“The rules governing when and how an employer will be able to use a confidential
pre-termination settlement agreement to bring an employee contract to an end are
more complicated than they first appear, an expert has said.”

Full story

OUT-law.com, 11th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Surveillance camera code of conduct comes into force – Home Office

“New guidance in place over police and local authority use of CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition.”

Full press release

Home Office, 4th June 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Bar Council faces probe over cab rank ‘interference’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 7th, 2013 in barristers, codes of practice, Legal Services Board, news by tracey

“The Legal Services Board is to formally investigate whether the Bar Council breached rules to interfere in a controversial decision affecting the cab rank rule.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 5th June 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

HMRC consults on strengthening big banks’ tax Code of Practice – OUT-LAW.com

“Plans to strengthen the Code of Practice on tax governance, adopted by the 15 largest banks in 2010, have been published for consultation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 5th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Failure to comply with the ACAS Code – Employment Law Blog

“Section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, inserted by the Employment Act 2008, is concerned with the effect of failure to comply with the ACAS Code. In Lund v St Edmund’s School the EAT, presided over by Keith J, has held that, when considering whether ‘it is just and equitable in all the circumstances’, pursuant to Section 207A, to make an uplift to a compensatory award for an employer’s failure to follow the Code, an Employment Tribunal should not take into account the fact the employee had contributed to his dismissal.”

Full story

Employment Law Blog, 14th May 2013

Source: www.employment11kbw.com

Victim Support criticises code changes – BBC News

Posted May 10th, 2013 in codes of practice, consultations, news, victims by sally

“Up to 700,000 victims of crime could find it harder to get help because of plans to change the Code for Victims in England and Wales, Victim Support says.”

Full story

BBC News, 10th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Regulation at home, but not abroad – Gresham College Lecture

“In December 2012 Sir Geoffrey Nice finished four years as Vice Chair of the Bar Standards Board, the body that regulates barristers. After forty years in practice as a barrister, that included seven years working as an employed barrister in the UN, he will describe the differences between practice in a regulated legal community and practice in the UN system that operates with little effective regulation apart from what national systems impose on individual prosecution and defence lawyers. He will also review what he learnt as a regulator from looking critically at the Bar of England and Wales. The Bar of England and Wales and the country’s legal system as a whole proudly assert that they are the best in the world.  Are these claims justified?  If so, why was legislation thought to be necessary to regulate them more closely, and was that legislation wise?”

Transcript

Lecture by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC

Gresham College, 8th May 2013

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and another (Coram Children’s Legal Centre and another intervening) – WLR Daily

Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and another (Coram Children’s Legal Centre and another intervening): [2013] EWHC 982 (Admin);   [2013] WLR (D)  157

“It was contrary to article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and consequently unlawful, for the Secretary of State for the Home Department to direct, as she had done through Code C of the Code of Practice under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE Code C’), that 17-year-olds might be treated as adults when in police detention.”

WLR Daily, 25th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Deferred prosecution agreements for England and Wales “on track for 2014” as legislation approved – OUT-LAW.com

“US-style ‘plea bargains’ will be introduced in England and Wales from 2014, following Parliamentary approval of the relevant laws.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 – legislation.gov.uk

Posted April 26th, 2013 in arbitration, codes of practice, dispute resolution, legislation by tracey

Full text of Act

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Improving the code of practice for victims of crime – Ministry of Justice

“This consultation sets out the government’s plans to reform the victims’ code to give victims clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and to better tailor service to individual need. It is aimed at all criminal justice agencies, victims of crime and businesses.”

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 18th April 2013

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