“The courts will rely on their depleted ranks of senior managers to remain open during industrial action, when Ministry of Justice members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) strike on 30 June in protest at proposed changes to public sector pensions and job cuts.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd June 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The High Court has rejected legal challenges to the closures of Sittingbourne and Barry magistrates’ courts.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 20th June 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Legal challenges launched to save magistrates courts from closure following a decision last year by the lord chancellor have been rejected by the high court.”
The Guardian, 16th June 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Resignations from the magistracy have increased by 18% since the announcement of court closures, according to government figures.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 15th June 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales, Keir Starmer, has backed calls for some court proceedings to be televised.”
BBC News, 12th June 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The fate of a Victorian magistrates building serving a deprived part of Kent has emerged as a test case for opposition to government plans to close nearly 150 courts across the country.”
The Guardian, 25th May 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Judges are to be consulted about how cameras could be allowed into courtrooms to televise trials, the Ministry of Justice has revealed. Confirmation that officials have put the issue back on the political agenda comes as the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, calls for greater openness and transparency in the justice system.”
The Guardian, 11th May 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The High Court is set to hear the first of four legal challenges to magistrates’ courts closures, the Gazette has learned.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 14th April 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The European Union’s two highest courts are facing a ‘crisis’ in managing their existing and ever increasing workloads, according to House of Lords report published yesterday.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 7th April 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The first major overhaul of the civil justice system in 15 years and reform of controversial ‘no win no fee’ deals were announced by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke today.”
Ministry of Justice, 29th March 2011
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“Fears that a damaging compensation culture and an unwieldy justice system is costing businesses millions of pounds and deterring deserving individuals from using the justice system are to be tackled under plans announced today.”
Ministry of Justice, 29th March 2011
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“The visual vocabulary of courts – rooted in Babylonian, Egyptian, Classical, and Renaissance iconography – provides a transnational symbol of government, and courts have become obligatory facets of good governance. Consider the image of two women: one with scales, sword and blindfold; the other, Prudence, regarding herself in a mirror. Justice was once regularly shown with Prudence as well as Fortitude and Temperance, the four cardinal virtues. We know this imagery of justice because we have been taught it. Rulers regularly link themselves to the virtue Justice as they seek legitimacy for the laws that they make and enforce.”
The Guardian, 24th March 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Related link: Representing justice
Proceedings brought by Peñarroja Fa (Joined Cases C-372/09 and C-373/09); [2011] WLR (D) 98
“A duty entrusted by a court, in relation to specific matters within the context of a dispute before it, to a professional who had been appointed as a court expert translator constituted the provision of services for the purposes of article 50EC of the EC Treaty (now article 57FEU of the FEU Treaty)). The activities of court experts in the field of translation did not constitute activities which were connected with the ‘exercise of official authority’ for the purposes of the first paragraph of article 45EC of the EC Treaty (now article 51FEU of the FEU Treaty). Article 49 EC (now Article 56 TFEU) precluded (a) national legislation under which (i) enrolment in a register of court expert translators was subject to conditions concerning qualifications but (ii) the interested parties could not obtain knowledge of the reasons for the decision taken and that decision was not open to effective judicial scrutiny enabling its legality to be reviewed, inter alia, with regard to its compliance with the requirement under European Union law that the qualifications obtained and recognised in other member states had to have been properly taken into account; and (b) a requirement that no person might be enrolled in a national register of court experts as a translator unless he could prove that he had been enrolled for three consecutive years in a register of court experts maintained by a particular national court, where such a requirement was found to prevent the qualification obtained by a person and recognised in that another member state from being duly taken into account for the purposes of determining whether that qualification might attest to skills equivalent to those normally expected of a person who had been enrolled for three consecutive years in a register of court experts maintained by the member state in which the expert was seeking enrolment. The duties of court expert translators, as discharged by experts enrolled in a national register were not covered by the definition of ‘regulated profession’ set out in article 3(1)(a) of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/36/EC of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (OJ 2005 L 255, p 22).”
WLR Daily, 17th March 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The top civil judge in England and Wales has suggested televising hearings to increase confidence in justice.”
BBC News, 17th March 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said that the planned creation of a pan-European Patent Court would break EU law. The European Commission has said that the ECJ opinion will not affect a second EU patent plan.”
OUT-LAW.com, 9th March 2011
Source: www.out-law.com
“City litigators have questioned Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s calls to reform the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the wake of its ruling that serving prisoners should be given the right to vote.”
Legal Week, 22nd February 2011
Source: www.legalweek.com
“Britain would be acting ‘tyranically’ and in breach of the rule of law if it defied rulings from the European court of human rights, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, has said.”
The Guardian, 10th February 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Bringing Rights Back Home is the latest policy document to address the tension between judges and politicians over public policy with human rights implications.”
The Guardian, 9th February 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Guidance follows district judge’s decision to allow tweeting of bail hearing for Julian Assange earlier this month.”
The Guardian, 20th December 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Closing 93 magistrates’ courts could have a ‘serious impact’ on access to justice, it has been claimed, amid a growing row over the plans.”
BBC News, 16th December 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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