“On 21st March 2013 the House of Commons Justice Committee published a report (HC 962) on the functions, powers and resources of the Information Commissioner. It is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the current role and future prospects of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).”
Panopticon, 25th March 2013
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
“The Commission delivered its Report – A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – to the Government in December 2012. It is an odd document, dominated by the lack of agreement in the Commission as to the role that any human rights’ instrument in Britain should play. That was unsurprising since at the inception of the Commission the Coalition partners appeared to want it to play two different roles – defending or attacking the HRA. From the very outset the Commission and the idea of a Bill of Rights (BoR) was relied upon by Cameron and other senior Conservatives to allay anger in the Conservative party, and among some voters, directed at decisions made under the Human Rights Act. David Cameron announced the Commission’s inception in March 2011 at Prime Ministers’ Questions as a reaction to criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court that sex offenders should be able to challenge their inclusion on the Sex Offenders’ register. He indicated that a BoR would address the concerns expressed (17.3.11; see the Telegraph in relation to R and Thompson v SSHD). The idea that a BoR could right the wrongs of the HRA – would provide a panacea for the HRA’s ills – had apparently been embedded in the Conservative party psyche for some years: David Cameron in a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies in 2006 Balancing freedom and security – A modern British Bill of Rights said that the HRA should be repealed: ‘….The Human Rights Act has a damaging impact on our ability to protect our society against terrorism…. . I am today committing my Party to work towards the production of a Modern Bill of Rights’. In contrast, the 2010 Liberal Democrat election manifesto promised to ‘Ensure that everyone has the same protections under the law by protecting the Human Rights Act.'”
UK Constitution Law Group, 21st March 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionllaw.org
“Hundreds of whistleblowers are now free to come forward with damaging
disclosures about the NHS after their gagging orders were retrospectively
lifted, Sir David Nicholson has told MPs.”
Daily Telegraph, 18th March 2013
Soruce: www.telegraph.co.uk
“MPs are to investigate the extent to which claims for whiplash injuries are
pushing up the cost of car insurance.”
BBC News, 15th March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Children in care in England and Wales are being needlessly criminalised for ‘trivial incidents’, MPs have warned.”
BBC News, 14th March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Like most people who are commenting in the ether at the moment, I find disturbing one of the two principal threads of the story about undercover policing which are in the news: the forging by one or more undercover officers of sexual relationships with people in the protest groups they had infiltrated. Have a look at this report on the BBC website, for a flavour of the coverage it is receiving, and a call for tighter controls to prevent such activity in the future. And then look at the Home Affairs Select Committee interim report.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 11th March 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“MPs on the transport select committee are launching an inquiry into whiplash claims, chairman Louise Ellman revealed yesterday.”
Litigation Futures, 6th March 2013
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
“Abuses connected with undercover police activities show that an urgent review is
needed of laws covering such work in England and Wales, MPs have said.”
BBC News, 1st March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Failure to opt back in to EU criminal justice measures will hamper the UK’s ability to prosecute cross-border crime, making procedures ‘uncertain, cumbersome and fragmented’, the director of public prosecutions told peers today.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th February 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The government’s Justice and Security Bill has this week entered a new phase of debate in the House of Commons as it is considered in detail by a 19-member Public Bill Committee over the next month. The critics of this Bill – and there are many – argue that it will make ‘secret justice’ a standard part of our legal process. The latest set of amendments proposed by the government were revealed yesterday and within them lies a crucial and unjustifiable secrecy provision. The significance of the amendments becomes apparent when one looks at how the Bill has progressed so far.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 30th Janaury 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“A ‘damning’ report into library closures up and down the country has found that councils making plans to shut branches without taking proper account of local needs risk breaking the law.”
The Guardian, 6th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The home secretary, Theresa May, has been told by peers and MPs that her £1.8bn internet monitoring proposals will be a ‘honeypot for hackers and criminals around the world’ and that she must bring in prison sentences for those who hack databases.”
The Guardian, 31st October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Twitter has said that Government plans to increase the UK intelligence services’ communications surveillance capabilities could cause it to breach the privacy rights of individuals based elsewhere in the world.”
OUT-LAW.com, 14th September 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
“Should the Communications Data Bill become law, it will be an intervention too far from the surveillance state.”
The Observer, 9th September 2012
Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk
“Higher fines for firms that fail to co-operate with regulators and potential criminal sanctions for benchmark manipulation have been suggested by the Treasury Select Committee in a report responding to alleged manipulation of market rates by major banks.”
OUT-LAW.com, 21st August 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
“Public bodies should face higher fines for destroying or altering information that is ‘disclosable’ under freedom of information (FOI) laws, a committee of MPs has recommended.”
OUT-LAW.com, 26th July 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
“‘Confusing’ UK laws are spurring the trade in endangered species, a wildlife charity has said.”
BBC News, 12th July 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Families of missing people will be given greater support when a loved one goes missing with today’s announcement that the Government will introduce a certificate of presumed death – through legislation.”
Ministry of Justice, 6th July 2012
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“Pressure from former senior Labour figures, including Tony Blair and Jack Straw, as well as Whitehall mandarins, to ‘turn back the clock’ on freedom of information legislation has been decisively rejected by an all-party group of MPs.”
The Guardian, 8th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Publishers should develop new licensing models that would allow researchers to use computerised techniques to read information contained in journal articles at ‘realistic rates’, MPs have said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 28th June 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
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