Sobriety tags launched in England to tackle alcohol-fuelled crime – Ministry of Justice

‘Sobriety tags and drinking bans aimed at reducing alcohol-fuelled crimes launch in England today (Wednesday 31 March), following a successful rollout in Wales.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 31st March 2021

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

Top QC: It’s bordering on Luddite to ignore direct access – Legal Futures

Posted March 11th, 2021 in barristers, legal services, news, Wales by sally

‘The former Consul General for Wales has struck out on his own as a sole practitioner and embraced direct access, saying it is “bordering on Luddite” for barristers to ignore it.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 11th March 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Skewen: Coal Authority ‘not liable’ for mine flood damage – BBC News

Posted February 25th, 2021 in compensation, news, Wales, water by sally

‘People flooded out of their homes after a mine blow-out say it is “disgusting” the Coal Authority is refusing to accept liability for the damage caused.’

Full Story

BBC News, 25th February 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Welsh watchdog criticises lack of action since home-school scurvy death – The Guardian

Posted February 25th, 2021 in children, education, health, news, Wales by sally

‘The Welsh government is failing in its legal duty to protect the rights of home-educated children a decade after a boy who was being taught by his parents slipped under the radar of education and health officials and died of scurvy, an official report has concluded.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 25th February 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Pensioner cleared of murdering wife during first lockdown in Wales – The Guardian

Posted February 16th, 2021 in coronavirus, domestic violence, guilty pleas, mental health, murder, news, Wales by sally

‘A man who killed his wife five days into the first lockdown last year in Wales has been cleared of her murder.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 15th February 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Death of Cardiff man after night in police custody ‘deeply concerning’ – The Guardian

Posted January 14th, 2021 in complaints, death in custody, news, police, Wales by tracey

‘The Welsh first minister has described the sudden and unexplained death of a 24-year-old man from Cardiff hours after his release from custody as “deeply concerning”.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 12th January 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Divisional Court hands down ruling on requirements for charges under s. 179 TCPA – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 7th, 2021 in drafting, enforcement notices, informations, local government, news, planning, Wales by tracey

‘A Welsh council has won an appeal to the Divisional Court over a ruling that informations it laid under s.179 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 were defective.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 6th January 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Deprivation of liberty: Unlawful placements of children – Transparency Project

‘Can an English family court order the unlawful detention of a Welsh child?’

Full Story

Transparency Project, 22nd November 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018: An update – 3PB

Posted November 10th, 2020 in education, legislation, news, special educational needs, tribunals, Wales by sally

‘Two key events have taken place in the last week in relation to The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”): the publication of a commencement order and the publication of the Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (Wales) Regulations. This article considers both documents, concluding that, based on the limited information available they do not help clarify the confusion amongst practitioners as to the details of the forthcoming special needs regime in Welsh schools.’

Full Story

3PB, 4th November 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Keith Bush and Huw Pritchard: Implications of the Independent Review of Administrative Law for Devolved Government in Wales – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The devolution of legislative and executive powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has now been a feature of the UK constitution for over 20 years. The three devolution settlements establish patterns of governance for the devolved territories which involve a delicate balance between the proper spheres of activity of devolved and UK institutions. Any major reform affecting the powers of one level of government inevitably impacts on the other. As the history of the implementation of the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU has demonstrated, failure to consider, from the outset, the impact on devolved government of proposed measures, on the misconceived grounds that those measures only strictly relate to matters reserved to the UK level of government, inevitably leads to unpredicted consequences, legislative complexity and an enhanced level of political controversy.’

Full Story

UK Constitutional Law Association, 22nd October 2020

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Inquiry into failings at south Wales maternity units grows to 160 cases – The Guardian

Posted September 29th, 2020 in birth, complaints, hospitals, news, Wales by sally

‘An independent panel investigating two maternity units in south Wales where a series of failings may have put the lives of mothers and babies at risk is looking into the care given to 150 women, it emerged on Monday.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 28th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Care home business in South Wales fined £432k for fire safety failings – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 15th, 2020 in fines, fire, health & safety, news, Wales by tracey

‘A residential care home business in Cardiff has been fined more than £430,000 for serious fire safety failings, following a prosecution brought by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 14th September 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Ensuring the lawfulness of automated facial recognition surveillance in the UK – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘In R(Bridges) v South Wales Police, the England and Wales Court of Appeal reviewed the lawfulness of the use of live automated facial recognition technology (‘AFR’) by the South Wales Police Force. CCTV camera­­s capture images of the public, which are then compared with digital images of persons on a watchlist.’

Full Story

Oxford Human Rights Hub, 3rd September 2020

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Facial Recognition Technology not “In Accordance with Law” – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Court of Appeal, overturning a Divisional Court decision, has found the use of a facial recognition surveillance tool used by South Wales Police to be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case was brought by Liberty on behalf of privacy and civil liberties campaigner Ed Bridges. The appeal was upheld on the basis that the interference with Article 8 of the ECHR, which guarantees a right to privacy and family life, was not “in accordance with law” due to an insufficient legal framework. However, the court found that, had it been in accordance with law, the interference caused by the use of facial recognition technology would not have been disproportionate to the goal of preventing crime. The court also found that Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was deficient, and that the South Wales Police (SWP), who operated the technology, had not fulfilled their Public Sector Equality Duty.’

Full Story

UK Human Rights Blog, 13th August 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Police’s Automated Facial Recognition Deployments Ruled Unlawful by the Court of Appeal – Doughty Street Chambers

‘R. (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 [2020] 8 WLUK 64 is thought to be the first case in the world to consider the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies. In this short article, we explore the judgment and its implications for the deployment of these and similar technologies in future.’

Full Story

Doughty Street Chambers, 12th August 2020

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Let’s face it: use of automated facial recognition technology by the police – UK Police Law Blog

‘The case of R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police & Information Commissioner [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 (handed down on 11 August 2020) was an appeal from what is said to have been the first claim brought before a court anywhere on planet earth concerning the use by police of automated facial recognition (“AFR”) technology. There could be nothing wrong with posting scores of police officers with eidetic memories to look out for up to a 800 wanted persons at public gatherings. So why not use a powerful computer, capable of matching 50 faces a second with a database of (under) 800 suspects, to do this job much more cheaply and instantaneously, flagging any matches to a human operator for final assessment? According to the Court of Appeal in Bridges, this system constitutes an interference with Article 8 rights which is not such as is in accordance with the law, but which (critically) would be proportionate if a sufficiently narrow local policy were framed.’

Full Story

UK Police Law Blog, 11th August 2020

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

South Wales police lose landmark facial recognition case – The Guardian

‘Campaigners are calling for South Wales police and other forces to stop using facial recognition technology after the court of appeal ruled that its use breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 11th August 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Coronavirus: ‘Institutional racism left minorities exposed’ – BBC News

Posted August 3rd, 2020 in coronavirus, employment, equality, health, inquiries, news, race discrimination, racism, Wales by sally

‘Institutional racism may have contributed to the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minorities in Wales, a top judge has claimed.’

Full Story

BBC News, 3rd August 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Pontypridd: £37m school shake-up scrapped by judicial review – BBC News

Posted July 31st, 2020 in education, judicial review, news, school children, Wales by sally

‘A £37m schools reorganisation in the south Wales valleys has been quashed after a judicial review.’

Full Story

BBC News, 30th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Appeal upholds “unparalleled” Housing (Wales) Act 2014 eviction rules – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 10th, 2020 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, licensing, news, notification, repossession, Wales by sally

‘Welsh law means that a landlord who is unlicensed cannot lawfully serve an eviction notice on tenants, the Court of Appeal has found.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 9th July 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk