Pregnant offenders in England and Wales could be spared jail under new guidelines – The Guardian

‘Pregnant women should not be sent to jail unless it is “unavoidable”, according to new sentencing guidelines.’

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The Guardian, 5th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

Stamp duty: What is it, how much is it and how is it changing? – BBC News

Posted March 6th, 2025 in housing, mortgages, news, stamp duty, taxation by sally

‘Home buyers in England and Northern Ireland will pay more stamp duty after 1 April, when two key thresholds are reduced.’

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BBC News, 6th March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Terence Daintith: Attacking the Attorney General: Some constitutional and administrative context – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted March 6th, 2025 in attorney general, constitutional law, government departments, news by sally

‘Identifying the rules and practices that should properly be regarded as part of our flexible and uncodified constitution is nowhere more difficult than in relation to the internal workings of the executive. At one time this difficulty was normally attributed to a culture of secrecy within government that kept information about its internal organisation out of the public domain. But as Alan Page and I document in our forthcoming Executive Self-Government and the Constitution (OUP, expected April 2025), which shows how constitutionally significant rules and practices within the executive have evolved over the course of this century, a far greater volume of material about such rules and practices is now published – a response, one might surmise, not so much to the formal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act as to the informal pressures and expectations fuelled by the internet, social media and the 24-hour news cycle.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 6th March 2025

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

High Court judge gives permission to bring legal challenge against Welsh council over Article 4 direction on holiday homes – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 6th, 2025 in housing, judicial review, local government, news, planning, Wales by sally

‘A local objector to Gwynedd Council’s policy on planning for holiday homes has won the right to take the authority to judicial review after a judge said he was “just persuaded” this was the right course.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th March 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MJF: a re-emphasis on statements of case and evidential rigour – 1 QMLR

‘The Claimant, MJF, alleged that her surgery had been conducted negligently, causing a severe deterioration in her condition. The importance of the case to practitioners lies not in its determination on substantive law, but in the Judge’s observations on (i) statements of case; (ii) witness statements and witness evidence; and (iii) expert evidence.’

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1 QMLR, 6th March 2025

Source: 1corqmlr.com

Ministers criticise ‘two-tier’ sentencing changes in England and Wales – The Guardian

‘Ministers have criticised plans to make the ethnic background of offenders a greater factor in determining whether to jail them, saying they amounted to a “two-tier system” of justice.’

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The Guardian, 6th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

No assumption of responsibility after release from police custody: Dobson v Leicestershire Police – 12 KBW

‘In the tragic case of Dobson v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police [2025] EWHC 272 (KB), HHJ Bird examined whether the police had assumed responsibility for the wellbeing of a person released from custody. The court held that there was no assumption of responsibility, and the claim failed. Alexander Cornelius, pupil barrister at 12KBW, analyses the reasoning and parties’ choice of expert evidence.’

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12 KBW, 5th March 2025

Source: pilawblog.com

Mind the Empathy Gap: An Analysis of Agency and Emotional Encounters in the Asylum Appeals of Former Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors – Mental Capacity Law and Policy

Posted March 6th, 2025 in appeals, asylum, children, immigration, news, young persons by sally

‘The role of emotion in asylum processes is one that has gained attention in recent years. This article situates itself as a response to this emerging body of literature by shedding new light on how emotions shaped the asylum appeals of a group of former unaccompanied minors in England through the application of the new concept of “empathy gap.” Five socio-legal themes are used to structure the analysis: (i) age disputes, (ii) credibility, (iii) affective ties, (iv) right to voice, and (v) precarious legal status. It is the first article to explore in depth what happens during the asylum appeals process for former unaccompanied minors in Britain and the first to consider how questions of emotion affect their lived experiences of, and the process of, legal proceedings. The article has wider implications for how social processes and relations and informal processes, in particular emotions, influence formal legal proceedings leading to potential for unfair outcomes. The article finds that, to avoid empathy-enhanced reasoning becoming yet another variable leading to inconsistency in the judicial process, systematic training and monitoring are required. These findings carry implications far beyond the immediate context of UK asylum tribunals by offering empirically informed insights for theory and practice regarding the role of emotion in judicial proceedings, and therefore have enduring relevance.’

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EIN Blog, 5th March 2025

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Insolvency Appeals from this Winter period: a cold start but some good news for judgment creditors – 3 Paper Buildings

Posted March 6th, 2025 in appeals, bankruptcy, chambers articles, insolvency, news, Supreme Court by tracey

‘Rebecca Farrell, specialist commercial and insolvency barrister at 3PB, has written an article exploring three recent Insolvency Appeals and their potential impact.’

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3 Paper Buildings, 28th February 2025

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Paddleboard firm owner admits manslaughter of four – BBC News

Posted March 6th, 2025 in accidents, guilty pleas, health & safety, homicide, negligence, news by sally

‘A paddleboard tour company owner has admitted to gross negligence manslaughter after the deaths of four people.’

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BBC News, 5th March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

One in eight women killed by men are over 70, report reveals – The Guardian

Posted March 6th, 2025 in charities, domestic violence, elderly, families, homicide, murder, news, statistics, women by sally

‘One in eight women killed by men in the last 15 years were aged over 70, figures show, with a specialist charity reporting a growing number of older victims of domestic abuse seeking help.’

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The Guardian, 6th March 2025

Source: www.theguardian.com

The UK Government and defining “Islamophobia” – Law & Religion UK

‘The Government has established a new working group to produce a “working definition” of Anti-Muslim Hatred and Islamophobia. It will advise government on how best to understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims.’

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Law & Religion UK, 5th March 2025

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Gambling with Consent: Free, Specific, and Informed Consent in Data Protection Law – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 5th, 2025 in consent, damages, data protection, gambling, human rights, news, privacy by tracey

‘In RTM v Bonne Terre Ltd [2025] EWHC 111 (KB), the High Court considered claims brought in data protection and the tort of misuse of private information. The Claimant described himself as a “recovering online gambling addict” [1]. He sought damages for harm, distress and financial loss, and a declaration that his rights under data protection legislation had been infringed, from the Defendant, who operate Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG). The relevant period of the Claimant’s gambling for the claim against SBG (restricted by limitation periods) was 2017 until the end of 2018 or the start of 2019 [15]. The Claimant’s case was that SBG harvested his data using cookies without his consent. SBG the processed his personal data for marketing purposes without lawful basis, and targeted him through direct marketing emails (also without his consent) sent on average twice a day [68]. Consequently, he alleged he suffered substantial losses. Despite the claim having started in an almost inquisitorial fashion, with the Claimant undertaking a broad investigation into gambling laws when recovering from his addiction, the narrow issue at trial was “what, if anything, [the Claimant] consented to in the marketing part of the operation” [77].’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 5th March 2025

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Comprehensive new guidance on imposing community and custodial sentences – Sentencing Council

Posted March 5th, 2025 in codes of practice, community service, imprisonment, news, sentencing by tracey

‘The Council has published a significantly revised version of the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline.’

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Sentencing Council, 5th March 2025

Source: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Disclosure and Barring Service entitled to come to different conclusion than Teachers Regulation Agency, Court of Appeal rules – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a former teacher’s appeal against a finding by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) that he had developed an “inappropriate relationship” with a pupil – and therefore would be precluded from being a teacher – despite a separate TRA disciplinary panel finding he was not guilty of professional misconduct.’

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Local Government Lawyer , 4th March 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Upper Tribunal judge allows appeal by mother in EHCP case over pagination issues, criticises First Tier Tribunal for “putting off” issues for later – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 5th, 2025 in appeals, children, families, local government, news, tribunals by tracey

‘The Upper Tribunal has allowed a mother’s appeal concerning the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans of her two children, after finding a “procedural irregularity” in respect of pagination issues in the court bundle.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th March 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government publishes commonhold White Paper – Law Commission

Posted March 4th, 2025 in government departments, housing, Law Commission, leases, news by tracey

‘The Government has today taken forward recommendations by the Law Commission in its Commonhold White Paper.’

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Law Commission, 3rd March 2025

Source: lawcom.gov.uk

‘Badly amiss’: Judge blasts £100k case wrongly issued in London – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Something had gone “badly amiss” for a six-figure claim over an accident in Wales to be litigated in London’s Royal Courts of Justice, a judge has said.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 4th March 2025

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Phone and travel limits imposed on jailed pilot – BBC News

‘Restrictions on phone use and travel have been imposed on a pilot jailed for helping to smuggle four Albanian migrants into the UK.’

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BBC News, 3rd March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Murderer worked in schools after being barred – BBC News

Posted March 4th, 2025 in charities, children, criminal records, employment, murder, news, school children by tracey

‘A convicted murderer spent almost two years working with children after he was barred from doing so, the BBC has learned.’

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BBC News, 4th March 2025

Source: www.bbc.co.uk