All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1571
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All power to GCHQ
Home Office plans to widen the powers of intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to access communications data without judicial scrutiny have provoked strong reactions. But what is the content of the new law and how does it compare to the current situation in respect of the exercise of regulatory ...
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Long con artist’s sinking feeling
It is 150 years since Lady Tichborne, who never accepted that her son Roger had died when his sailing ship sank somewhere between Jamaica and Rio de Janeiro in 1854, began a newspaper campaign to find her lost boy.
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Judges can and should be involved in pro bono
I have heard it said that judges cannot get involved in pro bono work. On the contrary, I can think of many and various ways in which judges might get involved. And, in fact, a good number are already doing so.
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Competition reform could boost collective litigation
Government proposals to reform competition law, making it easier to bring class actions against firms in breach, could ‘fuel’ claims and ‘create a new business in collective litigation’, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. A consultation published this week by the Department for Business, Innovation ...
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Brighton rock
What’s pink, can have an ‘adverse effect on activity and attention’ and has the Council of Europe running all the way through it? No, it’s not justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. It’s a stick of Brighton rock, compliments of the Ministry of Justice. The MoJ ordered 500 customised sticks of rock ...
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Chancery Lane slams ‘flawed’ BSB report
The Law Society has condemned as ‘flawed and self-serving’ a Bar Standards Board survey alleging a decline in the quality of advocacy. The report, Perceptions of Criminal Advocacy, found that a majority of barristers responding to an online survey blamed pressure on criminal legal aid ...
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SRA costs plan 'a burden' says Society
The Law Society has told regulators that solicitors should not be expected to pay for losses incurred by uninsured firms. The Solicitors Regulation Authority proposed last week that payments would be taken out of the Compensation Fund from later this year. The fund, paid for by ...
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Calls for a global legal profession are fanciful
There has been talk in recent years, at conferences or in committee discussions within international legal organisations, about the need for a global legal profession. Harvard Law School has been the latest to climb on the band-wagon with a mid-April conference on the subject.
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‘Raise cap’ on crime victims’ compensation
Personal injury lawyers have called on the government to raise the cap on compensation for victims of crime. A Ministry of Justice consultation, ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’, closed this week after three months. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers responded to the consultation ...
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CCRC criticisms were grossly unfair
by Richard Foster, chair of the CCRC The Gazette article about the Criminal Cases Review Commission was both biased and inaccurate.
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Ken and Co live it up
Highlighting free hospitality and schmoozing enjoyed by ministers is a cheap journalistic shot, which is why Obiter is happy to indulge. This month saw the latest quarterly list published by the Ministry of Justice of ministerial gifts, hospitality, overseas travel and meetings. Sadly, the figures go ...
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Difficult to comprehend
I have followed with interest and mounting concern the Gazette’s coverage of fears about the declining standards of interpretation in UK criminal courts, most recently ‘Interpreter mistake causes trial to collapse'.
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Court interpreter situation 'improving'
Large numbers of court hearings are still being hit by interpreter problems nearly three months after new contracting arrangements began - but the situation has improved, new figures indicate.
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MoJ: ‘up to solicitors’ to police damages
A Ministry of Justice official has said it will be up to solicitors to police a key aspect of the civil litigation reforms. Robert Wright, head of civil litigation and funding at the MoJ, admitted last week there is no way for the government to ensure ...
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PI lawyers rule out ‘deal or no deal’
Personal injury lawyers are refusing to play ‘deal or no deal games’ with the government over fixed fees for smaller cases. The government has written to all stakeholders asking them to suggest a limit for the value of claim that solicitors should be able to charge ...
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Strasbourg reform ‘watered down’
The coalition’s blueprint for the reform of Europe’s human rights court in Strasbourg achieved only limited changes after proposals to help clear the backlog of more than 150,000 cases were watered down or removed during negotiations.
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Outmoded example
I do not seek to comment on the broad issues raised by the author of the letter ‘Smelling a rat', but I do take strong issue with the facts set out in the two cases he cites in his argument. In each case he mentions that ...
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Exit wound
It seems the insurance industry can get into Downing Street no problem - but exits are a little more tricky. Nick Starling, director of the Association of British Insurers, must have been happy to have survived an hour in the presence of claimant lawyers. Indeed, ...