All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 45
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MPs slam Cameron’s shared parenting plan
The chair of the commons Justice Select Committee has written to the prime minister expressing ‘great concern’ over plans to change the Children Act to promote shared parenting. In a robust letter Sir Alan Beith sets out the cross-party committee’s opposition to the government’s proposal ...
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Turn to arbitration and slash costs, town halls told
Local authorities could save 95% of the typical cost of taking cases to court by turning to specialist arbitration, according to a not-for-profit organisation providing such services. The London-based Centre for Justice said public bodies are losing up to 10% of their budgets annually in ...
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MPs to probe interpreter deal
A high-profile parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into the controversial deal between the Ministry of Justice and the private company contracted to provide court interpreters. The Justice Select Committee today launched a call for written evidence to examine the service provided by Applied Language Solutions ...
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Clarke presses on with judges’ pension cut
The lord chancellor has confirmed government plans to cut judges’ pensions to bring them in line with other public sector workers. In a written ministerial statement yesterday Kenneth Clarke said that the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne had confirmed to the House that the government ...
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Children in custody at five-year low
The number of children in custody has hit a record low five years after the start of a programme designed to limit the use of prison, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice today.
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‘Swift’ justice to become ‘norm’ in criminal cases
Dealing with criminal cases in 'hours and days' could become 'the norm' under government plans announced today. Policing and criminal justice minister Nick Herbert published a white paper detailing proposals designed to speed up cases in the criminal justice system. Extended court sittings, increased use of ...
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Court pioneer retains funding despite 'failure'
England’s first ‘community’ court has failed to cut reoffending rates, a Ministry of Justice report has revealed - but it will continue to receive funding for the next two years. The report on North Liverpool Community Justice Centre (NLCJC), which opened in September 2005, combining courts ...
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Neuberger gets top job at Supreme Court
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury will become the second president of the Supreme Court, Downing Street announced today. Currently master of the rolls, Neuberger will succeed Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who steps down from his post as the UK’s most senior judge on 30 September. ...
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Olympics cases to be fast-tracked
Measures to speed up criminal cases with night and weekend courts will be outlined in a white paper due to be published tomorrow by the Ministry of Justice. The changes build on measures adopted to cope with the high number of people arrested during last ...
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Final consultation launched on advocacy accreditation
A fourth - and ‘final’ - consultation on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) published today contains a number of ‘significant’ changes that solicitors’ representative groups have welcomed.
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LSC improvements fail to satisfy auditor
The National Audit Office has qualified the Legal Services Commission’s accounts for the fourth year running due to overpayments made to providers. The LSC’s annual report, published today, revealed a substantial drop in expenditure in 2011-12, in large part reflecting the fact it funded almost a ...
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Cuts opponents fuelled by self-interest, says Clarke
The lord chancellor has accepted that not enough progress has been made to increase judicial diversity - and labelled the profession’s lobbying over the legal cuts ‘predictable’ and not client-centred. Talking to Justice director Roger Smith last night in an event hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, ...
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Bar-solicitor divisions ‘music to government’s ears’
Two leading criminal lawyers have called for solicitors and barristers to stop arguing among themselves and unite, to promote their clients' interests and the justice system. President of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association Jim Meyer said both branches of the profession are struggling due to ...
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Company markets 'first criminal legal insurance policy'
A criminal barrister has formed a company to market what he says is the UK’s first criminal legal insurance policy. For an annual premium of £29.99, the policy provides up to £20,000 worth of cover for a defendant’s means-tested Crown court legal aid contribution or their privately funded legal fees.
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Bar conviction disclosure rule ‘misguided’
The Law Society and Bar Council have strongly opposed proposals to impose a duty on barristers to disclose clients’ previous convictions. Chancery Lane described as ‘misguided’ a Bar Standards Board suggestion that a barrister should advise a client that they must cease to act if the ...
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Society plans accreditation scheme for will-writing
The Law Society is to launch a will-writing and probate accreditation scheme along the lines of its Conveyancing Quality Scheme, it emerged last week in a speech by the chief executive. The speech also contained calls for solicitors to exploit the potential of will banks ...
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Wills and probate company goes ABS
Birmingham wills and probate company Northwood Banks & Co has become the second company licensed as an alternative business structure (ABS) by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). The firm, which since 1987 has provided will writing and probate services, has now been licensed to ...
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Merger mania continues as 22% of firms report tie-ups
Merger activity has remained strong among small and medium-sized firms, with nearly a quarter completing a merger in the past six months, research has revealed. The fifth in a series of six-monthly surveys of 50 law firms has shown that 22% had completed a merger in ...
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High court slams means-test delays
The High Court has condemned the current system of means testing in magistrates’ court and called on the Ministry of Justice to take urgent action to cut ‘unacceptable’ delays. In a strongly worded judgment in relation to two European Arrest Warrant (EAW) cases, the president of ...
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Prisoners to be liable for victim surcharge
The government has outlined plans to fine all convicted criminals, including those jailed, to raise funds to help victims. It is already owed almost £600m in unpaid fines. The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, today announced plans to increase the amount paid by offenders to victims through ...