All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 61
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Unite campaign backs public service interpreting
Trade union Unite is to launch a campaign to support public service interpreting and ensure that properly trained translators are used by criminal justice agencies.
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Whitehall plans to scrap AJTC ‘perverse’
Government plans to scrap the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council are ‘misguided’ and ‘perverse’, the body’s chair has told the Ministry of Justice. Responding to the consultation proposing the abolition of the AJTC, Richard Thomas said the independent body, which reviews the administrative justice system and ...
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Labour targets Lib Dems on legal aid bill
Solicitors have welcomed opposition amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill tabled this week, but warned that debate on access to justice issues could be drowned out if MPs choose to focus on sentencing reform as a result of political priorities. ...
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Legal aid reform could be 'business deterrent'
The government’s legal aid reforms could undermine the reputation of the English legal system and deter people from doing business in the UK, the chairman-elect of the Bar Council has warned. Michael Todd QC (pictured) told the Gazette that the English legal system boasts exceptional judges ...
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Labour tables amendments to legal aid and costs reforms
Opponents to government strategy for civil litigation and legal aid reform have launched a multi-pronged ‘victim-centric’ attack on the proposals. Labour MPs have tabled a series of amendments to the coalition government’s planned changes under the umbrella of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders ...
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Solicitors voice concerns over reduction in LSC helpline hours
The reduced operating hours of the Legal Services Commission’s telephone helpline is hampering cases, the Gazette has been told. Lawyers from around the country have contacted the Gazette reporting that the LSC’s decision to cut the operation of its telephone helpline to four hours a day ...
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'Maturity' is key when sentencing young people
Courts should pay more attention to a young person’s ‘maturity’ and less to their age when making sentencing decisions, a report by two criminal justice groups has recommended. A research paper by the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance and the Criminal Justice Alliance has called on ...
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Will national franchises be the future for high street firms?
As law firms edge ever closer to the time when they will lose their monopoly on the provision of legal services, they are finally putting their heads above the parapet and revealing their survival strategies. Up to now many have been reluctant to show their hands, ...
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Rioters given tough sentences, MoJ figures show
The Ministry of Justice has today released statistics on the outcomes of suspects involved in the recent riots, showing that a much higher percentage of defendants were remanded in custody than usual. The figures show that 1,566 suspects have had initial hearings at magistrates’ courts. ...
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Expert witnesses elusive as pay falls
Reduced legal aid fees for expert witnesses are making it ‘almost impossible’ to find experts and in some cases leaving law firms out of pocket by thousands of pounds, a leading family lawyer has warned. Christina Blacklaws, Law Society Council member for child care, said the ...
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TV Edwards reveals two new mergers
London firm TV Edwards has announced mergers with two other London firms, further consolidating its position as one of the capital’s largest legal aid firms. Today the firm completes a merger with Hammersmith firm Mark & Co, which has a reputation for serious criminal law work. ...
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New criminal bar chair pledges to fight cuts
The new chairman of the Criminal Bar Association has warned that legal aid cuts could ‘cripple’ the criminal bar, and urged his colleagues to remain united in the face of the challenges that lie ahead. Max Hill QC (pictured), from London’s 18 Red Lion Court, gave ...
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Lawyers2you national franchise set for launch
A new solicitor-led national law firm franchise will launch next week, with ambitions to extend to continental Europe and the US, the Gazette can reveal. The Lawyers2you franchise has been set up by West Midlands firm Blakemores, spearheaded by its managing partner Guy Barnett (pictured). ...
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HMRC and mortgage lenders launch verification scheme
A new mortgage verification scheme to help combat mortgage fraud will be launched on 1 September. HM Revenue & Customs, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have worked together on the scheme, which was announced in the March 2010 budget. ...
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LSC transfers all Immigration Advisory Service cases
All cases on the books of the collapsed Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) have been transferred to alternative providers, the Legal Services Commission has said. The commission is also continuing the process of reallocating IAS’s unused new matter starts, carrying out a ‘mini tender’ in some ...
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News
Court clerk first to be prosecuted under Bribery Act
A London magistrates’ court employee has become the first person to be prosecuted under the new Bribery Act, the Crown Prosecution Service said today. Munir Yakub Patel, an administrative clerk at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court in Ilford, London, faces a charge under Section 2 of the 2010 ...
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Co-operative Legal Services' profits rise
The Co-operative Legal Services has seen its revenues increase by 22% and its profits rise by 3% during the first half of the year, the group’s interim financial results have revealed.
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LSB gives go ahead for barristers to manage ABSs
The Legal Services Board has approved the Bar Standards Board’s application for changes to the bar’s code of conduct to allow barristers to be managers or employees of alternative business structures. In April this year, the bar’s regulator took the decision that barristers should be permitted to work in the ...
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Non-trial advocates to be excluded from court work
Non-trial advocates will be excluded from higher court work by the quality assurance scheme for advocates (QASA), a leading solicitor advocate has warned. Following publication of a second consultation on the controversial accreditation scheme, president of the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates Jo Cooper said ...
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Barristers seek to extend public access rights
Public access barristers could be allowed to accept direct instructions from clients eligible for legal aid, under proposals being considered by the Bar Standards Board. Currently Rule 3(1) of the Public Access Rules prohibits barristers from accepting direct instructions from a lay client who may be eligible for public funding ...