Headlines – Page 1033
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Financial crime sentences to prioritise victims
Proposed new sentencing guidelines for financial crimes published last week encompass bribery and money laundering for the first time, while setting out to prioritise the impact of crime on the victim. The guidelines, which will replace existing guidance published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council in 2009, also cover the sentencing ...
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Birmingham Law Centre closes as cash runs out
Britain’s second city is without a law centre following the closure of Birmingham Law Centre last week. Cashflow problems and the anticipated fall in legal aid funding led the trustees to shut down the service, which is descended from bodies that have offered free legal advice for nearly a century. ...
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Delay in switch of CMC complaints
The government is almost certain to miss its target for transferring complaints about claims management companies (CMCs) to the Legal Ombudsman. The Ministry of Justice cannot yet say when the plans – unveiled last August – will come to fruition. The move was scheduled to be completed this year, but ...
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Law Commission looks at extending hate crime law
The Law Commission is consulting on extending the law on hate crimes to cover sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. Commissioner leading the project, Professor David Ormerod QC, said: ‘We will look at options for reform that would recognise that the criminal law should protect people who are targeted because ...
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Tory maverick Davis blasts 'Soviet' PCT
Pressure on the government to amend its criminal legal aid reforms mounted last week as MPs debated the changes in parliament. Signs of a cabinet split had already emerged after deputy prime minister Nick Clegg voiced concern about the removal of client choice and attorney general ...
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Merged firms promise to retain high street presence
Birmingham firm DBS Law – which last month advertised for potential acquisition targets – has announced the first fruits of its merger campaign. The firm revealed today that it has merged with neighbouring firm Hearne & Co, saying it is determined to challenge current market ...
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I have seen the future and it didn't work
In autumn 2005, on a visit to the Home Office’s shiny new headquarters near Millbank, I enjoyed a demonstration of an all-singing, all-dancing joined-up criminal justice IT system. The ‘walk through’ was to show off a £2bn programme to join up police forces, prosecutors, the courts and prison and probation ...
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Property tribunals combine in new first-tier chamber
A new consolidated property tribunal came into existence today with a single set of procedural rules aimed at simplifying the process. The First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber – which combines the Residential Property and Agricultural Land Tribunals together with the adjudicator to HM Land Registry – ...
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Anger as MoJ accused of deleting legal aid consultation responses
The Ministry of Justice has claimed that an ‘email glitch’ is to blame for many barristers and solicitors receiving a message telling them that their response to the Transforming Legal Aid consultation has been ‘deleted unread’. The Gazette, together with the Law Society, Bar Council and other practitioner groups, have ...
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City lawyers join fight against legal aid cuts – finally
City law firms have joined the attack on the government’s legal aid cuts, warning that they ‘pose a potentially irreversible risk to the standards and reputation of English justice’. In a letter to the Law Society, the chairman of the City of London Law Society Alasdair Douglas criticised the ‘grossly ...
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MASS calls for blanket inducements ban
The group representing RTA claimant solicitors has said it is ‘disappointed’ that inducements for claims will not be banned. Last week the Solicitors Regulation Authority stated there was no reason to outlaw cash or gift enticements to potential claimants. The Motor Accident Solicitors Society today entered the debate and called ...
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Privilege fears over deferred prosecutions
The Crown Prosecution Service has used new draft guidelines on deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) to weaken the privileged status of legal advice, a leading City fraud and investigations lawyer has warned. Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Gentle told the Gazette: ‘The consultation on DPAs stated that the "Code of Practice ...
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Data mining: what happens next?
Although I try to vary the topic covered each week, to show the range of issues being dealt with at European or international level, I do not apologise this week for going back to a subject that I have covered recently: the fall-out from the data mining revelations by the ...
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Ban inducements to help genuine accident victims
Earlier this month the Transport Select Committee held the last hearing of its inquiry into whiplash. This followed the Ministry of Justice consultation covering similar ground and which proposed the raising of the small-claims limit for whiplash claims from £1,000 to £5,000. The pressure for reform ...
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Want to be a partner? Borrow against rising house prices
A loan provider is offering finance to solicitors aiming to become equity partners in law firms – in exchange for a stake in the rising value of their home. Castle Trust, which was set up with backing from private equity giant JC Flowers, says there is ...
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Bar gets into shape for ABSs
The Bar Standards Board is simplifying criteria for approving new business entities, ahead of an application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. Several compulsory rules are to be made discretionary to make the authorisation regime more ‘agile’. These currently oblige entities to have: ...
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Ministers find £160m for Wi-Fi transformation of justice
The government has pledged £160m to fulfil ambitious plans to make courtrooms fully digital by 2016, ending the criminal justice system’s ‘outdated’ reliance on paper. Justice minister Damian Green this morning outlined a plan Transforming the Criminal Justice System covering initiatives ranging from increased use of ...
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Sentencing guidelines will prioritise victims
Proposed new sentencing guidelines for financial crimes published today encompass bribery and money laundering for the first time, while setting out to prioritise the impact on the victim. The guidelines, which will replace existing guidance published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council in 2009, also cover ...
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News
Public less likely to trust lawyers
Declining public confidence in the professions continues to take its toll on lawyers, according to an annual survey commissioned by watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel. A YouGov survey of 1,702 adults found that 42% trust lawyers to tell the truth, down from 47% in 2011. ...
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New consultation on hate crime
The Law Commission has published a consultation on extending the law on hate crimes to cover sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 allows for aggravated offences, including assault and criminal damage, if race or religion have motivated or formed part ...