Latest news – Page 679

  • News

    ‘Common sense’ test proposed for prosecutions

    2012-07-20T00:00:00Z

    Prosecution decisions would have to be tested for ‘proportionality’ under a proposed revised Code for Crown Prosecutors published by the director of public prosecutions yesterday. The revised, ‘more succinct’, code would supplement the existing public interest test with a question about whether the likely outcome ...

  • News

    Society ‘dismayed’ at AML penalty stance

    2012-07-20T00:00:00Z

    HM Treasury has decided to retain criminal penalties for breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and not to exempt even the smallest firms from the administrative burden of compliance. The decisions, published last week in the Treasury’s response to a consultation that began in 2009, have ...

  • News

    Deech hits back over bar tribunal ‘collapse’ claim

    2012-07-20T00:00:00Z

    The chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has defended the process for disciplining barristers following a claim that it is in a ‘state of collapse’ amid allegations of secrecy, maladministration and incompetence. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lady Deech said: ‘It is totally ...

  • News

    Borders agency slammed for under-performance

    2012-07-20T00:00:00Z

    Members of Parliament today criticised the UK Border Agency (UKBA) for failing to clear a 276,460 cases backlog - equivalent to the ‘entire population of Newcastle upon Tyne’. The backlog includes 150,000 individuals in the migration refusal pool and 3,900 foreign national prisoners who should have ...

  • News

    No one cares and we will pay

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    As a property specialist, our firm is likely to be the one to thwart property fraud. I had not realised how little anyone else cared until I tried to report a property crime today. Through a vigilant estate agent, we found out that someone is pretending to be our client, ...

  • News

    Over surcharged

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The Gazettedrew attention to the increase in the extent of the ‘victim surcharge’ which is soon to be imposed on those who receive custodial sentences. It is unclear how the government proposes to extract payment from the impecunious defendant who receives a prison sentence. If it ...

  • News

    Utter shambles

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Who is in charge of the asylum? The Legal Services Commission’s Jarrow office now routinely mislays correspondence or fails to deal with it for weeks on end. Telephone calls take over 20 minutes to be answered. Even a complaint sent by recorded delivery is not acted ...

  • News

    No costs savings

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Since 19 March we have been required to send all CPR Part 7 designated money only claims to the County Court Money Claims Centre at the Salford Business Centre. The goal is to reduce costs and processing time.

  • News

    Rise in NHS negligence claims expected

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Claims against the NHS are likely to rise this year as cases are pushed through ahead of funding reforms, according to the new head of the NHS Litigation Authority.

  • News

    No extra pay for ‘speedy’ justice

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors could end up working seven days a week without extra pay to cover anti-social hours under government plans to extend court sittings. Proposals to introduce early morning and evening sittings and Sunday courts were among measures set out last week in a white paper ...

  • News

    Turn to arbitration and slash costs, town halls told

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    ‘Frumpy legal profession’ in need of revolution

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The threats and challenges faced by lawyers can be blamed on the ‘egregious failure of a frumpy profession’ to reform itself in line with the rapidly changing legal landscape, a Canadian law professor told the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) Symposium in Manchester last week.

  • News

    Courtroom interpreter 'savings' evaporate

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The Ministry of Justice has admitted that £12m of savings predicted for the first year of controversial new arrangements for courtroom interpreting ‘will probably not be achieved’. The announcement, by justice minister Lord McNally, came as the ministry declined to reveal the cost of the ...

  • News

    Sixth annual bar placement scheme

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The Bar Council hosted its sixth annual bar placement scheme last week, in conjunction with the Social Mobility Foundation. The scheme encourages talented children to aim for the bar regardless of their social or economic background.

  • News

    Barclays’ Libor fixing ‘voided’ swaps deals

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Barclays’ manipulation of the London inter-bank offered rate (Libor) may have rendered tens of thousands of customer agreements that reference Libor ‘void’, according to a £12m claim against the bank. The case could open the way to claims for sums far exceeding direct losses incurred through Libor manipulation, admitted in ...

  • News

    European court in judicial selection crisis

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The crisis in Europe’s top court was set to escalate this week, with the 27 EU member states arguing over how to select 12 more judges to help handle a mounting caseload. The president of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which is ...

  • News

    MoJ ‘hell-bent’ on expanding RTA process

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The government this week rejected calls to tear up its timetable for boosting the role of the RTA portal for low-value claims - despite a call by its own expert adviser for a pause. In a long-awaited report published on the day before parliament’s summer recess, ...

  • News

    Lloyds deal opens way to Co-op expansion

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    The Co-operative Group could sell legal services from almost 1,000 bank branches, giving it an outlet on nearly every high street in the country following a deal to buy 632 Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester branches. The group announced this morning that it had agreed ...

  • News

    Appeal to test article eight right over private property

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    Squatters occupying the likely site of Heathrow’s proposed third runway were yesterday given a six-week stay of eviction to appeal under article eight of the Human Rights Act, the right to home and family life. The site is privately owned and this will be the first ...

  • News

    MPs slam Cameron’s shared parenting plan

    2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

    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 ...