All News articles – Page 1294
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News
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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MoJ call for QC nominations
The Ministry of Justice is inviting nominations for the 2013/14 round of Queen’s Counsel hononoris causa (honorary silk) awards. These opened on 6 June 2013. For the Law Society, nominations are invited who are members of the law society but not barristers. Only the highest quality individuals will be nominated ...
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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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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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Supreme Court judge Lady Hale succeeds Hope
Lady Hale, the only woman among 12 Supreme Court judges, has been appointed deputy president of the country’s highest appellate court following the retirement of Lord Hope. Hale became the UK’s first woman Lord of Appeal in January 2004, before the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009, following five ...
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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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Privilege fears over deferred prosecutions
Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Gentle told the Gazette: ‘The consultation on DPAs stated that the “Code of Practice would include provision for the protection of legal professional privilege”. ‘But there is no such provision, and comprehensive self-reporting of wrongdoing will almost certainly lead to companies waiving privilege if a ...
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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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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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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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The Lawn Society
To Lincoln’s Inn for Obiter’s annual walk on the sacred sod, thanks to the 45th Legal Charities Garden Party. As usual, the rain held off, the company stimulated and, once the Gazette newsdesk had remembered whose round it was, the champagne flowed.
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NewsWhose side is he on?
We all know the lord chancellor doesn’t greatly care what lawyers think of his plans for legal aid, but Obiter thought he might have some sympathy for the views of victims of crime. Didn’t his party’s 2010 manifesto say something about being ‘on the side of victims’? Given the lack ...
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Wielding the willow
English cricketers have had about as much success as English lawyers at conquering conditions in India. Now the two challenges can combine for the Lawyers Cricket World Cup, scheduled for Delhi this October. The barristers have already formed a team to travel out, but solicitors have yet to take up ...
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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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News
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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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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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 ...