All News articles – Page 1295
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News
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 ...
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Inducements: damage limitation
Let’s make this clear: inducements to purchase a service or product are a fundamental and legitimate part of business. I’m still with the same bank that offered me free cash back in freshers’ week at university, and I’ll bet many others are in the same boat. ...
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Judicial oversight promised for white-collar prosecution deals
US-style deals to defer prosecutions for offences such as corporate bribery will be transparent and supervised by a judge under a code of practice for prosecutors published today. Deferred prosecutions, under which a prosecution for corporate crime is suspended in return for a promise 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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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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Judges look again at £2m claims exemption
Exempting mandatory costs budgeting for claims in excess of £2m may be ‘unnecessary and inappropriate’, a newly established sub-group of the Civil Procedure Rule committee has suggested. An intervention from the Judicial Office in February ensured that high-value commercial cases would be exempt from impending Jackson ...
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LSC running costs rose as legal aid shrank, report reveals
The amount spent on legal aid and the number of people helped dropped over the past year - but the cost of administering the Legal Services Commission went up, according to the commission’s final annual report. The report, published yesterday, is the first in five years ...
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Watchdog: reform ‘unnecessarily complicated’ election law
Moves to rationalise the 25 separate pieces of legislation that govern national elections received the support of the electoral watchdog today. A report ‘Reflections on a new structure for the United Kingdom’s electoral law’, published by the Electoral Commission, argues that the ‘voluminous, complex and ...
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Redundancies at Direct Line
Up to 40 legal staff, including solicitors, have been placed at risk of redundancy after insurance giant Direct Line announced a major restructuring plan. The Gazette understands a mixture of fee-earners and back-office staff from national firm Parabis were told this morning they are affected. Based ...
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LETR: allow non-graduates direct access, says SRA chair
Law courses should be tailored to allow non-graduates a direct route into the solicitors’ profession, Charles Plant, chairman of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said today. He was responding to the report of the Legal Education and Training Review, published this afternoon, which says more flexibility ...
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LETR: debt is the elephant in the room
Picture the scene – you walk into a party, nod at the elephant in the room (you and the elephant go way back), then steadfastedly refuse to talk to it until it’s time to leave, when you get your coat and wave a wordless goodbye. You couldn’t really get away ...
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LETR: legal executives welcome ‘mainstream recognition’
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) welcomed today’s report of the Legal Education and Training Review – but said it had already embraced many of the report’s recommendations. In an initial response, Nick Hanning, CILEx president, said: ‘This is a valuable piece of work. ...
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LETR: law students not prepared for work, Society says
Potential entrants to the legal profession must be given more and better information before embarking on costly programmes of study, the Law Society said in response to the report of the Legal Education and Training Review. Chief executive Desmond Hudson (pictured) said there is an ...
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How to spot solicitors’ involvement in ‘financial abuse’
Concern that a growing number of solicitors are unintentionally involved in the ‘financial abuse’ of their clients has prompted the Law Society to issue new guidelines. As a result of economic recession, social change and advances in technology the risk of financial abuse is increasing, Chancery Lane said. A practice ...
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Radio ad censured
A Cardiff personal injury firm has been told not to repeat a radio advertisement that encouraged people to make it ‘the second person’ they call after an accident. The Advertising Standards Authority said Secure Law’s advertisement was irresponsible and carried the implicit message that listeners should make a claim irrespective ...
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Clegg fuels rumours of cabinet split over legal aid
Signs of a cabinet split over the government’s legal aid proposals have emerged after the deputy prime minister voiced concern over the removal of client choice and the attorney general appeared to endorse barristers’ concerns that the changes would ‘damage the justice system’. The Mail on Sunday reported yesterday that ...
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Bar chief calls for royal commission
More than two decades after the Runciman Commission was set up following high-profile miscarriages of justice, the chairman of the Bar Council has called for a royal commission to conduct a root-and-branch review of the criminal justice system. Maura McGowan suggested that the system be reviewed holistically, as the government ...
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Solicitors warned following breach of confidentiality
The Court of Appeal has censured two solicitors and a barrister after an embargoed draft judgment was disclosed to third parties in breach of a court order. At the end of a hearing where the Crown unsuccessfully appealed against a ruling to stay criminal proceedings against Telford delivery driver Noshad ...
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Law Society hard-hitting PI campaign
A bold new advertising campaign by the Law Society beginning today focuses on the benefits to personal injury claimants of getting proper legal advice. The six-week campaign ‘deliberately takes a bold, humorous and memorable approach to convey an important message’, the Society said. The ‘Don’t Get Mugged’ campaign will feature ...