All News articles – Page 1541

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Administrative law – Asylum seekers – Judicial review R (on the application Of MN (Tanzania)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Kay, Moses, Sullivan): 4 March 2011 ...

  • News

    Government unveils new immigration rules

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    The government unveiled new immigration rules today that will give wealthy entrepreneurs a ‘fast-track’ route to settling in the UK. It also published a policy statement outlining how the new 'exceptional talent' route under Tier One of the points-based system will operate from April this year. ...

  • News

    Local government

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Education – Social welfare – Looked-after children R (on the application of O (by his litigation friend Andrew Burton)) (Appellant) v East Riding of Yorkshire County Council (Respondent) & Secretary of State for Education (Intervener) (2011): CA (Civ Div) ...

  • News

    Giving a toss

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Staff at Keelys in Lichfield will stop at nothing to get a mention in Obiter, even if it means dressing up as Snow White and the (three) dwarves and taking part in the annual Lichfield pancake race. Those lawyers have some flipping nerve.

  • News

    Labour gains

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Lamentable though it is that women are not remunerated equally with men in the legal profession, I fear the reason for the indefatigable ‘gender gap’ is one of nature and economics rather than any sinister motive.

  • News

    Legal funding

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Legal advice – Local government – Insurance D Sousa v Waltham Forest London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Ward, Moore-Bick, Etherton): 3 March 2011 The appellant local authority ...

  • News

    Family law

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Civil evidence – Local government – Care proceedings H v City & County Of Swansea & Ors: CA (Civ Div) (Lady Justice Arden, Lords Justices Black, Richards): 2 March 2011 ...

  • News

    Politicians need to stop showboating over Europe

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Sir Alex Ferguson should stop complaining about referees: David Cameron should shut up about judges. Attacking them rarely pays dividends in the long run. Look at the fate of David Blunkett. The populist politician who took on Lord Woolf is pretty much forgotten. His onetime ...

  • News

    No escaping justice

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    When judges are in the news, it is normally because of some judicial pronouncement that has failed to find favour in certain quarters. So Obiter was stunned last week to learn of two judges thrust into the limelight because of a rather more animated set of events in the courtroom. ...

  • News

    Employment

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Civil procedure – Industrial action – Interim injunctions National Union Of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers v Serco Ltd (T/A Serco Docklands): Associated Society Of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen v London & Birmingham Railway Ltd (T/A London Midland): CA ...

  • News

    Judge slashes success fee in Trafigura dispute

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    A senior costs judge has cut the £105m costs claimed by London firm Leigh Day & Co following its action against oil company Trafigura. In a preliminary judgment last month, Master Hurst reduced the success fee that the firm can claim under the conditional fee agreement ...

  • News

    Grown-up debate on mediation

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Mediation is not an alternative to litigation, though it has a place in the whole process. Mediators make all sorts of claims for mediation – that it is cheaper, quicker and better than litigation. Where is the research evidence for this? Collaborative ...

  • News

    Damned statistics

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Hard-pressed Obiter knows what it’s like to be busy-busy-busy, so has full sympathy for the Ministry of Justice’s 31 press office staff, none of whom quite had the time to spread news of the 2010 civil service staff survey results when they were made ‘public’ at the end of January. ...

  • News

    Compliance rules may hit sole practitioners

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Proposed changes to the way sole practitioner firms are authorised could see many forced to stop practising due to the ‘unique problem’ they will face meeting new compliance requirements, the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) has warned.

  • News

    Magistrates fight planned court closures

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    The first two judicial review actions seeking to prevent magistrates’ court closures were issued last week, the Gazette has learned. The proceedings seek to challenge the planned closure of Sedgemoor Magistrates’ Court in Somerset and Barry Magistrates’ Court in the Vale of Glamorgan. ...

  • News

    How chief constables' independence could be jeopardised

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    by Fraser Sampson, chief executive and solicitor at the West Yorkshire Police Authority In the exercise of their powers the police are answerable to the law and the law alone. So held Lord Denning in R v Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ex parte Blackburn. Since then the ...

  • News

    Consumers want clarity over law firm charges

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    Consumers want to see charges that are easy to understand, and a ‘solicitor who remembers their name’ when they use a law firm, according to research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. A study based on interviews with 40 recent purchasers of legal services found that ...

  • News

    Call to sue councils that are 'failing the vulnerable'

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    The case of a mentally ill man who attempted suicide after being discharged from hospital to a park bench has prompted mental health solicitors to call on lawyers to sue local authorities that fail to provide adequate healthcare for some of society’s most vulnerable members.

  • News

    Government publishes Defamation Bill

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has welcomed the debate over libel law reform following publication of the government’s draft Defamation Bill today. The bill, which is intended to bring libel law up-to-date, includes a new ‘public interest’ defence, and introduces the requirement for claimants to demonstrate ‘substantial ...

  • News

    New sentencing guidance for assault

    2011-03-17T00:00:00Z

    The Sentencing Council has today published new guidance to judges and magistrates for assault offences. It aims to ensure a more consistent and proportionate approach to sentencing, with offenders receiving a sentence that reflects the harm they have caused to their victim and their culpability. ...