All News articles – Page 1551
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News
Freedom of information and datasets
In January, the government announced plans to amend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoI) to ensure public authorities proactively release data in a way that allows businesses, non-profit organisations and others to reuse it for social and commercial purposes. OpenlyLocal, a local government data ...
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When online fails...
We are told that from next year we must pay our VAT online. I successfully registered myself recently but ‘the system’ rejected my attempt to pay online. So, I sent a cheque! We are told cheques ...
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Fair and swear
Today, for the first time in my life, I had to get a document notarised. It seems that this is a rather grand title for having my signature witnessed by a notary. At least that was all it entailed on this ...
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Feel free to leave, insurers
I write with reference to the attack on the Solicitors Regulation Authority by insurers and the comment ‘Why stay in a market which has been a bloody mess?’. If insurers are forced to leave the market, we might be forced to use an insurance model ...
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Many solicitors remain worryingly ignorant of the Get
A Get is a Jewish divorce document that dissolves the marriage of a Jewish couple. When they marry, there is a single ceremony which combines both the Jewish and civil marriage requirements. Should they divorce, however, two separate divorces are ...
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Solicitors guilty of misconduct
Two solicitors have been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to their handling of alleged internet file-sharing cases. The SDT found that David Gore, a partner at London firm Davenport Lyons, and former partner Brian Miller, were guilty of six ...
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It is illogical but...
Myles Hickey is quite correct in that neither rule 22.1 of the CPR nor the Practice Direction 22 include the claim form itself in the list of documents that need to be verified by a statement of truth. However, paragraph 3.1 of CPR part 2 ...
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Immigration
Asylum - Humanitarian protection grounds - Equivalency principle lFA (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: SC (Lord Phillips (president), Lord Hope (deputy president), Justices of the Supreme Court Lord Brown, Lord Kerr, Lord Dyson): 25 May ...
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Keep it simple
PR 2.3(1) says a claim form is a statement of case. 22.1(1) says a statement of case must be verified by a statement of truth. Easy really. John Wilson, Wilsons Solicitors, Leeds
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, June 1981 Letter to the editor – Putting ‘Sits. Vac.’ in their Place… As a ...
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Puppy love
Family lawyers will be familiar with divorcing or separating couples fighting like cat and dog, but it seems that many now literally fight over their feline and canine companions when their relationships end. Research by Co-operative Pet Insurance has revealed that one-fifth of separating couples ...
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Trainee solicitor minimum salaries remain unchanged
The minimum salary for trainee solicitors will remain unchanged for the third successive year, at £18,590 per annum in central London and £16,650 elsewhere, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed. The rates equate to less than £9 an hour in central London and £8 elsewhere, based ...
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Negligence
Duty to take care - Economic loss - Damage to property Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Conarken Group Ltd; Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Farrell Transport Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Justices Pill, Moore-Bick, Jackson): 27 May 2011 ...
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Treatment of wills
I share the views on Illott v Mitson reported so cogently by John Hyde. As a practitioner in the field of wills, the decision is most alarming to me and drives a coach and horses through the whole basis upon which mentally capable testators, acting of ...
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Law Society in position to cut practising certificate fee
Next year’s practising certificate fee could be cut by more than 15% following a £56.9m surplus reported by the Law Society in its annual report 2009/10, published today (15 June). The four factors behind the surplus include higher than expected receipts from the first year ...
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Magistrates resign as courts close
Resignations from the magistracy have increased by 18% since the announcement of court closures, according to government figures. Responding to a written question tabled by Mike Wood, MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly revealed that 487 magistrates had resigned from ...
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Treasury to scrap money-laundering penalties
The Treasury is to abolish more than 24 criminal penalties that can currently be imposed on law firms and other businesses for failing to comply with money-laundering regulations. Civil penalties will remain however, and regulators may be given the power to impose additional penalties. ...
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Split juries into smaller groups, psychologists argue
Juries should be split into three groups of four to allow every member an equal chance to participate, a new study has suggested. Researchers from the psychology department at the University of Portsmouth found that in large groups, many people feel intimidated to speak out and ...
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Bruising times at the UKBA
You have to be something of a bruiser to take on the job of minister for borders and immigration. It’s a tough job, with the right accusing you of going soft on ‘bogus’ asylum seekers and the left condemning you as a heartless fascist (more of ...