All News articles – Page 1688
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News
Lawyers and torture: should we see the memos?
One of the characteristics of the US is that they take good things to excess - witness their presidential election process, or the 37 different varieties of salad dressing offered in a deli. At present, they are taking another good thing to excess: arguing over the role of lawyers in ...
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Accreditation reforms
I am writing with regard to the letter headed 'No level playing field' (letters online, 11 March). The credibility of the immigration system and the lawyers that work within it rests on this accreditation scheme, which took its current form in 2004 to provide a high level of assurance on ...
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Justice secretary announces court closures
Justice secretary Jack Straw has announced the closure of 20 ‘under-used’ magistrates' courts. The following courts will close: Bourne; Bridport; Cheshunt; Cullompton; Dorking; Eastleigh; Gainsborough; Havant, Launceston; Louth; Mildenhall; Linehead; Sherborne; Sleaford; Stamford; Wantage; Wareham; Wells; Whitby and Widnes. The majority, ...
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Could unqualified prosecutors lead to miscarriages of justice?
The regulator of the Institute of Legal Executives, ILEX Professional Services, is consulting on proposals to grant extended rights of audience to associate prosecutors (APs) in the magistrates' court.
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Booming African economies offer lucrative opportunities for UK law firms
The booming economies of sub-Saharan Africa offer lucrative opportunities for British law firms, but only if firms engage with local lawyers on equal terms and are not there just to make a ‘quick buck’, leading African lawyers have warned. The average growth in gross domestic product ...
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Mental health programme following ‘political agenda’
A programme costing £60m a year to detain and treat 350 mentally ill offenders is following a ‘political agenda’ with no benefit to society or the detainees, a leading mental health lawyer has warned.
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Solicitors alarmed by associate prosecutor proposals
Proposals that could enable ‘associate prosecutors’ with no legal qualifications to conduct magistrates’ court trials amount to ‘justice on the cheap’ and herald the ‘de-lawyering’ of the magistrates’ court, solicitors have warned. The Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) is consulting on proposals to grant associate prosecutors ...
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Assigned risks pool to remain open
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has agreed ‘in principle’ to scrap its plans to close the assigned risks pool (ARP), but will tighten the rules on eligibility and how long firms can stay in the pool. The SRA said the decision to retain the ARP, the ...
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Solicitor HCAs v the bar – the debate rages on
‘If you’re not bar, you won’t go far,’ one rueful lawyer noted after Judge Gledhill QC aimed his now notorious broadside at three solicitor higher court advocates last year (see [2009] Gazette, 23 April, 1). June Venters meanwhile, the first female solicitor QC, described prejudice from the bar and bench ...
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Reality bites
I read the articles by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff and Adam Makepeace with interest (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 12). I was formerly a sole practitioner for over 20 years, involved in mental health work all that time. I have been working with Duncan Lewis as a freelance consultant mental health solicitor ...
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Calling for a legal duty to inform patients of medical errors or incidents
by Paul Sankeya partner at Russell Jones & Walker. He specialises in clinical negligence and is a member of the specialist Law Society and AvMA clinical negligence panels At the age of 39, Colin Freeman’s life fell apart when he suffered a severe and disabling stroke. ...
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Proceed with care
I note the concerns expressed by Christina Blacklaws in your report on the Supreme Court decision in Re W (Children) about children giving evidence in court proceedings (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 2).
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Jack Straw to scrap court fees in care cases
Justice secretary Jack Straw has agreed to scrap controversial court fees in care and supervision cases, after an independent report found they deterred local authorities from starting proceedings. However, the change will not come into effect until April 2011 to avoid local authorities having ...
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Down the food chain
I read with interest last week’s item about legal aid business models (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 12). As far as family law is concerned, the 2010 fee structure and the way that solicitors in private practice are now audited (they must have documentary evidence of means on file when ...
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Chambers of Commerce seek 'fast-track' employment claims
Low-value employment claims should be fast-tracked and dealt with through mediation, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) recommended this week. Claims for less than £3,000 should be resolved within three months, the BCC said in a report on employment regulation. It claimed that employment cases are ...
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Civil procedure
Admissibility – Civil recovery proceedings – Proceeds of crime Ronald Olden v Serious Organised Crime Agency: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Rix, Wilson, Sir Scott Baker): 26 February 2010 The ...
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Eady claims libel tourism is a 'myth'
Libel tourism is a ‘myth’ spread by parties unhappy at the outcome of cases, Britain’s best-known media judge has claimed. Mr Justice Eady said it was a ‘myth’ that foreign nationals with no connection to Britain were allowed to take unfair advantage of the UK’s libel ...
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Lords demand curbs on pleural plaques compensation fees
Solicitors and claims management companies (CMCs) acting in pleural plaques compensation cases should have their legal fees severely curtailed, the House of Lords heard last week.
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Law Society of Scotland facing vote of confidence
The 10,500-member Law Society of Scotland is to face a vote of confidence on its future as the voice of Scottish solicitors, as grassroots opposition to the introduction of so-called ‘Tesco law’ intensifies. Members disillusioned by the body’s policy of support for external ownership and ...
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Criminal law: sentencing, costs and confiscation
On 26 October 2009, the sentencing guideline for statutory offences of fraud came into force. The guideline does not deal with the offences of conspiracy to defraud or cheating the public revenue, where case law will continue to apply. Since many fraud offences are broadly defined, some types of activity ...