Cohabitees rights equal moral breakdown, says Mail

In the week of a devastating crisis in the countryside, the arrest of one of the worlds most wanted men and uncertainty over the election date, the Daily Mail chose to focus on you guessed it the state of the nations morals.

It was a case of coming back to what you know best, as on 29 March the paper declared that Labour law for live-in lovers is put on hold until later this year.The controversial plans proposed by the Law Commission would mean that couples who have cohabited for two years would have the same rights as those currently available to married couples at the time of separation.

However, the paper warned that this devastating attack on marriage is merely a spurious sop to the feminist and homosexual lobbies to the detriment of marriage.

The Law Societys family law committee has made similar recommendations about cohabitees rights.The newspaper was on a roll, as it also reported how unmarried fathers are to be given full parental rights (Daily Mail, 27 March).

The changes, which were apparently slipped in to the Adoption and Children Bill currently going through Parliament, would mean that fathers are automatically entitled to a say in their childrens schooling and have a right to see them regularly.

It was condemned by the paper as another blow against the few remaining privileges of marriage, and another example of the government having presided over a number of legal changes that have stripped away the status of marriage.The Mails traditional mantle appeared briefly to have been taken over by The Independent, which reported that Britain has become the worlds compensation capital, with payouts set to keep rising (27 March).

According to a report by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, Britain last year paid out 205 million in compensation, the most in any year, and indeed more compensation to victims of violent crime than any other country.

The judiciary had a tough week, with the prospect of assessment by their peers looming large, unpopular demands for a pay rise being mooted, and controversial remarks aplenty.

The Independent reported on Lord Woolfs proposal that judges would be assessed by their peers to improve their performance in court (30 March), saying that it did not help to win friends and increase trust and confidence of the public if judges saw appraisal as an anathema.

However, doubts were raised as to the effectiveness of one old boy assessing another: Many of the judges know each other very well and wont be able to give their true and honest opinions, said The Independent, while adding tactfully that some judges have some very entrenched and jaundiced views which they will pass on to their colleagues.Perhaps because of these extra assessment demands, papers reported that judges are following the examples of trade unions and putting in a pay claim for the first time (Daily Mail, 30 March).

After years of grumbling at the rate of its pay increases, the judiciary is planning to mount its own researched and well-documented contribution to a pay review currently under way, according to the ever-diplomatic Lord Woolf.Scottish judge Lord Abernathy found himself at the centre of controversy after he cleared a student accused of rape with the comment that to have sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent in itself is not rape (The Independent, 27 March).

Lord Abernathy faces calls for his resignation after saying: There seems to be a common perception that lack of consent is enough for a charge of rape.And finally, in these days of lawyer-bashing, at last there is a heart-warming tabloid tale to make solicitors proud of their profession.

The Sunday People (1 April) reported how rugby-loving lawyer Roger Houlker has been nicknamed briefheart after an incredible seven citizens arrests in a one-man crime crusade.The Incredible Hulk, as he is apparently also known, was rewarded with a certificate for his bravery, but the beefy hero who began his crusade 20 years ago claimed modestly: I always seem to be in the right place at the right time.

Our advice to Jack Straw? Watch your back.Victoria MacCallum