Lawyer news

• Labour vows to ban indefinite detention of asylum and immigration applicants

  25-03-2015 23:01
  
  Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper says current system is inefficient and ‘deeply scarring’ for detainees, and move would bring UK in line with most western countries
  Labour is promising to introduce new time limits on the detention of people trapped in the asylum and immigration system in a move that would bring Britain into line with most other western countries by banning indefinite detention.The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, described the current system as inefficient and “de
  
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• Ohio anti-abortion 'heartbeat bill' passes in house but likely to face opposition

  25-03-2015 22:12
  
  Abortion banned after first sign of fetal heartbeat at six weeks, legislation saysPro-choice groups: bill would essentially outlaw abortion in stateState representatives in Ohio on Wednesday passed legislation that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which usually occurs at six weeks of pregnancy.The 55-40 vote marked the third time the Ohio house has sought to advance the so-called “heartbeat bill”, which makes no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. The languag
  
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• Supreme court sends Alabama 'racial' redistricting case back to lower court

  25-03-2015 21:55
  
  Justices split 5-4 along ideological linesRepublicans allegedly gerrymandered districts to reduce black voters’ impactA divided supreme court on Wednesday said a lower court must take another look at whether Alabama’s Republican-led legislature relied too heavily on race when it redrew the state’s voting districts in a way that black leaders say limited minority voting power. The justices split 5-4 across ideological lines in ruling that a three-judge panel did not properly consider compla
  
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• Lawyer: No more expulsions for Oklahoma fraternity members - Yahoo News UK

  25-03-2015 20:27
  
  Lawyer: No more expulsions for Oklahoma fraternity members
  Yahoo News UK
  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A lawyer for a now-disbanded fraternity at the University of Oklahoma whose members were caught engaging in a racist chant says an agreement has been reached that calls for no further student expulsions. Stephen Jones told The ...en meer »
  
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• Abbott government likely to ask for deadline extension on disability wage

  25-03-2015 20:08
  
  Government to ask Human Rights Commission for extra time to come up with a new system to determine fair pay for intellectually disabled workersThe Abbott government is likely to have to ask the Human Rights Commission for extra time to come up with a new system to determine fair wages for thousands of intellectually disabled workers, three years after the old system was declared discriminatory.The prime minister recently said he had “lost confidence” in the president of the commission, Gilli
  
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• Italian prosecutor asks court to uphold Knox murder conviction

  25-03-2015 19:41
  
  Italian judges will rule on Friday on whether to uphold convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007 or whether to order a retrialAn Italian prosecutor has asked the nation’s highest court to definitively condemn Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British university student Meredith Kercher, saying the pair undoubtedly played a role in her brutal death in 2007.“All the characters in this story
  
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• Supreme court to rule on publishing Prince Charles' 'black spider memos'

  25-03-2015 19:39
  
  Ruling by UK’s most senior judges will be the climax of decade-long legal battle between the Guardian and Whitehall over prince’s letters to ministersThe supreme court will rule on Thursday on whether highly sensitive secret correspondence between Prince Charles and government ministers should at last be released in the public interest.The ruling by Britain’s most senior judges will be the climax of a 10-year legal battle between the Guardian and Whitehall for access to the heir-to-the-thr
  
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• Supreme court sides with former UPS driver in pregnancy discrimination suit

  25-03-2015 19:25
  
  Peggy Young claims UPS rejected request for light-duty work during pregnancyIn 6-3 decision, justices send case to lower court for possible trialThe US supreme court on Wednesday backed a former United Parcel Service Inc driver who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company for refusing to give her light-duty work when she was pregnant.In a 6-3 vote, the justices sent the case back to the lower court for a possible trial. A federal district court judge and an appeals court had previously
  
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• Supreme court on Obama coal pollution rule: 'game over' if costs not assessed

  25-03-2015 19:11
  
  Justices concerned about costs of Obama administration’s new standardsIndustry groups and 21 states challenge regulations on power plantsThe US supreme court’s conservative majority on Wednesday signalled hostility towards the Obama administration’s refusal to consider costs before regulating emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants.Related: Obama unveils historic rules to reduce coal pollution by 30%Continue reading...
  
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• Mercury pollution rule receives grilling from supreme court justices

  25-03-2015 19:11
  
  Justices concerned about costs of Obama administration’s new standardsIndustry groups and 21 states challenge regulations on power plantsThe US supreme court’s conservative majority on Wednesday signalled hostility towards the Obama administration’s refusal to consider costs before regulating emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants.Related: Obama unveils historic rules to reduce coal pollution by 30%Continue reading...
  
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• Court tells ex Liberian president he must serve sentence in Britain

  25-03-2015 18:44
  
  Charles Taylor sought to serve 50-year sentence in Rwanda for war crimes committed during Sierra Leone’s civil warThe special court for Sierra Leone has denied the former Liberian president Charles Taylor’s request to serve his 50-year sentence for war crimes in Rwanda, rather than Britain.
  Taylor was convicted in April 2012 of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding murderous rebels in Sierra Leone’s civil war.Related: War criminal Charles Taylor claims UK is depriv
  
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• Brodies named UK National/Regional Law Firm of the Year - Scottish Daily Record

  25-03-2015 18:14
  
  Scottish Daily Record
  Brodies named UK National/Regional Law Firm of the Year
  Scottish Daily Record
  Law firm Brodies was named National/Regional Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards in London on Tuesday. The Edinburgh headquartered firm, which also scooped the UK Law Firm of the Year prize at the British Legal Awards last November, ...
  
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• Why were special branch watching me even when I was an MP? | Peter Hain

  25-03-2015 18:01
  
  Having active files on MPs who were seen as radical decades earlier is a fundamental threat to our democracyFollowing media revelations about old MI5 files held on Labour government ministers, the head of MI5, Sir Stephen Lander, came to see me at the Foreign Office in 2001 when I was Europe minister. Low key and courteous, he confirmed there had indeed been such an MI5 file on me and that I had been under regular surveillance. However, he was at pains to say, I had nothing to worry about becaus
  
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• Lawyer expects plea deal in Chicago terrorism case - Yahoo News UK

  25-03-2015 16:32
  
  Lawyer expects plea deal in Chicago terrorism case
  Yahoo News UK
  CHICAGO (AP) — An attorney for a suburban Chicago man accused of seeking to join al-Qaida-affiliated fighters in Syria has told a federal judge the defense expects to seal a plea agreement. Abdella Tounisi's attorney, Molly Armour, disclosed progress ...en meer »
  
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• Its OK to leak government secrets - as long as it benefits politicians | Trevor Timm

  25-03-2015 16:15
  
  It is hypocritical that some leaks will land you in jail, while others just lead to a slap on the wristWhen it comes to classified information, some leaks are more equal than others. If you are a whistleblower like Edward Snowden, who tells the press about illegal, immoral or embarrassing government actions, you will face jail time. But it’s often another story forUS government officials leaking information for their own political benefit. Related: Petraeus leaks: Obama's leniency reveals 'pro
  
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• Remember Strangeways, 1990? The bad old days of inhumane prisons are back | Eric Allison

  25-03-2015 15:37
  
  When prisoners are merely warehoused, society suffers as a whole. If only politicians had learned the lessons of recent historyNext week is the 25th anniversary of the longest, bloodiest riot in British penal history. For it was on April Fools’ Day, 1990, that prisoners at Strangeways prison in Manchester disrupted a service in the prison’s chapel and ejected staff. The disturbance lasted 25 days and claimed two lives; a prison officer suffered a heart attack and a prisoner, on remand for al
  
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• New timetable for criminal legal aid contracts

  25-03-2015 15:14 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Tender process for 527 duty provider contracts to resume on Friday.
  
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• Lords lambast UK’s ‘unilateralist’ approach to EU treaty opt-in

  25-03-2015 14:51 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Government's interpretation of justice opt-in is legally unsustainable, committee reports. 
  
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• US supreme court to hear challenge to EPA power-plant pollution regulations

  25-03-2015 14:31
  
  Court to decide whether cost is initial factor in regulating output of mercury and other hazardous pollutants or whether health risks are only considerationThe US supreme court is taking up a challenge by industry groups and Republican-led states that want to roll back Obama administration environmental rules aimed at reducing power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants that contribute to respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children.The just
  
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• Many women of color don't go to the police after sexual assault for a reason | Hannah Giorgis

  25-03-2015 12:49
  
  Survivors are seeking alternative paths to justice that don’t require involving a racist criminal justice system
  The man who hovered over my intoxicated body one humid May night in my senior year of college, liquor and lust staining his breath as he laughed that my “no” really meant “yes”, is still on campus. He is the kind of man women whisper to each other about when they think he is not looking, whose transgressions against our bodies are cataloged in hushed tones and quick, ominous
  
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• Many women of color don't go to the police after sexual assault for a reason | Hanna Giorgis

  25-03-2015 12:49
  
  Survivors are seeking alternative paths to justice that don’t require involving a racist criminal justice system
  The man who hovered over my intoxicated body one humid May night in my senior year of college, liquor and lust staining his breath as he laughed that my “no” really meant “yes”, is still on campus. He is the kind of man women whisper to each other about when they think he is not looking, whose transgressions against our bodies are cataloged in hushed tones and quick, ominous
  
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• Solicitors fail to stop cuts in legal aid defence contracts

  25-03-2015 12:08
  
  Law Society and London Criminal Court Solicitors Association seek permission to appeal to supreme court to overturn judgment
  Criminal solicitors have failed in their attempt to prevent the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, imposing deep cuts on the number of legal aid contracts for defence lawyers.But the Law Society and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association are now seeking permission to appeal to the supreme court to overturn the judgment. Continue reading...
  
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• President to UK: Will uphold rule of law - haveeruonline

  25-03-2015 12:05
  haveeruonline
  President to UK: Will uphold rule of law
  haveeruonline
  President Yameen and British High Commissioner John Rankin during the meeting on March 25, 2015. PHOTO/PRESIDENT'S OFFICE. President Yameen and British High Commissioner John Rankin shake hands during the meeting on March 25, 2015.
  
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• Court of Appeal dismisses criminal legal aid challenge

  25-03-2015 11:32 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Law Society and practitioner groups challenged lord chancellor’s plans for crime duty tender contracts.
  
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• ‘Appalling’ solicitor handed record £305k SDT fine

  25-03-2015 10:47 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Oxford practitioner paid client’s care and living costs in return for her £800k house.
  
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• Gangs operated openly in Dorset prison, say inspectors

  25-03-2015 01:01
  
  Official report on Guys Marsh jail finds ‘very high levels of violence’ driven by the supply of drugs, and that managers had all but lost controlA Dorset jail has been officially branded a prison in crisis after inspectors found that managers and staff had all but lost control to rival gangs that were openly operating at the jail. Inspectors say they found ”very high levels of violence” and many frightened prisoners when they made an unannounced visit to Guys Marsh prison, near Shaftesbu
  
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