Lawyer news

• Morale at ombudsman under scrutiny amid staff upheaval

  13-05-2015 22:31 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Report exposes staff turnover fears at complaints-handler as Office for Legal Complaints refuses to release expenses payments.
  
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• Expenses row hits morale at ombudsman's office

  13-05-2015 22:31 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Report exposes staff turnover fears at complaints handler as Office for Legal Complaints refuses to release expenses payments.
  
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• Surrogacy law is woefully outdated, UK's first fertility firm says - The Times (subscription)

  13-05-2015 22:15
  
  The Times (subscription)
  Surrogacy law is woefully outdated, UK's first fertility firm says
  The Times (subscription)
  Last week a mother went to court for the right to become pregnant with her own grandchild, using the frozen eggs of her dead daughter. The woman, 69, and husband, 58, say that it was their daughter's dying wish that she should carry the child: she had ...
  
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• Prince Charles's 'black spider memos' show lobbying at highest political level

  13-05-2015 21:27
  
  Publication of 27 letters after 10-year legal battle shows heir to the throne petitioning ministers on subjects from the Iraq war to alternative therapiesA cache of secret memos between Prince Charles and senior government ministers has been released after a 10-year legal battle, offering the clearest picture yet of the breadth and depth of the heir to the throne’s lobbying at the highest level of politics.The 27 memos, sent in 2004 and 2005 and released only after the Guardian won its long fr
  
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• US Department of Justice judgments on RBS and Barclays 'delayed'

  13-05-2015 20:03
  
  Investigators trying to secure guilty pleas from parent companies of the banks, not just their subsidiaries, according to Bloomberg An expected wave of fines and sanctions on a group of banks – including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays – for rigging foreign exchange markets is thought to have been delayed until next week.Barclays and the bailed-out bank RBS are part of ongoing discussions with the US Department of Justice over the way the £3.5tn-a-day currency markets have been man
  
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• UK's law to combat 'poisonous Islamist ideology' - Times of India

  13-05-2015 19:04
  
  Times of India
  UK's law to combat 'poisonous Islamist ideology'
  Times of India
  LONDON: In what is his first major policy announcement since winning last week's general election, Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday announced new laws to combat a "poisonous Islamist ideology". The PM announced plans for a new ...
  UK to announce new anti-terrorism lawcameroon concord (press release) (blog)alle 185 nieuwsartikelen »
  
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• Legal consumers not swayed by price or advertising - poll

  13-05-2015 18:52 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Existing client relationships and recommendation still by far the most important factor in choosing a lawyer.
  
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• Youngest Hillsborough victim pulled from 'horrific' scene, inquests hear

  13-05-2015 18:32
  
  Inquests into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster hear how police and rescue workers tried to save 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley, the youngest to die in the catastropheThe 10-year-old boy who was the youngest of the 96 people to die at Hillsborough was found on the football ground’s terraces in a scene which was “like hell”, the new inquests into the disaster have heard. The boy, Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was pulled out by a police officer from a pile of bodies at the front of the “pens”
  
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• Profits and boardroom pay surge at University of Law

  13-05-2015 18:18 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  UK’s first for-profit university posts £18.5m trading surplus as asset sales cut debt.
  
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• Thomas Cook should 'hang its head in shame' over deaths of children in Corfu

  13-05-2015 16:56
  
  Tour operator breached duty of care when two young children died through carbon monoxide poisoning on holiday, an inquest jury has concludedThomas Cook should “hang its head in shame” over the deaths of two young children through carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu, their parents’ lawyer said after an inquest jury concluded they died unlawfully.The tour operator Thomas Cook breached its duty of care over the deaths of two young children through carbon monoxide poisoning whi
  
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• India's child labour 'reforms' could make it a dangerous place to invest

  13-05-2015 16:41
  
  Government signals plan to stimulate economic growth by removing basic protections for workers and ending ban on child labourSomething momentous is happening in India – and not many outsiders are noticing. Prime minster Narendra Modi’s government has recently announced significant changes to the laws governing India’s labour market. These “reforms” appear to be to aimed at stimulating economic growth and inward investment by removing “red tape” from entrepreneurs. So far, so little
  
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• Oskar Gröning trial: British Auschwitz survivor takes the stand

  13-05-2015 16:40
  
  Susan Pollack, 84, described being taken from Hungary to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, as trial of former SS guard continuesAn 84-year-old British woman who lost her parents and 50 other extended-family members during the Holocaust has recalled her experiences of the Nazi death camps at the trial of a former SS guard charged with complicity in the murder of 300,000 Jews.
  Susan Pollack, who lives in London, stared directly at judge Franz Kompisch as she answered questions about her time in Auschwi
  
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• The arguments against the Human Rights Act are coming. They will be false | Keir Starmer

  13-05-2015 16:01
  
  As Michael Gove prepares his attempt to repeal this fundamental act, here’s some myth-busting about what it is, and how it worksIn the aftermath of the second world war, nations came together to say “never again”. They established the United Nations and agreed a simple set of universal standards of decency for mankind to cling to: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These standards were intended to protect the individual from the state, to uphold the rights of minorities and to prov
  
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• UK homeless people no longer have to take 'almost impossible' accomodation test

  13-05-2015 14:16
  
  Supreme court finds councils wrongly assessed the level of need of applicants for accomodation, in ruling welcomed by charities Thousands of vulnerable, homeless people should find it easier to obtain council accommodation following a supreme court judgment that will require housing officers to adopt a new approach.The ruling, welcomed by charities that support rough sleepers, found many local authorities have wrongly been assessing need in relation to those deemed “street homeless” – even
  
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• UK homeless no longer have to take 'almost impossible' accomodation test

  13-05-2015 14:16
  
  Supreme court finds councils wrongly assessed the level of need of applicants for accomodation, in ruling welcomed by charities Thousands of vulnerable, homeless people should find it easier to obtain council accommodation following a supreme court judgment that will require housing officers to adopt a new approach.The ruling, welcomed by charities that support rough sleepers, found many local authorities have wrongly been assessing need in relation to those deemed “street homeless” – even
  
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• UK homeless no longer have to take 'almost impossible' accommodation test

  13-05-2015 14:16
  
  Supreme court finds councils wrongly assessed the level of need of applicants for accommodation in ruling welcomed by charities Thousands of vulnerable homeless people should find it easier to obtain council accommodation following a supreme court judgment that will require housing officers to adopt a new approach. The ruling, welcomed by charities that support rough sleepers, found that many local authorities have wrongly been assessing need in relation to those deemed “street homeless” –
  
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• Homeless people no longer have to take 'almost impossible' accomodation test

  13-05-2015 14:16
  
  Supreme court finds councils wrongly assessed the level of need of applicants for accomodation, in ruling welcomed by charities Thousands of vulnerable, homeless people should find it easier to obtain council accommodation following a supreme court judgment that will require housing officers to adopt a new approach.The ruling, welcomed by charities that support rough sleepers, found many local authorities have wrongly been assessing need in relation to those deemed “street homeless” – even
  
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• French police watchdog investigates video of alleged abuse of Calais migrants

  13-05-2015 13:51
  
  Video posted online appears to show officers shoving, kicking and beating migrants on road leading to ferry portThe French police watchdog has launched an inquiry after amateur video footage appeared to show policemen in Calais beating and kicking migrants who had been hiding in lorries hoping to cross to the UK.
  The video, posted online by the group Calais Migrant Solidarity, appears to show officers stopping migrants on the motorway branch leading to the Calais ferry port. They can be seen sho
  
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• Theresa May's counter-extremism proposals are fraught with difficulties

  13-05-2015 13:37
  
  Analysis: plans to act against ‘extremists who spread hate but do not break existing laws’ could cover all sorts of non-violent political activistsDon’t make the mistake of thinking it was only the Liberal Democrats who were opposed to Theresa May’s counter-extremism proposals when she first floated them before the general election. Related: David Cameron to unveil new limits on extremists' activities in Queen's speechContinue reading...
  
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• It wasn't just Lib Dems who opposed Theresa May's counter-extremism plans

  13-05-2015 13:37
  
  Analysis: previous objections from Tory ministers such as Greg Clark and Nicky Morgan may account for some notable omissions from the latest proposalsDon’t make the mistake of thinking it was only the Liberal Democrats who were opposed to Theresa May’s counter-extremism proposals when she first floated them before the general election. Related: David Cameron to unveil new limits on extremists' activities in Queen's speechContinue reading...
  
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• ICC urges Israel to cooperate with probe into potential breaches in Palestine

  13-05-2015 13:24
  
  International criminal court warns Israel that a full investigation into the Gaza conflict may go ahead even without its helpIsrael has been warned by the international criminal court (ICC) that if it does not cooperate with an initial investigation into possible breaches of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories, the court may launch a full investigation without its input.
  The remarks, made by the court’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in an interview with the Associated P
  
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• Hong Kong rule of law still strong, says chief justice

  13-05-2015 13:12 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Geoffrey Ma says rule of law still exists, but warns of potential public loss of confidence. 
  
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• Neuberger backs compulsory mediation for more civil cases

  13-05-2015 12:43 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Supreme Court president praises mediation as quicker, cheaper and less stressful than litigation. 
  
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• Retention of offenders' DNA profiles not illegal, supreme court rules

  13-05-2015 12:29
  
  Court rules in test case involving drink driver that storing a man’s DNA profile is proportionate interference with his right to privacyRetaining DNA profiles of convicted adults indefinitely is not an illegal breach of their privacy, the supreme court has ruled in a test case involving a Northern Ireland drink driver.The judgment by the UK’s highest court sets a significant precedent in making a clear distinction between information that police forces may keep on those who have been convict
  
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• Retention of offenders' DNA does not breach privacy, supreme court rules

  13-05-2015 12:29
  
  Court rules in test case involving drink driver that storing man’s DNA profile is proportionate interference with his right to privacyRetaining DNA profiles of convicted adults indefinitely is not an illegal breach of their privacy, the supreme court has ruled in a test case involving a Northern Ireland drink driver.The judgment by the UK’s highest court sets a significant precedent in making a clear distinction between information that police forces may keep on those who have been convicted
  
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• QS founder launches ‘Trip Advisor’-style legal comparison site

  13-05-2015 11:15 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Lawyers will be encouraged to respond personally to clients’ comments and advised on how best to do so.
  
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• UK law firm Gateley plans to pioneer London IPO - City A.M.

  13-05-2015 08:35
  
  City A.M.
  UK law firm Gateley plans to pioneer London IPO
  City A.M.
  A corporate law firm that counts Mothercare and West Ham as clients is hoping to break new ground by becoming the first British firm to float on the stock market. Gateley, which has offices at Paternoster Square, is hoping to raise £10m by listing ...
  
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• Legal eagles: UK law firm plans to pioneer London float - City A.M.

  13-05-2015 08:35
  
  City A.M.
  Legal eagles: UK law firm plans to pioneer London float
  City A.M.
  A corporate law firm that counts Mothercare and West Ham as clients is hoping to break new ground by becoming the first British firm to float on the stock market. Gateley, which has offices at Paternoster Square, is hoping to raise £10m by listing ...
  
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• SRA right to intervene in solicitor who 'lost ethical compass'

  13-05-2015 08:04 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  High Court backs regulator’s decision to shut down firm, despite pleas for more lenient punishment.
  
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• Torture still routine in Chinese jails says Human Rights Watch report

  13-05-2015 04:19
  
  Human Rights Watch report says detainees electrocuted, shackled to chairs, starved and deprived of sleep to elicit confessions Torture is still routine in Chinese jails, with police flouting regulations and courts ignoring rules designed to exclude evidence and confessions obtained by mistreatment, a report by Human Rights Watch has warned.
  Detainees, their relatives and lawyers said abuse included prisoners being beaten and electrocuted with batons, deprived of sleep, shackled in painful positi
  
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• Torture still routine in Chinese jails, Human Rights Watch report finds

  13-05-2015 04:19
  
  Human Rights Watch report says detainees electrocuted, shackled to chairs, starved and deprived of sleep to elicit confessions Torture is still routine in Chinese jails, with police flouting regulations and courts ignoring rules designed to exclude evidence and confessions obtained by mistreatment, a report by Human Rights Watch has warned.
  Detainees, their relatives and lawyers said abuse included prisoners being beaten and electrocuted with batons, deprived of sleep, shackled in painful positi
  
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• Tim Carmody's appointment fractured Queensland's courts. Will he keep his promise to leave? | Richard Ackland

  13-05-2015 03:21
  
  The appeal of Brett Cowan’s murder conviction is up in the air. Senior figures openly criticise the chief justice. The damage is worseningBias is in everyone’s skin – except judges, who are supposed to be blemish-free. If it does bubble to the surface there are quaint procedures whereby judges are supposed to hear submissions and contemplate their own “apprehended bias” and, if need be, disqualify themselves from sitting. Related: Why Tim Carmody's appointment matters for Queensland |
  
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• Tim Carmody said he'd leave if justice was damaged in Queensland. Exhibit A: the Morcombe case | Richard Ackland

  13-05-2015 03:21
  
  The appeal of Brett Cowan’s murder conviction is up in the air. Senior figures openly criticise the chief justice. The damage is worseningBias is in everyone’s skin – except judges, who are supposed to be blemish-free. If it does bubble to the surface there are quaint procedures whereby judges are supposed to hear submissions and contemplate their own “apprehended bias” and, if need be, disqualify themselves from sitting. Related: Why Tim Carmody's appointment matters for Queensland |
  
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