Lawyer news

• UK's refusal to release information about animal research violates open ... - Lexington Herald Leader

  22-06-2015 23:33
  Lexington Herald Leader
  UK's refusal to release information about animal research violates open ...
  Lexington Herald Leader
  The University of Kentucky has twice violated the state's open-records law since 2014, according to opinions released Monday by the Kentucky attorney general's office. In the first case, UK denied an August 2014 request by a researcher with People for ...en meer »
  
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• Justice system badly failing most users, says Michael Gove

  22-06-2015 23:00
  
  Justice secretary says the rich get gold-standard service while the rest have to put up with creaking, outdated systemBritain’s justice system is badly failing most people who use courts while providing a gold standard of service to the wealthy, according to the justice secretary, Michael Gove. In his first speech in his new role, Gove will signal a transformation in the government’s approach to the criminal and civil legal system, which has endured repeated cuts to its resources. Continue r
  
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• Gove to pursue urgent reform of ‘dysfunctional’ courts

  22-06-2015 23:00 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Lord chancellor to press ahead with changes advocated earlier this year by Sir Brian Leveson.
  
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• Gove backs urgent reform of ‘dysfunctional’ court system

  22-06-2015 23:00 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Lord chancellor to press ahead with changes advocated earlier this year by Sir Brian Leveson.
  
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• The Guardian view on the 2014 Gaza war report: damning conclusions for both sides | Editorial

  22-06-2015 21:20
  
  The UN commission of inquiry demands accountability from both Israel and the Palestinians for possible war crimesIn the report released on Monday by the UN commission of inquiry on the 2014 Gaza war, one passage stands out. “Palestinian and Israeli children were savagely affected by the events. Children on both sides suffered from bed-wetting, shaking at night, clinging to parents, nightmares and increased levels of aggressiveness.” Those words are a reminder that, in all the positioning and
  
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• The right to appeal is vital to justice | Letter from Penelope Gibbs, Transform Justice

  22-06-2015 20:20
  
  As Joshua Rozenberg points out (Defendants should be allowed to waive their right to trial by jury, theguardian.com, 18 June), Sir Brian Leveson suggests reform to the system of appealing against a criminal conviction or sentence received in a magistrates court. As well as wanting to reduce the number of ways of appealing, he suggests axing the automatic right to appeal. He suggests that all requests to appeal should be “filtered” by judges. Transform Justice has carried out resear
  
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• The right to appeal is vital to justice | Letter from Penelope Gibbs of Transform Justice

  22-06-2015 20:20
  
  As Joshua Rozenberg points out (Defendants should be allowed to waive their right to trial by jury, theguardian.com, 18 June), Sir Brian Leveson suggests reform to the system of appealing against a criminal conviction or sentence received in a magistrates court. As well as wanting to reduce the number of ways of appealing, he suggests axing the automatic right to appeal. He suggests that all requests to appeal should be “filtered” by judges. Transform Justice has carried out resear
  
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• Murderer seeks to overturn ban on secret evidence going to Strasbourg

  22-06-2015 18:55
  
  Lawyers for Wang Yam, convicted of Allan Chappelow murder, say holding parts of case in secret was a breach of his right to fair trialA convicted murderer who claims he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice is seeking to overturn a ban on secret evidence about the security services being disclosed to European judges.The supreme court’s hearing of the unprecedented case of Wang Yam could add to the strain on the UK’s relationship with the European court of human rights (ECHR). Continue re
  
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• Chagos islanders ask supreme court to overturn House of Lords decision

  22-06-2015 18:49
  
  Group say forcible removal from British Indian Ocean homes was made partly on basis of feasibility study which was never presented to original hearing Chagos islanders, forcibly removed from their homes in 1971, have gone to Britain’s highest court to argue that failure to disclose a key Foreign Office document has prevented their return.
  In an unusual legal move, lawyers for Louis Oliver Bancoult, the leader of the Chagos Refugee Group, are trying to persuade the supreme court to overturn a p
  
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• Madoff trustee's appeal over $4bn recovery rejected by US supreme court

  22-06-2015 17:15
  
  High court upholds ruling which says federal bankruptcy law does not let Irving Picard recoup payments made by Bernie Madoff investment firm before collapseThe US supreme court on Monday left intact a court ruling that could prevent victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme from recouping more than $4bn from customers who withdrew money before the enterprise collapsed.The high court left in place a December 2014 ruling by the New York-based second US circuit court of appeals, which said federal
  
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• Courts set for vulnerable witness reform

  22-06-2015 16:00 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Senior judges reveal timetables for addressing vulnerability in criminal and civil justice systems. 
  
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• We cannot fight solicitors’ battles for you – bar

  22-06-2015 15:16 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Criminal Bar Association responds to criticism after its decision not to pursue direct action over legal aid contracts.
  
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• CIA torture is only part of medical science's dark modern history

  22-06-2015 15:05
  
  Recent revelations about post-9/11 practice remind us that doctors’ ethical guidelines are only as good the society that has allowed a variety of shocking human experimentationNew documents released by the Guardian have shown the CIA may have broken its own internal ethics policies during their controversial torture programme following 9/11. In particular the CIA breached its guidelines for “human experimentation”, which specifically state that research should not occur without a subject�
  
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• Share your views on the Human Rights Act

  22-06-2015 14:39
  
  To accompany a Guardian Live debate on the Human Rights Act on 1 July, we’d like to hear your views On 1 July we’re running a Guardian Live event to discuss the Human Rights Act. The panel will include: Simon Hughes, former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats; Martin Howe, QC and prominent advocate for a British Bill of Rights; Bella Sankey, director of policy, Liberty and Lord Blair, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Anne Perkins will chair the event.The Human Rights Act is
  
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• Former RSA Ireland CEO wins unfair dismissal case -lawyer - Yahoo Finance UK

  22-06-2015 14:03
  
  Former RSA Ireland CEO wins unfair dismissal case -lawyer
  Yahoo Finance UK
  DUBLIN, June 22 (Reuters) - An Irish tribunal has ruled in favour of the former Chief Executive of RSA Ireland, Philip Smith, in an unfair dismissal case and awarded him 1.25 million euros ($1.42 million), a spokesman for Smith's lawyer said on Monday.en meer »
  
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• Australia passes controversial anti-piracy web censorship law - Ars Technica UK (blog)

  22-06-2015 13:53
  
  Ars Technica UK (blog)
  Australia passes controversial anti-piracy web censorship law
  Ars Technica UK (blog)
  A controversial bill to allow websites to be censored has been passed by both houses of the Australian parliament. The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 allows companies to go to a Federal Court judge to get overseas sites blocked if ...en meer »
  
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• Taking divorce out of the courts is not an attack on marriage | Suzanne Moore

  22-06-2015 13:28
  
  Proposals to make divorce more streamlined will not encourage couples to split – they merely reflect the reality of our changing family patternsShould getting a divorce be made as easy as “discarding an old carrier bag”? I think it should be, actually, and I probably know as much about marriage as Ann Widdecombe who has criticised proposed reforms that will enable couples to arrange “over the counter“ divorces.Widdecombe was speaking about the move to take divorce out of the court syst
  
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• HMCTS reveals plans to cut 400 court jobs

  22-06-2015 13:26 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Reduction in posts to come through staff choosing to leave and a ‘voluntary exit scheme’.
  
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• Spies Hacked Computers Thanks to Sweeping Secret Warrants, Aggressively ... - The Intercept - First Look Media

  22-06-2015 13:15
  
  The Intercept - First Look Media
  Spies Hacked Computers Thanks to Sweeping Secret Warrants, Aggressively ...
  The Intercept - First Look Media
  British spies have received government permission to intensively study software programs for ways to infiltrate and take control of computers. The GCHQ spy agency was vulnerable to legal action for the hacking efforts, known as “reverse engineering ...
  
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• Firm denies wrongdoing after solicitor fraud charges

  22-06-2015 13:12 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Chambers Solicitors says it will ‘vigorously contest’ charges brought against two practitioners.
  
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• Legal aid ballot extended as opposition to CBA retreat grows

  22-06-2015 12:39 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Ballot inviting lawyers to refuse work in protest at cuts to legal aid has been extended to Thursday in light of the bar’s decision not to take direct action.
  
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• Met police to step up targeted stop and search amid surge in knife-crime

  22-06-2015 12:29
  
  Recent spate of stabbings in London prompts Met to introduce more checks targeting gangs and high knife-crime areasThe Metropolitan police are to step up their use of targeted stop-and-search operations in high knife-crime areas of London due to a recent rise in stabbings in the capital.The Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said that although knife crime in London had dropped by 30% overall, with 3,645 fewer victims over recent years, there had been a 21% rise in the last 12 months – o
  
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• German protests grow over detention of Egyptian journalist

  22-06-2015 12:29
  
  Al-Jazeera’s Ahmed Mansour, who was convicted of an attack in Tahrir Square, remains in a Berlin jail after he was held on an Egyptian arrest warrantEgyptian journalist Ahmed Mansour has spent a second night in police custody in Germany as uncertainty continued following his arrest at Berlin’s Tegel airport on an Egyptian warrant.
  Mansour’s lawyer in Berlin, Fazli Altin, told the DPA news agency that his client faces an extradition hearing on Monday. However, Tobias Kaehne, spokesman for t
  
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• Profits soar by one-third at Pinsent Masons

  22-06-2015 12:09 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  International firm reports PEP up 32.8% to £538,000.
  
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• Editorial - alcohol no excuse for murder: from the archive, 22 June 1888

  22-06-2015 06:30
  
  Editorial: Like Dr Jekyll, the man who wilfully destroys his own power of self-control must be held responsible for the consequences of his actionsIs drunkenness an excuse for homicide? Such in effect is the question that recently came before the Supreme Court of Kansas for its decision. In November, 1886, Mr. L. D. Collier, a son of the well-known preacher Dr. Robert L. Collier, was shot dead by one of his acquaintances, J. H. Yarborough, who was at the time in a state of intoxication. A jury f
  
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• Chagos islanders go to supreme court in battle to be allowed home

  22-06-2015 01:01
  
  Residents forcibly removed from Indian Ocean islands challenging 2008 Lords decision on grounds of ‘material non-disclosure’
  Former residents of the Chagos Islands who were forcibly removed from their homeland more than 40 years ago will take their long legal battle to the UK’s highest court on Monday.They are going to the supreme court in London to challenge a decision made six years ago by the House of Lords which dashed their hopes of returning home to their native islands in the Indian
  
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• UN probes civil legal aid cuts

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  A women’s charity has appealed for information about the impact of civil legal aid cuts on victims of violence ahead of a UN inspection of whether the UK is complying with its international obligations.
  
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• ‘Settled statute book’ vital for Wales – Huckle

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Welsh government’s senior legal authority says the assembly government should take an active approach to legal matters ahead of any agreement to create a formal separate jurisdiction.
  
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• Representation in SFO interviews

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Does a person interviewed in a criminal investigation have the right to a solicitor of their choice?
  
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• New financial list for complex cases

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The ‘financial list’ would provide a specialist dispute resolution forum in the face of competition from centres such as Dubai and Singapore.
  
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• Magna Carta for schools

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Veteran opinion pollster visited Chancery Lane last week to speak to junior lawyers about his project to take Magna Carta to schools.
  
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• Criminal solicitors berate bar retreat

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Tony Cross will have ‘some explaining to do to those of his members who voted for no returns’.
  
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• Court bundles – be warned

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The run of recent cases on the issue is essential reading for practitioners if they wish to avoid being named and shamed.
  
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• City lawyers deny using ‘poshness test’

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Chief executive of the City of London Law Society dismisses research that suggests firms are excluding the working class.
  
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• Bar’s client account fund to cut fees to attract solicitors

  22-06-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Escrow account aims to become the ‘service of choice for legal professionals’.
  
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