Lawyer news

• Theresa May faces fight over web browsing access

  02-11-2015 21:36
  
  Labour and Nick Clegg prepare to contest snooper’s charter plan to give intelligence agencies more powersThe home secretary, Theresa May, should not seek to give the intelligence agencies full access to an individual’s web browsing history, Labour and the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg are both likely to say when the government publishes its draft investigatory powers bill on Wednesday.
  Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions and now a shadow Home Office min
  
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• US supreme court weighs 'strong' new evidence of racial bias in jury selection

  02-11-2015 21:27
  
  Prosecutor dramatically suggests Georgia could allow retrial in case of Timothy Foster over notes that reveal striking off of black jurors from sentencing juryA lawyer for the prosecution came to the rescue of a prisoner on death row on Monday in a dramatic twist to a US supreme court case described as one of the most egregious cases of courtroom race discrimination seen in decades.
  Timothy Foster, a black teenager who confessed to the murder of a white woman in Atlanta in 1986, is appealing his
  
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• Why the UK’s welcome of Sisi comes as no surprise | Letter from Ahdaf Soueif

  02-11-2015 20:27
  
  Thank you for the excellent piece by Jack Shenker (A dictator comes to town: what is Abdel Fatah al-Sisi here for?, 31 October). We do need to remember, though, that David Cameron’s visit to revolutionary Tahrir in 2011 was a stop-over tacked on to a long-scheduled arms-peddling tour of the Gulf. His companions were eight of Britain’s top arms dealers (Cameron takes arms firm chiefs on trade tour of Arab states, 22 February 2011). This is why Laila Soueif, my sister, said i
  
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• Investigatory powers bill: snooper's charter to remain firmly in place

  02-11-2015 20:23
  
  Legislation will enshrine security services’ licence to hack, bug and burgle their way across the web – with judicial oversight still to be determined
  The key elements of the snooper’s charter, including the bulk collection and storage for 12 months of everyone’s personal data, tracking their use of the web, phones and social media, will remain firmly in place when the government publishes its new investigatory powers bill on Wednesday.The legislation, to be introduced by
  
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• Bill Cosby must provide deposition in Janice Dickinson lawsuit, judge rules

  02-11-2015 20:14
  
  Los Angeles judge says comedian and his former attorney must provide sworn testimony under questioning by model’s lawyers in coming weeksBill Cosby and his former attorney should be deposed by lawyers for Janice Dickinson in the model’s defamation lawsuit against the embattled comedian, a judge ruled Monday.Los Angeles superior court judge Debre Katz Weintraub ruled Cosby and his former lawyer Martin Singer must give their sworn testimony before 25 November. Related: Bill Cosby's 'sm
  
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• Regulators support ‘aspirational’ pro bono targets

  02-11-2015 18:02 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Idea floated as the profession decides how best to respond to the lord chancellor’s proposal to get City firms to fill the justice funding gap.
  
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• Super-regulator concerned over ABS authorisation rule change

  02-11-2015 17:02 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Legal Services Board issues ‘warning notice’ extending the notice period on decision concerning licensing condition for alternative business structures.
  
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• Man convicted of murder in secret trial seeks to take case to Strasbourg

  02-11-2015 16:17
  
  Wang Yam asks supreme court to overrule government claim his case is too sensitive to take to European court of human rightsA Chinese dissident convicted of murder after a secret trial has appealed to Britain’s most senior judges to overturn a ban on him taking his case to the European court of human rights.Wang Yam was convicted at the Old Bailey after a trial during which his defence was heard in secret on the grounds of national security. The way secrecy was imposed and the attempt to s
  
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• Judge Dredd's assault on consumer culture icons finally unleashed

  02-11-2015 14:57
  
  Withheld since the 1970s for legal reasons, two unseen episodes of The Cursed Earth series satirising consumer brands will now be publishedEpisodes of the Judge Dredd strip from classic British weekly comic 2000AD that poked fun at McDonald’s, Burger King and corporate mascots such as the Michelin Man and the Jolly Green Giant are due to be reprinted after almost four decades in legal limbo.
  In 1978, the comic featured a long-running storyline called The Cursed Earth, in which the far-futu
  
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• What is the crime of human trafficking?

  02-11-2015 14:44
  
  Trafficking is defined under various international laws, including in the UK and IrelandExperts explain that trafficking usually involves the movement of people for the purposes of exploitation. The intention to exploit is the key factor in defining the crime, not whether the person consented to the journey, although this is often not understood by authorities coming in to contact with victims. The UK’s new Modern Slavery Act consolidates existing legislation defining trafficking as a crim
  
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• Supreme court case to examine alleged racial prejudice in US juries

  02-11-2015 14:44
  
  Civil rights activists hope appeal in case of Timothy Foster, a black teenager sentenced to death by all-white jury, will lead to major changes in jury selectionAlleged racial prejudice at the heart of the US criminal justice system comes under scrutiny at the supreme court on Monday, as it considers the controversial case of a black teenager sentenced to death by an all-white jury.Related: Republicans 'cautious' to confront Black Lives Matter on the campaign trailContinue reading...
  
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• Robot doctors and lawyers? It’s a change we should embrace | Daniel Susskind

  02-11-2015 14:30
  
  In a different age, professions evolved as a solution to our problems. The new generation of machines can help to create services fit for our modern worldThe professions exist because they help us to solve problems that we do not have the expertise or the time to handle ourselves. Yet there are now systems that can do much of this without human experts. As these machines are becoming increasingly capable, now is a good time to ask whether the traditional professions that evolved to solve our pro
  
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• Hub of human trafficking: underground sex trade thrives in Milwaukee

  02-11-2015 13:30
  
  An FBI raid last month pushed Milwaukee up in the trafficking rankings, and one expert says the city is home to a booming underground sex trade economyMilwaukee has become “the Harvard of pimp school” and Wisconsin is a hub of human trafficking, an expert has said in the wake of an FBI sting last month in which nine adolescents were rescued from commercial sexual exploitation, meaning Milwaukee tied with Las Vegas for the third highest number of young people rescued during the FBI ra
  
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• Lord Carlile criticises proposals for judges to approve spying warrants

  02-11-2015 11:18
  
  Former reviewer of terrorism legislation says it would be glib to require judicial oversight of applications by security services to intercept communicationsIt would be glib for the government to require judges to approve warrants to intercept communications, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said, as he called for an end to the “demonisation” of the security services.Alex Carlile QC, a Liberal Democrat peer and former MP, was speaking ahead of the publicat
  
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• Innocent defendants consider guilty plea to reduce legal bill - report

  02-11-2015 09:32 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  ‘Reasonable’ costs should be reimbursed to those acquitted or where prosecution is withdrawn, charity says.
  
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• Tax rules helping UK charities build homes can also bring financial ruin

  02-11-2015 07:56
  
  A London homelessness charity is facing a £1m increase to its housebuilding bill, because rules around VAT exemptions are so complicatedThe housing crisis has hit millions of households, but none more so than the most vulnerable. Young people, homeless people, and those in acute housing need have borne the brunt of dwindling social housing, the exponential growth of council waiting lists and spiralling rents. Thousands of people now rely on the charity sector for supported or emergency hou
  
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• SDT: Timothy Thomas Rogers

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.
  
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• SDT: Olayemi Olive Omobolanle Daniel

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.
  
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• SDT: Mark Christopher Ungoed Davies

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.
  
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• Regulated wills popular among public

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Almost 90% of respondents to YouGov who had a will drafted by a solicitor were satisfied with the process
  
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• Outrage over Legal Aid Agency’s ‘divide and rule’ tactics

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Criminal defence firms awarded legal aid contracts ‘invited’ to join action against challenges from unsuccessful bidders.
  
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• Openness threatened by ‘decluttering’

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The likely findings of the Commission on Freedom of Information’s report.
  
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• New York may relax foreign lawyer rules

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Amendment of rules by New York State Unified Court System would allow jurisdiction to register foreign lawyers ‘in good standing’.
  
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• Localism bill does not rule out bias

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Apparent bias remains a serious risk to local government decisions, as some recent judgments show.
  
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• Firm puts barristers in website shop window

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Criminal defence firm Old Bailey Solicitors has set up a website that showcases a selection of top barristers.
  
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• Events for National Pro Bono Week

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Week will raise awareness of pro bono opportunities among the legal profession.
  
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• EU accession to ECHR back on

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Accession to the European convention under the Lisbon Treaty was dealt a blow last December.
  
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• Companies must be clear on slavery

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Under Modern Slavery Act, large companies must publish proof.
  
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• Canada and law: outward bound

  02-11-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  A shrinking economy and proposed changes to the profession have left Canada’s traditionally insular legal profession looking outwards for new opportunities.
  
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