This article has been extracted from the Guardian Website here Legal watchdog warns budget cuts will damage justice Ministry’s proposals to reduce criminal legal aid budget by £220m is ‘unfair in principle’ and ‘risks undermining quality’ Depriving defendants of the ability to choose their own solicitor will undermine confidence in the criminal justice system, an [...]
Cuts in legal aid in Criminal courts expected to reach £370m
May 21, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Law Society Gazettee reports that The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that projected savings of £150m in fee cuts will not, as was expected, count towards required cuts of £220m a year – taking cuts in criminal legal aid to £370m. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that projected savings of £150m in fee cuts [...]
Home Secretary say criminal suspects who have been arrested should not normally be named until they are charged
May 17, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from an article that appeared in The Independent on the 16th May 2013. Criminal suspects who have been arrested should not normally be named until they are charged, the Home Secretary has said. In a letter to the recently formed professional standards body, the College of Policing, Theresa May said she [...]
The UK Supreme Court cuts the compensation awarded to a life-sentence prisoner
May 8, 2013 from Leave a Comment
“The UK supreme court has cut the compensation awarded to a life-sentence prisoner whose original release was delayed from £10,000 to £6,500, in a ruling that will nonetheless lead to payouts for scores of convicted murderers, rapists and other violent prisoners.” Full Story: The Guardian here
Conviction rates for rape and domestic violence cases have risen to an all time high
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from a a more detailed report which appeared on the Guardian website here on 23rd April. Conviction rates for rape and domestic violence cases have risen to an all time high, the director of public prosecutions (DPP) has revealed, amid criticism that too few cases are being brought to court. Figures released by the [...]
Duty of disclosure to be eased for ex-prisoners with convictions seeking insurance cover
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is a very interesting article in Inside Time regarding difficulties faced by ex prisoners in obtaining insurance. Thanks largely to the efforts of Sale Insurance Services (SIS) insurance discrimination against ex prisoners is soon to be a thing of the past. “Things are improving year on year and this month (April 2013) a change [...]
Proposed reforms to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act criticised – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This article by Lucy Corin appears on the Halsebury Law Exchange website here Imagine you are a middle-aged man with a young family looking to change career to work as a primary school teacher. When you were 12 you took a chocolate bar from a shop. You learnt a salutary lesson and never repeated this [...]
Message from David Wood QC – Legal Aid and the Death of Justice
May 1, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Message from David Wood QC – Legal Aid and the Death of Justice ========================= This message appears on the Miscarriages of JusticeUK (MOJUK) News Service ========================= Save UK Justice I need your help. Not your money, or more of your time than you can give, just your help. This is a link to a petition [...]
Major law changes are turning the tide on the growing compensation culture
May 1, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The following Press release was been issued by the Ministry of Justice on the 1st May 2013. Major law changes are turning the tide on the growing compensation culture, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said today. Major law changes are turning the tide on the growing compensation culture which has forced up insurance premiums and left [...]
Home secretary orders probe over police compensation
April 19, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item first appeared on the BBC website on the 18th May Home Secretary Theresa May has said she wants to know if the case of a Norfolk police officer suing a garage owner was “symptomatic” of a claims culture among officers. Mrs May told the Home Affairs Select Committee it was important to find [...]
Serious consideration to be given to keeping the names of suspects confidential until they are charged
April 9, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Daily Telegraph report (here) that serious consideration is being given to keeping the names of suspects confidential until they are charged. Britain’s police chiefs are considering proposals that would mean names were only released once someone has been charged with an offence. The plans follow recommendations made by Lord Justice Leveson in his report [...]
Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England given power to request any person or body to supply relevant information
April 4, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2013 has now been enacted. This amends Section 8 of the Act inserts by inserting Section 14B into the Children Act 2004(b) which gives Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England the power to request any person or body to supply such information as is specified in [...]
Government to introduce new rules to limit unfair dismissal claims
April 4, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Guardian have reported (here) that the government intend to introduce new legislation to make it easier for employer to get rid of staff A raft of changes to the way your employer can treat you will be introduced this summer in a bill that, critics say, will make it quicker and cheaper to sack staff. [...]
Legal aid is being ruled out of court
April 4, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is rather glum and disturbing report in the Guardian (here) written by Liz Phillips and published on Saturday 23 March 2013 suggesting that far-reaching changes will effectively prevent anyone earning more than £20,000 a year from obtaining legal aid. From the beginning of April 2013 the chances of getting help with legal bills will be slim. The [...]
Government accepts recommendations for new rules for Employment Tribunals
March 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Law Society have announced that the Government is to radically overhaul procedure for Employment Tribunals. Employment tribunals are to become the ‘last resort, not the first port of call’ after the government’s announcement today that it has accepted proposals in a fundamental review of procedure for tribunals. The proposals accepted by the government include new [...]
Solicitors to challenge to Sex Offenders Registration Rules
March 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The following Media release has been issued by Quality Solicitors Jordans X v Secretary of State for Home Department March 7, 2013 It has been confirmed that a challenge to the requirement of convicted Sex Offenders to provide details of their bank accounts and credit cards will be heard by the Administrative Court at Birmingham [...]
Media Release: Chris Saltrese responds to DPP’s proposals to review sexual offences programme.
March 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Following media release has been issued by Chris Saltrese, a solicitor specialising in defending allegations of sexual abuse . MEDIA RELEASE CHRIS SALTRESE RESPONSE TO THE DPP’S PROPOSALS TO REVIEW SEXUAL OFFENCE PROSECUTIONS “Case building’ risks case manufacture in historic child abuse” warns defence solicitor. Responding to the DPPs proposals to increase prosecutions for alleged [...]
The Independent Police Complaints Commission to be given more staff to deal with complains against the Police.
February 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Home Office have issued a Press release stating that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is to be expanded to deal with all serious complaints against the police, the Home Secretary announced today. The move was revealed as part of series of measures designed to ensure the highest standards of integrity in policing. In addition to the expansion [...]
Cleaning up the Act – Inside Time Article
February 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drwan to an article entitled Cleaning Up the Act by Stanley Best, a barrister and former Chairman of the British Legal Association, in Inside Time February issue 2013 in which he casts a practised eye over recent legal stories
Crime Statistics for England & Wales: violent crime and sexual offences
February 11, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Guardian have published an article following publication of Crime Statistics for England & Wales: violent crime and sexual offences Over 2.1 million violent incidents were recorded in 2011/12 by the Crime Survey for England and Wales. See what the latest figures say • Download the data • More crime data • More data journalism and data visualisations from [...]
Mid Staffs report: NHS culture was the culprit
February 11, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This extract has been taken from the The Guardian on 6th February 2013. The scale of Robert Francis’s report cannot be overestimated – and neither can the magnitude of cultural change it calls for In answering the question of why hundreds of patients died needlessly at the Mid Staffordshire trust in the years between 2005 [...]