All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 111

  • News

    CPS trial plans slammed

    2008-07-17T00:00:00Z

    New measures allowing non-legal Crown Prosecution Service staff to conduct trials at magistrates’ courts were this week condemned as dumbing down the service by a leading criminal defence practitioner. Section 55 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which came into force this week, allows ...

  • News

    Call for witness recall education

    2008-07-17T00:00:00Z

    Leading scientific experts have called for the legal profession to become better informed about how memory works and suggested judges should direct juries on how they should treat recall ­evidence. The report of an international working group, published last week by the British Psychological Society, ...

  • News

    Shape up to survive, conveyancers told

    2008-07-10T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has warned conveyancers not to panic as the property market stagnates, but to take action to ‘trim’ themselves down.

  • News

    Sir Igor is new chief justice

    2008-07-10T00:00:00Z

    Sir Igor Judge, the current President of the Queen’s Bench Division, has been named as the next Lord Chief Justice.

  • News

    Anonymity fears

    2008-07-10T00:00:00Z

    Criminal practitioners have urged the government to consult properly before ploughing ahead with emergency legislation to allow witness anonymity, which they fear could jeopardise fair trials. Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: ‘The home secretary should stop and think about the ...

  • News

    Property search 'lottery'

    2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

    The London Borough of Hillingdon has been dubbed the worst performing local authority for delivering property search services, according to a joint survey by search company One Search Direct and home information pack (HIP) provider Simply HIP. The research said the council took an average of ...

  • News

    Judicial candidates selection concern

    2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

    The Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) has voiced concern over reports that candidates have been put forward for judicial appointment in competitions they had not entered. SAL chairman Sailesh Mehta said he had been informed that a position was to be given to a candidate who ...

  • News

    Quality of legal aid provision 'at risk'

    2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

    The government is risking lowering standards in legal aid provision if it presses ahead with its reform programme, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) warned at the launch of a new fundraising campaign – Friends of LAPG – last week. Speaking at the event – which ...

  • News

    Family law solicitors 'will gain' from fee changes

    2008-06-19T00:00:00Z

    The legal aid minister has claimed that family law solicitors will benefit from fee changes that will see barristers' rates cut, in an interview with the Gazette.

  • News

    Discrimination claim

    2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

    The senior partner at one of London's most ethnically diverse law firms, Dean & Dean, has accused the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of racial and religious discrimination.

  • News

    Grayling in concession on client choice

    Archive

    The justice secretary has agreed to retain client choice and signalled his support for an alternative tender model proposed by the Law Society, based on a modified version of GP contracts in the NHS.

  • News

    LETR: business as usual for the bar as report rejects common training

    Archive

    Training for barristers and solicitors is almost certain to remain separate following the Legal Education and Training Review’s rejection of the idea of a common professional course.

  • News

    Co-op ABS will help ‘end advice deserts’

    Archive

    Alternative business structures with national spread such as the Co-operative Legal Services will end the problem of ‘advice deserts’, a senior member of the Legal Services Commission has suggested. Ruth Wayte, the LSC’s director of legal and service development, said she was ‘particularly excited by the Co-op’s client focus’.