Last 3 months headlines – Page 1139
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Public law ultra vires
It is clear that in certain circumstances a local authority can plead lack of legal capacity as a defence to a private law claim (see Credit Suisse v Allerdale Borough Council [1996] 4 All ER 129). However, can a local authority prosecute for failure to have a valid caravan site ...
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Mid-sized firms feel the pinch in Scotland
Scottish firms are emptying their bank balances as partners face up to reduced profits, a survey revealed today. Research commissioned by the Law Society of Scotland found that median profit was £64,000 per partner in 2012, £7,000 down on the previous year. ...
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A quarter of judges escape Grayling’s pension cuts
Judges within 10 years of retirement will be shielded from reform of their pension scheme, justice secretary Chris Grayling today confirmed. Those who were 10 years, or less, away from retirement at 1 April, 2012 – around 25% of the total profession – will continue in their current schemes and ...
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A flawed international tribunal
Considering its economic, kinship and historic ties with the UK, Bangladesh is absurdly under-reported in the British media. So you probably won’t have picked up the latest news from the country’s attempt to draw a judicial line under events that took place during its bloody birth, four decades ago.
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‘Limited trust’ threat to SRA whistleblowing plan - Society
Whistleblowers in the legal profession do not trust the SolicitorsRegulation Authority enough to agree to report misconduct, the Law Societysaid today. The Society said there was no pressing need for a cooperation policy toencourage people to report colleagues for wrong-doing.
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‘Limited trust’ undermines SRA whistleblower plan - Society
Whistleblowers in the legal profession do not trust the Solicitors Regulation Authority enough to agree to report misconduct, the Law Society said today. The Society said there was no pressing need for a cooperation policy to encourage people to report colleagues for wrongdoing. ...
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EC proposes new money-laundering controls
A long-awaited directive against money laundering published by the European Commission today includes new mechanisms to ensure that beneficial owners of companies are identifiable. The commission’s fourth anti-money laundering (AML) directive includes a regulation governing information that accompanies fund transfers. The commission said the proposals ...
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Solicitors urged to vet insurer finances
The Law Society is warning solicitors to check the financial strength of an insurer before purchasing their next professional indemnity insurance policy. The Society said the warning is to quell the misconception that insurers on the Solicitors Regulation Authority list of ‘qualifying insurers’ are ...
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MPs condemn ‘shambolic’ court interpreter deal
The Ministry of Justice’s outsourcing of court interpreter services was ‘nothing short of shambolic’ according to a highly critical report from the House of Commons Justice Committee, which questions whether the deal is ‘financially sustainable’. The report, published today, also condemns the MoJ’s actions in seeking ...
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Lords back Leveson-style press arbitration service
Peers voted last night in favour of an amendment to the Defamation Bill to introduce a low-cost arbitration service to help ordinary citizens who feel they have been wronged by the press. The House of Lords voted in favour of the change, a key recommendation of ...
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Part-time judges win pensions battle at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today ruled that part-time judges are entitled to the same pension, pro rata, as their full-time colleagues. The ruling will have important implications for solicitors currently working as part-time judges in courts and tribunals, as well as other part-time workers. ...
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What Mid Staffs and RBS have in common
Banks and the health service were both in the news this morning – a £400m fine for state-owned RBS for Libor-fixing; and a damning report on failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust where, in addition to multiple failings, patient deaths were hundreds above what one would expect for the hospital’s ...
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Small-claims limit could rise above £5,000, Grayling admits
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the proposed new small-claims court limit of £5,000 may be ‘too low’ – despite the ongoing consultation on raising the figure from £1,000. Grayling (pictured) told parliament on Tuesday that raising the small-claims limit to £5,000 would mean ...
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EU crime and justice measures of ‘real importance’ says Starmer
Failure to opt back in to EU criminal justice measures will hamper the UK’s ability to prosecute cross-border crime, making procedures ‘uncertain, cumbersome and fragmented’, the director of public prosecutions told peers today. Keir Starmer QC also revealed that there was no formal consultation with the ...
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400 jobs saved as Cobbetts deal goes through
All training contracts will be honoured and more than 400 jobs saved at defunct firm Cobbetts, administrators today confirmed.
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Costs: more haste, less speed
by Francesca Kaye, president of London Solicitors Litigation Association and a partner in Russell-Cooke LLP The recent Court of Appeal decision in favour of Sylvia Henry eloquently emphasised how unwise the headlong charge into the as-yet-unpublished new costs rules will be.
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Grieve alarmed by ‘trial by Google’
‘Trial by Google’ offends fundamental principles of the English legal system, undermining trials and open justice, the attorney general has warned. Dominic Grieve spoke last night highlighting the dangers posed to fair trials due to the growth of the internet, but he argued that the law ...
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Third-party funders face tougher rules
The Association of Litigation Funders (ALF) is to bolster measures to protect clients whose litigation is funded by third-party investors. Writing in the February edition of the Gazette’s sister publication Litigation Funding, the ALF’s chair, Leslie Perrin, reveals that the body will introduce tougher rules to ...
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Complaints, horrible jumpers and ill-fitting socks
If you look at the recent legal press you might be forgiven for thinking that there is at least one growing area of law that is doing well in the recession – complaints. We get bombarded daily with calls to deal with them better, quicker and more expensively.
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MPs censure pre-pack deals as Cobbetts takeover goes ahead
‘Pre-pack’ deals like the one that this week saved defunct law firm Cobbetts face new scrutiny, following a critical report by MPs.