Last 3 months headlines – Page 1153
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, July 1963 World peace through law As this issue of the Gazette is published, the First World Conference on World Peace through the Rule of Law will have reached its concluding sessions in Athens. The first task of the world conference was to try to formulate ...
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Whole life imprisonment breaches human rights, rules Strasbourg
The whole life imprisonment of murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers breaches their rights under article 3 of the European Convention, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case’s final judgment today. The three killers are subject to whole life orders, meaning they cannot be released other ...
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Society warns against jailing ‘reckless’ bankers
New criminal sanctions that would jail senior bankers for ‘reckless misconduct’ will not stop banks failing or help to promote economic growth, the Law Society said today. Chancery Lane’s warning comes as the government is accused of watering down proposals made last month by the parliamentary commission on banking standards. ...
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UK will bid to rejoin watered-down European arrest warrant
The government is to exercise its opt-out of 135 European crime and justice measures pre-dating the 2007 Lisbon Treaty – but hopes to rejoin some 30, including the European arrest warrant and the law enforcement agency Europol, the home secretary said today. In a well-trailed statement to the House of ...
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Women being imprisoned unnecessarily, reformers say
Magistrates’ courts are sending fewer women to prison than in previous years but some courts are four times more likely to jail women than others, according to figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform. Research by the charity reveals that although the overall number of women being sent ...
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Political storm over Strasbourg whole life ruling
Ministers have condemned the decision by Strasbourg that whole life sentences breach human rights, suggesting that the role of the European Court of Human Rights should be ‘curtailed’. The attack follows the final ruling of the court yesterday that whole life imprisonment of murderer Jeremy Bamber and two others breached ...
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Insurer calls on government to look again at whiplash awards
A leading figure at Britain’s biggest car insurer has urged the government to consider looking again at compensation awards for whiplash injuries. Tom Woolgrove (pictured), managing director of personal lines at Direct Line, said it was ‘obvious’ car insurance premiums had fallen following reforms of ...
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Profits soar by 32% at TLT
Profits at national firm TLT soared by 32% to £7.4m in 2012 – on turnover up 11.6% to £49.6m, according to financial results released today. Profit per equity partner rose 7.5% to £274,00. Last year TLT merged with Scottish firm Anderson ...
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Liverpool pioneer Betty Behn dies at 95
A service will take place tomorrow to celebrate the life of Betty Behn, one of Liverpool’s first women solicitors, who has died at the age of 95. Betty Behn joined the firm John A.Behn, Twyford & Reece in 1935 where she served five years articles. She qualified as a solicitor ...
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New government strategy for professional services
Boosting exports and improving skills levels in professional firms are the key priorities of the government’s industrial strategy for professional and business services, published today. The 48-page document, from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, highlights the importance of broadening higher apprenticeship routes in the professions, in particular the ...
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MoJ contracts reviewed as G4S referred to SFO
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate contractor G4S after telling parliament that it and rival Serco had overcharged the government by ‘tens of millions of pounds’ for tagging criminals. Grayling said the firms had charged the government for tagging people who were in prison, ...
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Next year's PC fees agreed today – full details
Individual solicitors will be shielded from significant fee increases next year but most firms will pay more. The Law Society today agreed that its net funding requirement for 2014 will be £116.8m, an increase from £103.5m the previous year. The funds cover the Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority and external bodies ...
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Nothing for Nothing
The news that more solicitors are turning to crime to keep their practices afloat is indeed terrible, writes James Morton. For far too long solicitors have neglected their businesses at the expense of clients and this altruism has clearly gone too far. But what can be done to reverse what ...
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Clutching at Straw
If there is one thing you can say about Jack Straw, it is that he is regimentally strict about declaring his expenses. In the past 15 months, therefore, we know he was paid £48,000 for speaking engagements at home and abroad (this included £20,000 for a speech at the University ...
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Petition calls for civil claims centre closure
An online petition is calling on the government to halt the ‘industrialisation of the judicial system’ by immediately shutting down the Salford civil claims centre. The centre, which was opened in early 2012, is the HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) centralised facility for handling civil claims. It aims to ...
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Dig the new breed
Manchester criminal solicitor Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, has a new breed of client: the Staffordshire bull terrier. Freeman, renowned for helping celebrities escape motoring convictions, aims to rehabilitate the image of the dog following an incident involving a Staffie suspected of biting off another dog’s head. Freeman has owned ...
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Water Divining
Yes, it’s the time of year when legal aid solicitors shed a tear for colleagues at the City firms as they announce their annual results. In general the form with these announcements is that the worse the results, the less assistance the press is given to report them. So hats ...
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60 lawyers to go at global giant
A US law firm with a significant presence in London has confirmed it is making 170 redundancies worldwide. Top 20 global firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges told staff in a mass email that 60 lawyers were being cut along with 110 support staff. A spokesman for the firm declined to ...
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NewsJudicial satire is deadly serious
Price-competitive tendering for judges. That is the subject of a spoof essay of application for the job of lord chief justice, penned by Court of Appeal judge Sir Alan Moses (‘aged 67½’), demonstrating the absurdity of the government’s planned legal aid reforms. The sitting judge read his work ‘What I ...
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NewsA song and dance over Europe
I preferred to be a wall-flower last week rather than join in the wild and shameless hokey cokey led by the government over the decision both to opt out and then opt back in to various EU criminal law measures. We will opt out of 135 and opt back in ...