Last 3 months headlines – Page 1321
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Non-disclosure of assets in divorce proceedings
Is the non-disclosure of assets a common problem within divorce proceedings or not? Is it simply the case that suspicious spouses expect the worst of their soon-to-be former partner? Is it just the case that family lawyers are a cynical bunch? The 2011 Grant Thornton matrimonial ...
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Reform could curtail Strasbourg
The government has high hopes of reaching an agreement in Brighton next month that will lead to major reforms to the European Convention on Human Rights and the court in Strasbourg that enforces it. Britain’s proposals are set out in a draft declaration which the government hopes will be approved ...
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The justice equation
Stepping on to a single-engine aeroplane from Kathmandu to Pokhara in Nepal, my legal partner Martin Howe and I decided to divert our attention away from the frightening prospect of the flight over the Himalayan mountains by continuing our discussion about the meaning of justice and seeking to create an ...
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Opening doors
In 2010 I attended the Commonwealth Lawyers Association’s regional conference at Abuja, Nigeria and was introduced to the concept of a multi-door court. It seems to me that now the Ministry of Justice has a number of empty courts, the time is right to explore the multi-door concept and possibly ...
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Counting the costs
While not a member of the Law Society, I read the Gazette with great interest, particularly in relation to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill and the extension of the RTA scheme to include employers’ and public liability claims.
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Insult to injury
There was an extraordinarily revealing moment during a recent BBC interview of Kenneth Clarke by Joshua Rozenberg for the Law in Action programme. Towards the end of the programme Mr Rozenberg asked a key question: ‘The proposal is that the people who are the victims ...
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Jackson job losses
It occurred to me yesterday that yet another sad consequence of Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms is that they will probably lead not only to job losses in claimant firms, but also mass redundancies in defendant solicitor firms. The latter will now be at the whim of their paymasters as to ...
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Title role
I have to thank Dr Julian Critchlow for his contribution because he helps to reinforce my point. He goes out of his way to use what I am sure is a well-deserved doctorate and I immediately felt immense respect for him.
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Salford claims centre plagued by complaints
Complaints continue to pour in about the new centralised facility for handling civil claims, with under two weeks to go before the centre is set to become fully operational. A solicitor told the Gazette he was still ‘reeling from the nightmare’ of dealing with the County ...
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Thousands miss PC renewal deadline
Thousands of solicitors appear to have failed to apply in time for practising certificates this year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed. The deadline for applications, extended because of difficulties with the mySRA online application system, passed last Friday.
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Clarke defends secret trials
Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has defended plans to extend secret trials across a range of proceedings in the civil courts, arguing that a ‘unique and unprecedented’ terrorist threat means that evidence affecting national security can be safely disclosed only behind closed doors. A measure in the ...
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ALS offers cash to beat interpreting boycott
The company running the controversial new courtroom interpreting service is offering cash incentives to interpreters who recruit friends, the Gazette has learned, as it emerged than nine out of 10 court interpreters are boycotting the service.
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Society slams tribunal fee plans
The Law Society has condemned as creating a barrier to justice government plans to introduce fees for taking claims to employment tribunals and employment appeals tribunals. The government is consulting on charging fees in order to transfer costs of running the employment tribunal system to ...
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Quality test 'should not protect barristers'
Controversy about the use of judicial evaluation in a new scheme to assess the quality of advocates has escalated, with solicitors’ bodies warning that the scheme could become a means to protect barristers.
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Court upholds wasted costs order
The Court of Appeal has upheld a wasted costs order against a Buckinghamshire firm, ruling that it was ‘complicit’ in its client’s ‘manipulation’ of the court process by failing to give reasons for opposing a hearsay notice in a criminal trial.
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Ticking all the right boxes
If the local plod happened to ask about your attitude to law-breaking, you would probably not confess to a list of crimes before knocking the bobby’s helmet off and doing a runner.
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Roll of honour
Yep, they’re definitely getting younger. James Liasis (pictured), a newly qualified solicitor with London criminal defence firm O’Keeffe’s, reckons he may be the country’s youngest higher rights advocate. He qualified last month at the age of under 24 years and 200 days. ‘I was allowed ...
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The ex factor
Think of a football sugar daddy and a Russian oligarch or wealthy Arab springs to mind. But in Devon, it is a law firm that is funding one club’s battle against relegation. South-west firm Follett Stock has already sponsored Exeter City for two years, but wanted an even greater input ...
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Risky game in Whitehall?
Speaking in the gilded splendor of London’s Lancaster House last week, attorney general Dominic Grieve QC (pictured) shared some advice given to him by his predecessor when he took up the post. Labour’s Lady Scotland told him that he would do fine if he developed the ability to look ministerial ...