Last 3 months headlines – Page 1347
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Notarial profession of England and Wales ahead of European counterparts
I write in connection with the European Court of Justice decision of 24 May relating to notaries. The decision states that Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Greece breached the law by attempting to reserve access to their countries’ notarial professions to their own nationals. ...
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Law theory test
I read Jonathan Goldsmith’s recent column with more than a passing interest. The perspective with which I read it was the exact opposite of the German lawyer to whom he alludes, in that I have just moved from private practice into academia. ...
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Unwilling to listen
I read your recent news article highlighting the report from three expert judges who issued a stark warning about current proposals to reform the civil litigation system. It is extraordinary that the government continues to push through its ideas regardless.
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Alex Salmond is gunning for the Supreme Court
The last reported prosecution for ‘murmuring’ – or slandering – judges under Scottish law seems to have been in 1870 and the offence must now be obsolete. So there seems little chance of seeing the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, in the dock for ...
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Solicitor-advocates seek to block evaluation scheme
Solicitor-advocates will make a last-ditch attempt in the coming weeks to halt plans for compulsory evaluation of their performance by judges. Up to 1,400 advocates who handle criminal cases are set to be formally assessed from next spring as part of the Quality Assurance Scheme for ...
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Patient data leaked to personal injury claims worker
A claims company employee has been fined after using his former girlfriend to obtain patients’ confidential records. Martin Campbell (pictured) was supplied with the personal data of 29 people by his then partner Dawn Makin, who worked as a nurse at walk-in health centres in Bury. ...
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Jackson reforms could trigger business debt headache
Insolvency experts have warned that civil litigation funding reforms could deter small businesses from trying to reclaim debts. Provisions in the government’s forthcoming Justice Bill will prevent successful claimants from recouping their solicitors’ success fee from losing defendants, or recovering an after-the-event insurance premium. ...
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Tighten rules to protect young witnesses, say charities
Children’s charities have called for ground rules to be enforced in court to prevent the exploitation of young witnesses. A report released this week by the NSPCC and Nuffield Foundation found that inadequate procedures and a lack of training for legal professionals were having detrimental effects ...
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Gutted law firm reopens after 10 days
An Essex firm that was devastated by fire last month managed to open for ‘business as usual’ just 10 days later. Jefferies in Westcliff on Sea had its office destroyed on 8 May when a blaze ignited at the retail outlet beneath it. ...
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HMRC may stall lawyers’ taxis
Late-working City lawyers could soon find themselves rubbing shoulders with office cleaners and other shift workers on the night bus if plans to abolish tax relief on late-night taxis are carried through by HM Revenue & Customs. Where employees are required to work significantly later than ...
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Scottish government to review role of Supreme Court
The Scottish government has set up a panel of experts led by a former solicitor general for Scotland to review the ‘aggressive’ intervention of the Supreme Court in Scotland’s legal affairs. The review was sparked by growing disquiet among Scottish politicians and lawyers at the Supreme ...
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Sound Off campaigners deliver Downing Street letter
Supporters of the Law Society's Sound off for Justice campaign delivered a letter to Downing Street yesterday urging Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene and withdraw the planned £350m cut to legal aid. The letter was delivered by members of the Law Society and Rheagan Hendry, ...
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Instituting change
If you thought the Women’s Institute was all about making jam and cakes, think again. Members of the WI took part in protests against legal aid cuts last week, demonstrating the extent to which the campaign has now moved beyond just lawyers. ...
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Full cream ahead
For licensing lawyers in the food sector there has been plenty to digest recently. After the humble Cornish pasty joined the ranks of champagne and stilton in achieving protected status earlier this year, the Devon cream tea may now be heading for a similar designation, ...
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Game blame
Matrimonial lawyers will probably be familiar with the latest trend reported by internet divorce provider Divorce Online. The service conducted a survey of 200 cases in which women had cited unreasonable behaviour, and found that a sizeable 15% had filed for divorce because their husband ...
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Head for heights
Kingsbury solicitor Manish Patel (pictured) is to embark on a 13-day trek to the Mount Everest base camp in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal next February, in aid of the International Childcare Trust. He will endure some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth. ...
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Human Rights Institute questions Sri Lanka's judicial independence
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has written to the Sri Lankan government to voice its concerns about the erosion of judicial independence in the country. IBAHRI expressed particular concern about constitutional amendments limiting the chief justice’s term of office to five years, and ...
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Defence solicitor accused of fraud
A criminal defence solicitor and two legal associates plotted to cheat the legal aid fund by ruthlessly inflating and forging every possible expense, a jury was told last week. Solicitor Reuben Ewujowoh, 44, principal at Rae & Co in Southwark, London, and co-defendants legal assistant Lloyd ...
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EU access to representation proposal nears
The European Commission (EC) is this week expected to move a significant step closer to ensuring that all those facing criminal charges across the EU have access to legal representation. As the Gazette went to press, the EC was expected to publish a legislative proposal ...