Gazette 4 March 2013

PI sector in shock as £200m cut looms

Personal injury firms are preparing for redundancies and possible closure after their collective income was cut by £200m. Justice secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed practitioners’ worst fears as he cut fixed fees for low-value RTA cases from £1,200 to £500. The new costs regime will come into force from the end of April.

6 March 2003

Citizens ‘need access to Euro court’

Individuals from across the European Union should be allowed to bypass national courts and challenge EU legislation directly before the European Court of Justice, the continent’s legal leaders resolved last week. Delegates passed a resolution calling for increased access to individuals to be supported by the creation of an office of ‘defender of the people’.

3 March 1993

Mackay to press on with legal aid cuts

The lord chancellor, Lord Mackay, last week flatly dismissed the package of legal aid savings proposals advanced by the Law Society and the bar, and signalled an early move to implement his eligibility cuts.

2 March 1983

Data protection bill

Even people in sympathy with some measure of data protection may be surprised by the bill, which has received its second reading in the House of Lords. A QC who read it said: ‘This is monstrous. It applies to me!’ A great many people are going to be surprised that the bill applies to them, and that it imposes some startling liabilities on them.

March 1943

Final examination

At the Final Examination held at the prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III in Germany, Mr John Whitton, the only candidate, was successful. Mr Whitton has been awarded distinction and will be permitted at the discretion of the council to enter for any Honours Examination held within two years of the cessation of hostilities.

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