Banking
Bank
boards 'come under scrutiny' - 6 July
The boards of UK banks and the role they played in the credit crisis
are expected to come under scrutiny in a report due out later on
Thursday. Analysts say the review of corporate governance, by
ex-City regulator Sir David Walker, may pave the way for boardroom
practices to be overhauled. The report, commissioned by the
Treasury, is expected to focus on the way risk is managed at banks.
- BBC News
website
Courts
Magistrates
angry over cuts as on-the-spot fines replace court hearings
- 10 July
Magistrates are angry that they are being made to carry the brunt of
cuts because their workload is being diverted away from the courts.
They say that increasing numbers offenders are being dealt with by
"on-the-spot" fines and cautions - almost half of all offences
are now dealt with in this way. Meanwhile, lawyers report crimes
being undercharged or simply cautioned, allowing serious offenders
to walk away. The workload of magistrates has dropped by an average
of eight per cent, while that in the Crown Courts has risen. - Times
Online website
Pair
jailed for web race crimes - 11 July
Two men have been jailed after becoming the first in the UK to be
convicted of inciting racial hatred via a foreign website. Simon
Sheppard received four years and 10 months and Stephen Whittle two
years and four months. The men printed leaflets and controlled US
websites featuring racist material. They fled to the US after being
convicted at Leeds Crown Court last year, but failed in an asylum
bid. - BBC
News website
Father
who found son dead in caravan park pond must repay £25 000
- 14 July
A father who was left traumatised after discovering the lifeless
body of his two-year-old son in a pond at a holiday park has been
ordered to repay £25 000 compensation awarded against the site’s
owners. - Times
Online website
Mother
wins Snatch vehicle review - 10 July
The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq has won the right to a
judicial review of the government's refusal to hold a public inquiry
into Snatch Land Rovers. Susan Smith, whose son Phillip Hewett died
in 2005, is challenging the use of the vehicles in Afghanistan and
Iraq. But Mr Justice Mitting said the review would not cover the
present and future use of the lightly armoured vehicles. They have
been criticised for offering poor protection from bomb blasts. - BBC
News website
See
also :
Families
to sue for forces deaths - 19 June
BBC News
website
[InfoUpdate
12 of 2009]
Mother
of British soldier killed in Afghanistan accuses politicians of
'feathering their own nests' - 17 July
The mother of a British soldier killed in Afghanistan has called
on politicians to stop "feathering their own nests" and
concentrate on making sure troops have the best equipment
possible. Caroline Munday broke down in tears at her son's inquest
in Leamington Spa as she spoke of the "hellish"
conditions service personnel are facing in Afghanistan. - Telegraph
website
Criminal
Justice System
Legal
aid for prisoners to be capped as Jack Straw criticises lawyers
- 16 July
Prisoners are to be blocked from seeking legal aid to bring "trivial"
cases against the Prison Service under plans to be announced by the
Government today. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is to act after
a series of claims, including one in which a prisoner won a legal
battle to have his haircuts paid for by the state while on day
release. Last year taxpayers footed a £1 million compensation bill
after almost 200 drug-addicted prisoners sued the Government,
claiming that denying them a heroin substitute breached their human
rights. And two years ago a murderer who sexually assaulted his
victim as she lay dying demanded £50 000 in compensation after
having to "slop out" his prison toilet. - Times
Online website
Legal
aid cuts : how you could be acquitted and still face huge bill for
costs - 17 July
Plans to reform the legal aid system and cut almost £200 million
from its budget have brought warnings of a two-tier justice system:
one for the rich and another for the poor. For the first time,
acquitted defendants in criminal trials will have to bear the bulk
of their costs if they instruct someone other than a legal aid
lawyer to defend them under the reforms. - Times
Online website
Cost
ceiling means defendants who win their cases may face a big bill
- 17 July
Defendants face being the victims of miscarriages of justice under
proposals to cap the costs that they can recoup after being
acquitted, lawyers warn. People who want to pay privately for a
defence lawyer would only be reimbursed at legal aid rates if
acquitted - often about a third of the fees that they will have paid
out. Defendants who are acquitted can currently reclaim their full
fees, which costs the taxpayer £60 million a year. The Ministry of
Justice says that placing a ceiling on the amount that they receive
will save up to £25 million a year. - Times
Online website
Environment
Britain's
dirty little secret as a dumper of toxic waste - 18 July
Britain was accused yesterday of dumping toxic household and
industrial waste in developing countries on two continents in breach
of an international convention. The Government last night was
considering tightening the enforcement of rules after the discovery
of hazardous medical and electrical waste in Brazil and Ghana. - Times
Online website
See
:
Brazil
anger over toxic UK waste
'Dirty
tricks' over toxic waste
- 13 May 2009
BBC
News website
[InfoUpdate 11 of
2009]
Government
Lord
Chief Justice warns of dangers over MPs' expenses body -
15 July
Britain's most senior judge gave warning last night that plans for
an independent body to oversee MPs' expenses risked a "dangerous"
conflict between judges and Parliament. Lord Judge, the Lord Chief
Justice, said that in his view, Britain's constitutional
arrangements made it "imperative that ultimate responsibility
for the governance of Parliament should remain with Parliament".
The Parliamentary Standards Bill, now
going through Parliament, will create an Independent Parliamentary
Standards Authority to scrutinise MPs’ allowances in the wake of
the Commons expenses scandal. - Times
Online website
Home
Affairs
Proposed
changes to the law on British citizenship - 15 July
The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill
is currently being considered in Parliament. Within the Bill, the
Government is planning to make changes to British nationality law.
One of these changes will be to amend the British Nationality Act
1981 so that children born in the United Kingdom to a parent in the
armed forces will be a British citizen. - eGov
Monitor website
Human
Rights
Iraqi
interpreters employed by British to sue over lack of protection
- 15 July
About 25 Iraqis, mainly interpreters, employed by British Forces
in Iraq are to take legal action against the Government for
allegedly failing to protect them from militias that regarded the
men as traitors. The group members, who failed to benefit from an
assistance scheme offered by Britain, said that they were owed a
duty of care. - Times
Online website
Labour
Issues
End
of retirement age signalled - 13 July
A review of the default retirement age, which allows employers to
compel staff to retire at 65, is to be brought forward by a year,
the government says. BBC home editor Mark Easton said
ministers had effectively signalled an end to the default retirement
age. Ministers said they had brought the review forward to respond
to changing demographic and economic circumstances. Explaining the
change in the timing of the review, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said
: "Evidence suggests that allowing older people to continue
working, unfettered by negative views about ageing, could be a big
factor in the success of Britain's businesses and our future
economic growth". The business group, the CBI, said :
"Having a default retirement age helps staff begin the process
of deciding when it is right to retire, and helps firms plan ahead
with more confidence". It added that its research had suggested
that 81% of those who asked their employer to keep working had been
allowed to do so. Separately, the Court of Appeal will hear a legal
challenge to the default retirement age this week in a case backed
by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. A solicitor, Leslie
Seldon, believes he was discriminated against on the grounds of age
when he was not permitted to work beyond the age of 65. He says he
needed to go on working to support his family. - BBC
News website
Solicitor
Leslie Seldon's retirement age challenge at appeal court
- 13 July
A solicitor who was forced to leave his job at the age of 65 will
bring a test appeal today in the first challenge over compulsory
retirement to reach the Court of Appeal. Leslie Seldon’s claim
that he was discriminated against on grounds of age has such wide
implications that two government bodies have stepped in, one on
either side. Mr Seldon, who is 68, is being backed by the Equality
and Human Rights Commission, which argues that a national "default"
retirement age of 65 is unfair and discriminatory. He is being
opposed by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. - Times
Online website
Pagan
police get solstice leave - 16 July
Pagan police officers in some areas are being allowed to take as
many as eight days leave a year for events such as the summer
solstice and Halloween. It comes after the Pagan Police Association
was set up following discussions with Home Office officials. Policy
on police leave varies between forces in England and Wales.
Hertfordshire Police lets Pagan staff re-allocate the traditional
bank holidays to meet their beliefs. - BBC
News website
Scotland
Royal
Assent for Sexual Offences Bill - 16 July
The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill has
today received Royal Assent. The Bill replaces a complex mix of
common law and statute with a clear legal framework that supports
wider work to improve the justice system's response to sex crime.
The new legislation will : provide for the first time a statutory
definition of consent, as "free agreement", enshrined in
the law ; replace the common-law offence of rape with a broader
statutory offence (which includes male rape) ; introduce new
statutory crimes, including specific offences of sexual assault by
penetration and of voyeurism, and others targeting coercive sexual
conduct such as the sending of sexually offensive emails or texts,
and sexual exposure ; enable Scottish law enforcement agencies to
pursue anyone from Scotland who commits a sex crime under Scots law
against someone under-18 abroad (including child pornography and
child prostitution offences) regardless of the law in that country ;
include 'protective offences' to safeguard those with limited or no
capacity to consent due to their young age or a mental disorder (this
includes equalising at 16 the age of consent for boys and girls). - eGov
Monitor website
Miscellaneous
New
strategy to tackle serious organised crime - 13 July
Plans to create a more hostile environment for organised criminals,
seize their assets and shut down their businesses were part of a
strategy to step up the fight against serious organised crime
published by Home Secretary Alan Johnson today. The new strategy,
Extending our reach : A comprehensive approach to tackling serious
organised crime (new window), follows an assessment of how criminals
are exploiting new global trends and outlines new approaches for the
government and law enforcement agencies. - eGov
Monitor website
BA
staff in court on price fixing allegations - 13 July
Three former executives of British Airways (BA) and the airlines
current sales and marketing director today denied allegations of
fixing the price of fuel surcharges. Martin George, a former
commercial director of BA, pleaded not guilty to a so-called "cartel
offence" in Southwark Crown Court today. Iain Burns, BA’s
former head of communications, Alan Burnett, who formerly led the
airline’s sales team in the UK and Ireland, and Andrew Crawley,
former head of sales and now the group's sales and marketing
director, also pleaded not guilty. - Times
Online website
Teenage
boy sucked into pool pump - 13 July
A 14-year-old schoolboy from the Isle of Man has died while on
holiday in Thailand after being sucked into a swimming pool pumping
system. The incident happened in the resort of Pattaya, east of the
capital Bangkok. He was holidaying with his father, brother,
stepbrother and stepmother. Police are investigating how he opened
the vent which should have been locked. The water park has now
reportedly offered the family compensation. - BBC
News website