Legal News Articles
Justice Secretary announces fee reductions in RTA portals (28 February 2013)
The announcement of reduction in Road Traffic Accident (RTA) portal fees from £1,200 to £500 from the end of April has put claimant personal injury lawyers into a fix.The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed the news and said that the fee for handling claims worth £10,000 to £25,000, which will enter the portal “from the end of July”, would be £800. Read more...
Experience counted for justices appointment in the Supreme Court (28 February 2013)
Two experienced Court of Appeal judges have been appointed as the justices of the Supreme Court, Downing Street has announced.Two experienced Court of Appeal judges have been appointed justices of the Supreme Court, Downing Street has announced. Read more...
A bankrupt who flouted the restrictions imposed upon him has been jailed for 14 months (26 February 2013)
The Hull Crown Court has sentenced a bankrupt to 14 months imprisonment after he was found to have acted as a shadow director at UPVC Trade Frames (Hull) Ltd.The conviction of Stephen Joseph Beet followed after an investigation by The Insolvency Service and a full criminal investigation and Prosecution by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). Read more...
A hardworking immigrant who made his living after using a false passport has been jailed for a year (26 February 2013)
A Nigerian national who entered into the UK in 2004 with a six month visa and got a passport in a fake name of Dayo Akinola and found a job on its basis was jailed for a year and would be facing deportation after his release. Read more...
On of the ‘Faces’ of Henley convicted of benefit fraud (26 February 2013)
Elected one of the famous 100 faces of Henley Josette Ofiera, 51, has been convicted of benefit fraud for having received more than £16,000 in housing benefit she wasn’t entitled to over a three-year period. Read more...
Age discrimination was justified says Notts in case of former officers (26 February 2013)
One of the five forces who have been taken to tribunals by former officers of the force claiming age discrimination and unfair dismissal has justified its decision to make officers to leave the force citing budget cuts. Read more...
OFT urged by Citizens Advice to use its new conferred powers to ban payday loan companies using deceitful tactics (25 February 2013)
Citizens Advice seem to be urging the Office of Fair Trading to use its new powers to suspend licenses of four payday loan companies whose names have been withheld.The charity has said that these particular companies were behaving as ‘a law unto themselves’ bombarding people with texts and phone calls, inflating their charges, continuing to take money even after a debt was paid off, and obstructing customers from making repayments online or over the phone and squeezing late fees out of them. Read more...
Mediation in family matters has proved to be a success says experts (25 February 2013)
Number of children involved in private family law cases has shown no improvement by greater use of mediation in family proceedings recent figures have shown.In April 2011 mediation as an obligation was introduced and number of children involved in private family law cases has fallen by 2,755 from 59,093 in the six month period before the protocol was introduced, to 56,338 between January and June 2012, according to MoJ figures. Read more...
New families bill explicitly exempting councils from their duty even before adoption (25 February 2013)
The Children and Families Bill exempts councils from their duty to prioritise placing children with a suitable family member.The child welfare legislation is the most far reaching child welfare legislation being considered by the Parliament in decades. Adoption leads to a child being taken away from the family of birth permanently and when it is done against the will of their parents it could be the most severe acts that the state undertakes. Read more...
Data compiled show motor insurance fraud continuing to hold Birmingham as UKs biggest hotspot (22 February 2013)
The dubious distinction of becoming UKs biggest hotspot for motor insurance fraud has gone to Birmingham for the fourth consecutive year running. The fraudsters in the city accounting for 7.76% of all suspected motor insurances claimants in the UK last year.The data has been compiled by a specialist insurance law firm which investigates every year into suspicious claims on behalf of insurance companies. Read more...
A council worker has been compensated for having been dismissed unfairly (22 February 2013)
A whistle blower town hall worker who was sacked for pointing out mistakes in a report about children at risk of abuse was awarded £67,995 in an unfair dismissal case.John Coatman, 59, who received the pay out after four years of battle with the Salford council, said that the case caused him so much stress that he suffered a stroke. Read more...
Emotional pitching on Romanian influx was going to prove counterproductive says Romanian envoy to London (22 February 2013)
Romanian ambassador to London has warned that alarmist predictions about influx of Eastern European immigrants were putting Romanians in the UK at risk of racist attacks.Dr Ion Jinga said that the inflammatory rhetoric had left the Romanian community feeling like second class EU citizens. Read more...
Crash for cash gang jailed for 32 years for causing death of a woman in a planned crash (22 February 2013)
“Cash for crash” gang members who staged a tragic pile up as part of an insurance scam that killed an innocent Stanwell woman have been jailed for a total of more than 32 years.Baljinder Gill, 34, of Dutch Barn Close, was caught up in the middle of the planned collision in the fast lane of dual carriageway after the thugs set up a deliberate crash to falsely claim an insurance payout the court was told. Read more...
A Scheme to frame an ex girlfriend that went completely wrong (22 February 2013)
Mick Philpott the father has been accused of being the prime suspect in a scheme to start a blaze which killed his six children. He is being accused of starting the fire to frame his ex girlfriend after becoming locked in a custody battle with her, a court heard. Read more...
Court orders against removal of a child from prospective adopter as discriminatory (19 February 2013)
In the case of RCW V A Local Authority [2013] EWHC 235 (Fam) the facts of the case before the court was that the child SB, who was placed with the prospective adopter following a placement order in October 2012 by the local authority LBX, was removed by the local authority after the prospective adopter RCW lost her sight following a brain tumor operation. Read more...
Employees right to religion guidelines issued by the ECHR (19 February 2013)
Guidance has been published by Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) on religion and beliefs in the workplace, following recent judgments including last month’s human rights case involving Nadia Eweida. Read more...
A fake marriage racket involving illegal immigrants has been busted (15 February 2013)
A Sham marriage racket leading to permitting 2000 illegal immigrants to stay in the country was busted by the police and an immigration solicitor along with his three colleagues was found guilty for the crime. Read more...
The conviction of former Scotland Yard boss upheld by the Court of Appeal (15 February 2013)
Ali Dizaei the 50 year old former Scotland Yard commander who went for an appeal to get his three year prison sentence for corruption overturned had his appeal dismissed by the Court of Appeal.He was convicted of framing an innocent man, Waad al-Baghdadi, for assault in a row over money, which was upheld unanimously by the three judges Court of Appeal. Read more...
A benefit fraudster convicted for failing to notify his change of circumstances (15 February 2013)
A benefit fraud was revealed when a fraudster who received £27,000 wrongly in benefits claiming that he couldn’t walk was caught out working as a delivery driver.His modus operandi was similar to that of the scenes from the comedy Little Britain where he resembled the character Andy. Read more...
LSB criticised for dropping estate administration regulation from its recommendations (14 February 2013)
The Legal Services Board has made its recommendation to the Lord Chancellor that will writing should be regulated, which has been supported by both probate lawyers and the willwriters but they have expressed their frustration that there would be no similar recommendation for estate administration. Read more...
Crash victims should directly deal with insurer of the driver causing accident says UK’s biggest insurance company (14 February 2013)
The UK’s biggest insurer Aviva has called for a new process that would force victims to put their claims directly to the insurer of the driver who caused the crash. It suggested that the system would cut out middlemen who inflate the costs of claims. Read more...
A property company allowed pursuing its claim against a law firm for negligence (13 February 2013)
A property company was given go ahead by the High Court to continue with its claim of negligence against a law firm over a lease extension granted to a flat in Piccadilly.The court heard that St Anselm Development Company, owner of the head lease, lost the right to recover a proportion of the ground rent after agreeing to a lease extension by an under-lessee of two flats. Read more...
Legal aid cuts to make life difficult for people in family disputes say lawyers and CAB (13 February 2013)
Two family law lawyers in Loughborough town and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) have drawn a grim picture for the people on low income or with no income in Loughborough who they say would be left without free legal support for cases involving divorce, debt, and child custody who may have to represent themselves in court in the future when the news legal aid bill would be enforced from March 31 this year Read more...
Foreign office minister denies knowledge of torture to Sri Lankans who are being removed to their country (13 February 2013)
Fifteen Sri Lankan nationals who were deported to the Island nation and returned again to the UK and claimed that they were subjected to torture and inhuman treatment were granted refugee status after they provided evidence of their torture. Read more...
Scottish universities are at disadvantage due to new UK immigration policies says leaders (12 February 2013)
The number of students has fallen in Scottish Universities and University principals have blamed UK immigration changes and the Westminster government’s hard line rhetoric causing the fall in admissions in Scottish universities by up to 26 percent from some countries.The Scottish university body criticised Westminster immigration policy on international students which led to a fall of over 25 percent of influx of Indian students in 2011/12. The Scottish National Party has decided to raise the mater with the Home Secretary Theresa May. Read more...
Five police forces being taken to employment tribunal by former officers for age discrimination (12 February 2013)
Five police forces including Devon and Cornwall Police have been taken to an employment tribunal yesterday accused of age discrimination charges.The tribunal is hearing cases on behalf of more than 250 former officers over “Regulation A19” which compels those who have served 30 years to retire.The five police stations which are facing tribunal are the Nottinghamshire, West Midlands, Devon and Cornwall, North Wales and South Wales. Read more...
Contingency cap not enough says solicitors (12 February 2013)
Less than a third of lawyers surveyed believe that the MoJ’s contingency fee caps, which are to come into force from 1 April 2013 along with the rest of the Jackson reforms, were high enough. The survey was a joint effort by the Solicitors Journal and the Association of Costs Lawyers.About 48 percent said the limits on fees of 25 percent of damages for personal injury cases, 35 percent for employment cases and 50 percent for all other cases were not high enough. A total of 23 percent said they were not sure. Read more...
A businesswoman faces a £7m recovery, after losing her case against the Leeds City Council (7 February 2013)
The Leeds City Council, which was sued for £40m damages by a businesswoman Jan Fletcher over the way the council, ran the competition to develop the city’s arena, won the case when the court rejected Ms Fletcher’s claims. Read more...
Same sex marriage bill overwhelmingly voted (6 February 2013)
Though there was a Tory rebellion the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was voted overwhelmingly with 400 votes in favour of the bill. Support for the bill was voiced during a five hour reading from all parties, yet some MPs were vocal in their disapproval with one even announcing that in the garden of Eden it was Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. Read more...
A cattle trader who pocketed £100,000 in wrongful benefits has been jailed (6 February 2013)
A corrupt South Staffordshire cattle trader who received over £100,000 in an eight year benefit fraud by claiming to be crippled and jobless has been jailed which was hailed by the investigators.David Millward, who took livestock belonging to local farmers for sale at cattle markets and at the same time was receiving disabled benefit claiming he could not walk more than 10 meters was jailed for 18 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Read more...
Human trafficking victims more vulnerable after the new immigration rules (4 February 2013)
The new UK immigration rules has denied an escape route to many vulnerable women who have been suspected of being trafficked to perform housework in embassies and private houses in Britain.According to the Salvation Army which runs £2m contract on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, victims of domestic servitude who were referred to a specialist service helping trafficked people had more than doubled in the six months to December. Read more...
A tribunal rules a doctor’s dismissal as unfair (4 February 2013)
An employment tribunal ruled that a specialist doctor who was sacked from a Norfolk hospital for processing the blood samples of private overseas patients on the NHS was unfairly dismissed.Tubonye Harry, a genito urinary specialist at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston, was dismissed for gross misconduct last January after it emerged that he had also carried a sample of HIV infected blood in his hand luggage on a flight from Africa to the UK. Read more...
Bulgarians not going to flood Britain from next year after says their foreign minister (4 February 2013)
Nikolay Mladenov the Bulgarian foreign minister in the UK has said that Britain had exaggerated the risk of UK immigration suffering due to influx of Bulgarians from next year when the control on Bulgarians and Romanians would be lifted next year. Read more...
Legal advice should be taken by commercial landlords or tenants to avoid paying huge legal fees (1 February 2013)
A battle over a Stockport sandwich shop which resulted into massive legal fees and expert costs came under strong criticism from Lord Justice Jackson.He was delivering judgment at the Court of Appeal, and awarded the evicted tenant, Sheila Grange, only just over £9,000 in damages. Read more...
Two brothers jailed for stealing from unsuspecting elderly people (1 February 2013)
Two brothers Shilu Miah, 31 and Dulu Miah, 26, who used confidential information passed on by a bank insider to steal elderly and vulnerable people’s life savings from 218 accounts have been jailed. The siblings masterminded £244,000 fraud from their council house bedroom. They spent most of the cash from the 12 month scam on luxury holidays, cars and designer clothes, the Blackfriars Crown Court heard. Read more...
A benefit cheat came to know she would have received more benefits if she had claimed legally (1 February 2013)
A woman who committed benefit fraud was in for a surprise when she was told by a court that what she had been claiming was far too little than what she would have received in legitimate benefits.Joanne Gibbons, 23, was let off despite claiming wrongly £3,140 in income support while she held two jobs. Read more...