Law Weblog

New County Court fees from 1st October.

From 1st October the fees for using the small claims track in the County Court will change. For starting a very small claim, the fee goes down from £30 to £25. Although the Starting Fee is lowered overall most claimants will pay more.

If there is a hearing a new charge kicks in, minimum £25.

The maximum a claimant will have to pay will be £443, this would apply in defended cases over £3,000 in value.

Fees are made up of a Starting Fee, an Allocation Fee (when the case is defended) and a Hearing Fee (which is a new charge from 1st October).

A successful claimant will still be able to recover these fees together with the amount claimed from the defendant.

Also, on 1 October the age for buying cigarettes rises to 18, as most 16 year-olds know.

Barrister jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice

Barrister Bruce Hyman became the first barrister ever to be jailed for perverting the course of justice.   It was revealed at Bristol Crown Court that Hyman was representing a wife in a child custody battle and tried to discredit the father Dr Simon Eades, a Wall Street banker by writing a fictitious precedent. He emailed the ‘precedent’ to the father together with a fictitious note of support from the pressure group Families Need Fathers. Dr Eades then used the ‘precedent’ in court in support of his case, Hyman denounced it as a forgery, which of course it was.

The father faced jail and the loss of his child but he found that email had been sent from an internet shop in Tottenham Court Road and obtained CCTV pictures of Hyman.

New procedure; new judges

The Judicial Appointments Commission’s (JAC) new selection procedure has resulted in the appointment of two High Court judges.

Judge Norris QC, will join the Chancery Division; Judge Maddison will join the Queen’s Bench Division.

The judges were appointed by The Queen, after the Lord Chancellor had accepted the recommendations of the JAC. The chairman of the JAC is Baroness Prashar.

The JAC’s new selection process was born through the new statutory framework set out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

Get Carter…

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced today that the “Carter” reforms of legal aid will be put on hold.

The reason is, a court judgment (judicial review) held that contract changes that altered the “economic balance” of the contract were not lawful.

In the meantime a general criminal contract will apply.

Judgment will be appealed and so the “Carter” reforms are still on the horizon.

New power for Police to tackle drunken louts

Troublemakers causing or contributing to alcohol-related crime or disorder can be excluded from places such as a town centre or village green for up to 48 hours by police, under a new power coming into force today (22/8/07) under Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2007 .

The new ‘Direction to Leave’ power is another tool to support the Government’s aim to end the culture of binge drinking, discourage unacceptable alcohol-fuelled behaviour, and tackle effectively such behaviour when it occurs, protecting people from the harm it causes.

A direction to leave prohibits an individual aged 16 years or over from returning to a specific locality for a period not exceeding 48 hours. The power should be used proportionately, reasonably and with discretion in circumstances where it is considered necessary to prevent the likelihood of alcohol-related crime or disorder.

Home Office Guidance on the use of this power is available here.

Continue reading New power for Police to tackle drunken louts…

Thames Valley Police have added two 16-year-olds to their team of police community support officers

Two 16-year-olds have been recruited as police community support officers, sparking concerns over public safety and allegations of “cheap policing”.

The pair, who work for Thames Valley Police, are two years too young to join the main force but as PCSOs have the authority to detain and question suspects.

Report in the Telegraph, here.

What a difference a couple of minutes can make. Ex-employee loses his case by 88 seconds.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a decision not to accept a claim that was 88 seconds late. Claim Forms have to arrive at the Employment Tribunal within 3 months.

The former employee mistyped the address (typing ‘qsi’ instead of ‘gsi’) and by the time he sorted it out his Claim Form arrived 1 min 28 seconds after midnight.

The EAT stated that it was reasonably practicable for the claim to have been presented within time (i.e. before midnight), and although the result seemed harsh, time limits are there to be followed.

The whole case can be seen here Beasley v National Grid

OJC upholds 904 judicial criticisms in first year

In 2006-2007 the Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) dealt with 904 valid complaints.
Judges’ conduct resulted in disciplinary action against two ‘mainstream’ judges.
Two complaints were upheld against tribunal members. 28 were allowed for magistrates.

Half led to removal from office.
Others received reprimands, formal warnings and advice.

The reasons for disciplinary actions included being subject to criminal proceedings, misuse of judicial status and inappropriate behaviour or comments.

OJC annual report, here.

Wigs were off last week, this week they are back on….

Just because all civil judges from the Court of Appeal down are to dispense with wigs, it does not follow that barristers will do the same, according to an article in today’s Guardian. Barristers will make up their own mind about how they dress and will have a vote on it. The judges will change their court dress in January 2008.
Guardian article, here.

Corporate manslaughter will be in force on 6th April 2008, at least some of it.

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act
The Act is here.
The new Corporate Manslaughter Act became law today after 10 years of campaigning.

Under the new law companies, organisations and, for the first time, Government bodies face an unlimited fine, for corporate manslaughter, if they are found to have caused death due to their gross corporate health and safety failures.

A key obstacle to successful prosecutions has now been removed. It means that both small and large companies can be held liable for manslaughter where gross failures in the management of health and safety cause death.

Zeebrugger ferry disaster, picture from www.thefirstpost.co.uk/

The Act builds on existing health and safety legislation – so the new offence does not impose new regulations on business. It is about corporate liability, not increasing liability for individual directors or managers who can already be held to account through health and safety laws and the common law of manslaughter.

Crown bodies – such as Government departments police forces and certain other bodies – will be liable to prosecution.
The Act will come into force on 6 April 2008 and the Ministry of Justice will issue further guidance for organisations affected by the Act in the Autumn. (The offence to deaths in custody will not come into effect on the 6 April, but at a later date).

The Act was passed on the same day that the latest work related fatal injury statistics were published by the Health and Safety Commission.  Chairman Sir Bill Callaghan said that the loss of 241 lives is unacceptable and issued a fresh challenge to industry to place safety at the top of its priorities and do more to protect the work force.

More information about HSE can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk