Legal News Articles
Windrush citizens do not need legal aid says justice secretary (29 June 2018)
According to Justice Secretary David Gauke, Commonwealth immigrants caught up in the Windrush scandal do not need legal aid to help them resolve their immigration status because the Home Office will be able to help them. Read more...
Government spent £52m on deportation flights to the Caribbean prior to Windrush scandal (29 June 2018)
According to figures provided by immigration minister Caroline Nokes, nearly 1000 flights were booked to deport people to the Caribbean between 2015 and 2017 before they were halted in the wake of the Windrush scandal. Read more...
Children put forward for adoption on the rise – what this means (29 June 2018)
According to the Freedom of Information (FOI) inquiry conducted by Professor Andy Bilson of the University of Central Lancashire, which took results from 70 local authorities in the UK, the number of children adopted and the number made subject to section 47 enquiries has increased by 50% in 5 years. Read more...
Call for Cross-Examination Reform: Family Courts failing to protect victims of domestic abuse (27 June 2018)
Women’s Aid and Queen Mary University of London have conducted a study into domestic abuse, human rights and childcare proceedings in the family courts, finding that 24% of women surveyed had been cross-examined by their abusers in court. This comes a year after the government promised to stop this practice in family courts, pointing out that it would not be allowed in criminal courts since it exposes victims to undue trauma and distress. Read more...
Grenfell Inquiry (27 June 2018)
It has now been over a year since the Grenfell Tower fire claimed the lives of 72 people. Since the fire, countless questions have been raised as to how such a tragic event could happen; what caused the fire? How and why did it spread? Could more have been done to save lives? The Grenfell Inquiry has begun to hear expert evidence on the cause and spread of the fire. Five expert reports are to be published, outlining the cause of the inferno and why it spread so quickly. Read more...
Grenfell Tower “Stay Put" Policy (26 June 2018)
Victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were told to “stay put” by fire safety operators during the crucial early hours on 14 June 2017. Operators of the initial calls made to the emergency services and fire fighters at the scene advised residents inside their flats to remain inside, close their windows and not attempt to come down to safety. Had they been advised differently the likelihood is that many deaths would have been prevented. Read more...
Capita Outsourcing: Patients at Risk of Harm (21 June 2018)
In a bid to save money and relieve pressure on NHS resources, NHS England signed a 7 year agreement with Capita in 2015 to take on administrative back-office duties on behalf of primary care providers including GP practices, dental surgeries and pharmacies. So far the move has saved more than £60 million, but at what cost to public safety? Read more...
Harsh Reality of Legal Aid Cuts: Rape victim forced to represent herself in court (18 June 2018)
In this recent case, care proceedings had been brought to decide whether the father should have contact with his daughter after the mother had accused him of sexual assault. Read more...
10 year breast cancer screening error set to cost millions (15 June 2018)
For a 10 year period, more than 450,000 women failed to receive their final screening invitation, which Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt states could have resulted in 270 deaths. Read more...
Student avoided prison after being accused of stabbing boyfriend challenges her sentence (13 June 2018)
A medical student at Oxford University, who was not jailed after stabbing her boyfriend, will challenge her suspended sentence. Read more...
Home Secretary Orders a review of paragraph 322(5) refusals for Migrant Workers (13 June 2018)
Today, 13 June 2018, the House of Commons is set to debate the recent controversy over paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules. The controversy has seen applications for leave to remain by highly skilled/Tier 1 migrants being refused for minor and non-criminal tax discrepancies. Read more...
Drink drivers face swifter justice with new roadside breathalysers (12 June 2018)
Drink drivers are to be “brought to justice quicker” thanks to new roadside breathalyser technology that will allow police to gather on-the-spot proof. The instant test means the driver will now not need to be taken back to a police station to obtain evidence as is currently the case. Read more...
Police Facial Recognition Technology Risks Mistaken Identity (12 June 2018)
In a recent review by The Independent, 98% of people identified through facial recognition software trialled by the Met Police proved not to be the person they were looking for. This poses a real risk of injustice, with people charged with crimes they did not commit. Read more...
Police called to 430 moped enabled crimes a week in 2017 (11 June 2018)
The London Metropolitan Police have been using a wide variety of tactics to deal with more than 20,000 robberies occurring annually from moped enabled crimes after a number of high profile muggings in the capital recently. Read more...
NHS quarterly figures reveal increase in waiting times for patients (7 June 2018)
The quarterly figures are in and they show the extent of the NHS’s struggle to meet demand with more than 2,600 patients having waited more than a year for treatment, almost double the previous year’s results. Read more...
Mother Found Guilty of Forcing Her Teenage Daughter To Marry (7 June 2018)
A mother, who forced her daughter to marry a relative almost twice the age of her daughter, was found guilty of the first successful prosecution for a forced marriage in England. Read more...
Should opticians inform DVLA if a driver fails an eye test? (7 June 2018)
The family of a three year old car crash victim believe that it is an optician’s duty to inform DVLA if a driver fails their eye test. Read more...
Supreme Court to hear controversial A&E reception case (7 June 2018)
The Supreme Court to hear a case which previously split the Court of Appeal as it was felt to have serious implications for Clinical Negligence law. Read more...