As I braced for the snow to
finally arrive, the week started with some welcome news for the legal
community. The Jackson reforms and the referral fee ban had been
pushed back to April 2013. The reform
was originally scheduled to take effect in October 2012. The government had
already pushed back implementation of part 1, dealing with legal aid reform, to
April 2013. As the House of Lords began scrutinising part 2 of the Legal Aid,
Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO), which contains the
provisions, the timetable was deemed to be too tight for implementation within
the earlier deadline.
The Solicitor’s Regulation
Authority (SRA), one of the regulators to enforce the ban on referral fees has
called on the government to provide more clarity over referral fee ban. The previous week’s Sunday Law Review reported on the government’s plan to abandon means
testing police station advice. This week, Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly
hinted further concessions. The minister stated that he was uncertain about the precise costs and
benefits of the reforms.
The government reform of the
‘no win no fee’ system aims to ensure that legal costs for reasonable
compensation claims could be more proportionate and avoidable claims would be
deterred from going to court. The criminal compensation payments to victims with minor injuries would see a major overhaul. Victims who would have
received payments of £2,000 or less from the Criminal Injuries Compensation
Scheme would not receive any damages under the reform. While awards of £11,000
and above would not change, those who would have received £2,500 would now be
awarded £1,000, and those who would have got £5,500 would receive £3,500. Victims
with unspent criminal convictions would also lose the right to claim.
The justice secretary,
Kenneth Clarke is dramatically shortening the period during which offenders are obliged to tell potential employers about their criminal record. The radical reform of
the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders Act would see the time after which the
convictions of medium term prisoners are ‘spent’ reduced from ten years to
four. The convictions of short term prisoners, serving sentences up to six
months, would be spent after two years instead of the current seven. The
proposed reform would also affect people who have recently been fined or
ordered to serve community sentences. They would no longer have to declare
their criminal record after one year instead of the current five. The changes
will raise the threshold for prison sentences that are never spent from two and
half years to four, on the basis that sentence lengths are much longer now than
when the period was fixed in 1974.
The use of secret evidence in civil cases could render some claims untriable, according to the
independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC. Anderson was
giving evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Justice and
Security Green Paper last week and spoke of the impact on civil justice of
closed material procedure (CMP), under which sensitive evidence can be
excluded. The Green Paper proposes legislation to make CMP more widely
available in civil proceedings. Where highly sensitive material is central to
the viability of the case, the claim is either struck out or the parties are
forced to settle. Anderson added that neither of these outcomes is desirable.
The way deaths in police custody are investigated is to be reviewed to improve public confidence in the
system. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it would be looking
into its ‘powers, resources and approach’ when examining cases in which a
member of the public dies during or after contact with the police. Official figures
on how many people had died in police custody may have been understated,
following a series of Freedom of Information requests in recent months by the news media.
New legal rights enabling children access to both parents is being signalled by the government. David Norgrove,
who had chaired the Family Justice Review, last year rejected the need for any legal statement
of rights, which risked ‘confusion, misinterpretation and false expectations’.
However, the new decision
by the government reflects the child’s need for an ongoing relationship with
both parents. Divorced and separated fathers will get stronger rights to see
their children.
David Lammy, a former
Education Minister and incumbent MP for Tottenham has criticised legislation surrounding the smacking of children. Working-class parents are finding it difficult to
instil discipline in their homes fearing prosecution. Lammy had blamed a 2004
Labour government decision to tighten up the smacking law as being partially
responsible for last summer’s London riots.
Lord Justice Lewison,
president of the Court of Appeal Civil Division, has called for a change in the law on deathbed wills after an eight-year legal wrangle over whether a
dying man’s sister offered him a ‘steadying hand’ as he signed all his
possessions over to her. The judge described the matter as a ‘troubling case’
and called for Parliament to act to resolve uncertainty over so-called ‘guided
hand’ signatures dating back to the drafting of the Wills Act of 1837. Martin
Lavin had changed his will in favour of his sister, Anne Liston, a few hours
before his death at the age of 69 in 2004. He had apparently signed a
handwritten will, drawn up by Mrs Liston’s daughter, a former legal secretary,
at his hospital bedside, with two nurses acting as witnesses. However, Court of
Appeal judges have agreed that Mrs Liston had ‘stepped in’ and signed the
document herself as her brother was too weak to hold a pen.
Several high profile cases
have dominated headlines during the first week in February. The Supreme Court
has heard two days of dense legal arguments relating to Sweden's attempts to extradite Julian Assange to face accusations of rape and sexual assault, which
he denies. The justices will now consider their verdict, which will be handed
down within weeks. Assange's appeal revolves around whether a prosecutor has
the right to request an extradition under the terms of the ‘European Arrest Warrant’
and the Extradition Act 2003 that incorporates it into British law. Amidst
accusations of perverting the course of justice, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne finally resigned from the cabinet fiercely
protesting his innocence and pledged
to fight the charge of using his former wife’s name to escape speeding penalty
points. Attorney General Dominic Grieve has refused to review Stephen Lawrence
killers’ sentences stating that the
sentences will not be referred to the Court of Appeal for a decision on whether
they are unduly lenient because the minimum terms are within the appropriate
range of sentences.
This week witnessed Egypt’s worst ever football violence leading to the untimely death of 73 supporters. In
the tax evasion trial of football manager Harry Redknapp and his former chairman Milan Mandaric, the court was
told of the emotionally ‘fractious’ yet ‘tempestuous’ relationship that existed
between the two men. John Terry continues to protest his innocence against
charges of racism towards fellow footballer Anton Ferdinand. On Friday, the
Football Association’s decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy due to his
racism court trial seemed to echo a
statement by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas
Hammarberg, who claimed that racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Europe amid the current economic crisis.
On the international front I
have been closely following the trial of Judge Baltasar Garzon.
The supreme court in Spain has refused a request to throw out a case against
the judge accused of overstepping his authority. Spain's most famous judge is
testifying at his own trial for ordering an inquiry into mass killings by
forces loyal to former dictator General Franco. In US, lawmakers are looking at
expanding the scope for Colorado's ‘Make My Day’ law, which allows citizens to use deadly force to protect
themselves in their homes without being prosecuted. The extention relates to
right of the citizen to protect oneslf against deadly force in their businesses
and automobiles. Finally, in India the trial court dismissed a petition against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G mobile spectrum case.
On the human right’s front
two articles made fascinating read -
The Times of India’s ‘Concept of human rights is not of European origin’ and Danny Schechter
on ‘Property Rights and Human Rights Are Still at War - Rousseau’s Social
Contract addressed a problem still with us.’
As ever, I thank the legal
professionals, journalists, web editors and publications I have cited, and
linked to for allowing me to compose this week’s Sunday Law Review. Readers are
welcome to highlight any critical omissions, offer factual corrections or
discuss the issues raised in my review.
© TTR
