The Law Business: 22nd to 28th April

Welcome to the year's 16th edition of the weekly 'Law Business' column brought to you by the SundayLawReview team. Over the last 18 months this column has reported on the Abu Qatada affair so often that the failure of the latest Government bid to deport him to Jordan at the start of the week came as no surprise. Following this the Home Secretary Theresa May set out an alternative plan that would include new diplomatic dialogue with Jordan. However, despite a new treaty the bitter admission remains that any formal deportation may take months to materialise.  

Tussles with the EU is nothing new in British politics and as St. Georges Day was celebrated by the erstwhile patriot, the House of Lords EU committee warned that opting out of 130 European Union police and criminal justice measures would weaken the UK's ability to fight crime. One of the possible ramification could well lead to damaging existing co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic in tackling cross-border organised crime and terrorism. In another move, Lords also rejected a move by the government to issue workplace rights-for-shares scheme.

An important investigative documentary by the BBC Panorama programme highlighted a few cases where Muslim victims of domestic violence were ignored. Sharia courts for Muslims and Beth Din courts for Jews were empowered by the Arbitration Act of 1996 to settle certain matters according to religious faith without the need for civil law. Earlier this year, a High Court decision approved the terms of a divorce under rabbinical law, the first in British legal history. It is conceivable that in time this could lead to similar settlements by other religious courts, including Sharia courts. The initial arbitration tribunals were set up by Barrister Shiekh Faiz-ul-Aqtab and it is believed that the total number has grown to over 80. The initial hearings dealt with inheritance and nuisance neighbours but the scope and influence of the courts has broadened considerably. Baroness Cox, a cross-bench member of the House of Lords, who has introduced a private members bill to ensure Sharia councils operate within the law, believes that the councils are acting as a “parallel legal system” and questioned the resolve of government to tackle the problem. Kris Hopkins MP, had recently called on the Government to clarify possible penalties it would apply to Sharia councils if the guidelines they operate under have exceeded. While others have argued that increased participation of women in these organisations would eventually lead to judgements that take into consideration issues such as marital rape and domestic violence.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling's plan to reduce judicial reviews has been criticised by immigration lawyers. Judicial reviews have become something of a last resort when dealing with with UKBA with 8734 applications being made in 2011 alone. One of the most important legal rulings of the week came when judges decided against law allowing 17-year-olds to be treated as adults in custody following two teenage deaths. Speaking of custody, a study by the Howard League for Penal Reform has revealed that criminals are four times as likely to avoid a custodial sentence depending on which part of the country they offend in, with Shakespeare's county Warwickshire having the lowest rate. Offenders are twice as likely to go to jail if they offend in the South Wales county of Gwent. Another study by the UK Peace Index has revealed that the rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than many other countries in Western Europe. 

The purpose of this column is to take a serious look at what happened in the business of law within UK as reported by online legal publications throughout last week.
 

The most interesting articles on developments, compliance, business of law within UK or as well as international developments of interest to UK law firms and legal practioners: 
 

Interesting articles on the study of law, legal training, pupillage and legal academia: 



Articles of the week:

The UK and international articles of the week are pieces selected by @TheLawMap tweeting team based on recommendations from friends and followers of LawNewsIndex.com daily law news blog.


  • Debunking myths about the UK Supreme Court | Jenny Rowe - Guardian Law 
  • The £675m owed by UK’s richest criminals - More than half a billion pounds owed remain unpaid, despite threat of additional jail term | Jonathan Owen - The Independent 
  • Oppressive UK surveillance laws set bad example for rogue states | Carly Nyst - Public Service Europe
  • Property ownership for cohabitees - common myths exposed | Staff Reporter - Cambridge News 
  • The quest for Justice - the profound conviction that complicity in mass murder should not go unpunished | Shashi Tharoor - Times of Oman 
  • Can Britain withdraw from the European human rights convention? | Alan Travis - The Guardian 
  • The Boston bombings: Matters of law | S M - The Economist
  • Rape and Justice in the Civil War | Crystal N Fiemster - The New York Times 
  • To protect our children, we must talk to them about rape | Desmond Tutu, Jacob Lief and Sohaila Abdulali - The Guardian     

News from the Law Firms, Chambers & ABS: 

Friday 26th April
Thursday 25th April
Wednesday 24th April
Tuesday 23rd April
Monday 22nd April

 

We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's column. Please notify via @TheLawMap Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.

 

TheLawMap Publications at a glance: 
LawNewsIndex.com - Daily Law News Archive
SundayLawReview.com - Weekly Law Business News Blog
Law Specials - A compendium of articles on Justice & Society
Wig - Daily Newspaper Focusing on Law & Society
MetaLawIndex - Informal Blog chronicling behind the scene events at LawNewsIndex & Twitter

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The Law Business: 15th to 21st April

Welcome to the year's 15th edition of the weekly 'Law Business' column brought to you by the SundayLawReview team. The week felt like a long tragic note with the Bombings in Boston, USA and Lady Thatcher's funeral. Both events highlighted how fragile peace can be when dissatisfied souls want to make statements. While protesters held placards outside of the Royal Courts of Justice, scattered remonstrations through graffiti and a few turning their backs on the ceremonial cavalcade, the mood of ex-miners who have never lived down their last stance remained hardened to the former Prime Minister. The explosions at Boston is a far more sinister form of protest that is totally unwelcome and uncalled for in any society. The subsequent fear led to reviews of existing security arrangements for London Marathon that took place on Sunday. The internet-detectives took to social networking in trying to unravel the identity of the bombers but just got it very wrong.   

 

For those on low income, Government's decision on imposing the burden of court costs to those who have £3000 or more in personal savings is certainly likely to impact litigation. This was also the week when figures revealed that arrests in England and Wales fell by 9% prompting further cries of criminals supposedly getting away with it. Perhaps the most important legal news of the week was the Supreme Court's reversal of a previous decision that accessing newspaper articles by clicking links does not breach copyright.   

 

Sectarianism or fan violence is not new to football as this week saw further troubles and subsequent arrests of two Millwall supporters for disorderly conduct, but what is deplorable is an open admission of hatred towards an opposition supporter in matters unrelated to football. This week a Newcastle FC supporter had to be struck from the jury at the sexual assault trial involving an individual who was a supporter of Sunderland FC. 

 

The purpose of this column is to take a serious look at what happened in the business of law within UK as reported by online legal publications throughout last week. 


The most interesting articles on developments, compliance, business of law within UK or as well as international developments of interest to UK law firms and legal practioners: 
 

Interesting articles on the study of law, legal training, pupillage and legal academia: 



Articles of the week:

The UK and international articles of the week are pieces selected by @TheLawMap tweeting team based on recommendations from friends and followers of LawNewsIndex.com daily law news blog.


  • Press regulation: minor bloggers excluded from exemplary damages. Political parties reach agreement on 'micro businesses' with turnover of less than £2m for amendment to crime and courts bill | Mark Sweney - The Guardian 
  • Equality and Human Rights Commission issues guidance on workplace rights | Press Association - NewsShopper 
  • Emotional intelligence is still the key to corporate success and influence | Julia Chain - The Global Legal Post
  • Are UK drug laws stopping depression drug trials? | Tim Sandle - Digital Journal
  • M25 suicide case demonstrates limits of court of appeal | Joshua Rozenberg - The Guardian 
  • The Antisocial Network - The fruitless search for dehumanized money. Bitcoin’s wild ride may not have been the biggest business story of the past few weeks, but it was surely the most entertaining | Paul Krugman - The New York Times
  • What is terrorism? Terrorism has come to signify race and religion though everyone is careful not to say so | Laura Beth Nielson - AlJazeera
  • Vienna 1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place | Andy Walker - BBC Radio 4 
  • What are we losing in the Web’s images of suffering and schadenfreude? | Philip Kennicott - Washington Post

News from the Law Firms, Chambers & ABS: 

Friday 19th April
Thursday 18th April
Wednesday 17th April
Tuesday 16th April
Monday 15th April

We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's column. Please notify via @TheLawMap Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.

 

TheLawMap Publications at a glance: 
LawNewsIndex.com - Daily Law News Archive
SundayLawReview.com - Weekly Law Business News Blog
Law Specials - A compendium of articles on Justice & Society
Wig - Daily Newspaper Focusing on Law & Society
MetaLawIndex - Informal Blog chronicling behind the scene events at LawNewsIndex & Twitter

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The Law Business: 8th to 14th April

Welcome to the year's 14th edition of the weekly 'Law Business' column brought to you by the SundayLawReview team. The demise of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dominated the week's mainstream news media just as Mrs Thatcher had dominated her cabinet and the country all through the 80s. Our favourite analysis of her policies appeared in The New York Times, comparing her rise and fall to that of the once great port city Liverpool - Thatcher’s Divided Isle. Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female Prime Minister. While she may not have directly contributed to the advancement of women in politics through affirmative action, many feminists have argued that the Iron Lady and her famous handbags symbolised a crack in the glass ceiling. Just a few days before the sad demise of Mrs Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, a US presidential hopeful had argued that 'female rights are the unfinished business of the 21st century'.


Mrs Thatcher's influence on the legal profession through the changes implemented during her term in office is often unrealised. What she would have made of LASPO or of the present Justice Secretary Chris Grayling could be a fascinating discussion as she never sensed the need for such a cabinet position. However, justification of existence is often the legitimate remit for tough action as the legal aid cuts under Kenneth Clarke and his successor Chris Grayling have proved to be. The latter, fondly referred to as a 'Tory attack dog' has turned into a favourite of the right-wing newspapers in his constant battles with the supposed 'fatcat lawyers'. Tough on criminals, Mr Grayling had recently stated that convicted criminals may have to pay their own defence costs. The Police and Crime Commissioner's post was created by the present government and the PCC for Kent Ann Barnes started off in her job with with a stutter as Paris Brown, her nominated youth representative had to be investigated by the same police force because of offensive outbursts on Twitter. 

 

The purpose of this column is to take a serious look at what happened in the business of law within UK as reported by online legal publications throughout last week. 


The most interesting articles on developments, compliance, business of law within UK or as well as international developments of interest to UK law firms and legal practioners: 
 

Interesting articles on the study of law, legal training, pupillage and legal academia: 



Articles of the week:

The UK and international articles of the week are pieces selected by @TheLawMap tweeting team based on recommendations from friends and followers of LawNewsIndex.com daily law news blog.

  

  • Inside Britain's Sharia courts | Jane Corbin - The Telegraph
  • The Tyranny of the Billable Hour - Law Firm Billing in the US | Steven J. Harper - The New York Times 
  • Will the UK’s New Design Copyright Law Kill Innovation? | Kyle Chayka - Hyperallergic.com   
  • 10 Reasons To Be Kind To Lawyers | Tom Webb - Legal Cheek 
  • "Who else has ever invited Charles de Foucauld, Margaret Thatcher, Philip Pullman and Nick Cave to the same party?" | Blog - Trystan Owain Hughes 
  • Yes, suspects are sometimes innocent - but secret arrests are not the answer | Joshua Rozenberg - Guardian Law 
  • Neruda, Pinochet, and the Iron Lady | Lee Anderson - The NewYorker  

News from the Law Firms, Chambers & ABS: 

Friday 12th April
Thursday 11th April
Wednesday 10th April
Tuesday 9th April
Monday 8th April

We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's column. Please notify via @TheLawMap Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.

 

TheLawMap Publications at a glance: 
LawNewsIndex.com - Daily Law News Archive
SundayLawReview.com - Weekly Law Business News Blog
Law Specials - A compendium of articles on Justice & Society
Wig - Daily Newspaper Focusing on Law & Society
MetaLawIndex - Informal Blog chronicling behind the scene events at LawNewsIndex & Twitter

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