The Law Business: 27th May to 2nd June

Welcome to the year's 21th edition of the weekly 'Law Business' column brought to you by the SundayLawReview team. 

The former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross caused much outrage at the start of the week by suggesting that women who dress provocatively on unescorted trips out of the house were very much akin to banks storing stacks of cash by the door. 'Provocation leading to rape' is an argument that was almost acceptable in polite society in a bygone era but thankfully, as a society the majority opinion has shifted. In rape or sexual violence cases, pointing to the character, past history or attire of the victim could no longer be justified in much of the developed world. Sadly, there is still a long way to go in many parts of the world as recent cases have shown. A scantily clad woman does not not imply a consent to physical violation. The moral case in this instance is the very same of having a stack of cash by the bank door, the cash should not be pocketed. Perhaps Ross had been referring to human behaviour and prudence rather than the ethical validity of such acts. But, there could never be any moral justification for either the rape or the pocketing of the bank's cash.   

Britain is being taken to court by the European Commission over proposed government legislation on migrant entitlement to state benefits. The commission has argued that Britain is imposing an extra test on migrants from the EU that does not apply to British citizens, which is in contravention of EU law. The European Court of Human Rights has rejected Shirley Chaplin, Gary McFarlane and Lillian Ladele appeal over workplace discrimination. The three Christians had argued that their beliefs saw them wrongly disciplined by their employers for actions such as refusing to counsel same-sex couples as well as the right to wear a Christian cross while working for an airlines. This ruling effectively ends their legal battle. 

The volume of protest by the legal profession has now reached fever pitch with Alistair MacDonald QC, Vice Chairman of the Bar Council, warning that the reforms will create a two-tier justice system where only the wealthiest can afford to have the defence of their choice. The green paper on legal aid had proposed local solicitors being replaced by larger firms or “procurement vehicles” bidding to provide all legal services in a given area. Persons wanting to fight a criminal charge but cannot afford to do so would have no choice over representation. The government is reducing 1,600 nationwide contracts to 400, with some of the firms being businesses solely set up “procurement firms” rather than law firms. While the notion of customer satisfaction keeps every good business running, the principal source of concern by the legal fraternity had been than this commercialisation of justice may leave the individual seeking justice with a system that is more profit driven rather than focused on justice. 

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.


TheLawMap interview with Barrister A S M Monirul Alam on Law & Worker's Rights in the global textile industry in light of last April's garment factory collapse in, Savar, Bangladesh.


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, associates, legal academia & law students: 



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.

 

  • Chris Grayling's proposed reforms to legal aid undermine the foundations of British justice | Alistair MacDonald - The Telegraph
  • Literary festival shows prisoners how they can change their lives | Caspar Walsh - The Guardian
  • “It could have been me”: Some thoughts on Prison and Compassion | Trystan Owain Hughes - Personal blog 
  • International Criminal Tribunal Born as Bastard? | Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey - HuffPost
  • Legal aspects of international business transactions | Staff reporter - Business Recorder   

Lawyers, Law Firms, Chambers & ABS in the news this week: 

Friday 31st May
Thursday 30th May
Wednesday 29th May
Tuesday 28th May

 

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 and interviews on Justice & Society
Wig - Daily Newspaper Focusing on Law & Society
MetaLawIndex - Informal Blog chronicling life behind the scene at LawNewsIndex & Twitter

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