Month: December 2012

30.12.12

Divorce rate falls

Official statistics have revealed that the number of couples divorcing in 2011 has fallen 1.7% from the previous year. Commenting on the figures Ruth sutherland, chief executive of Relate, said Nearly half of Relate counsellors are seeing an increase in couples having to live together because they simply cant afford to break up.  Also, recent Census data revealed that cohabiting…

Report suggests 1 in 10 prosecutions are dropped after charge

A report prepared by the think-tank Policy Exchange entitled In the Public Interest: Reforming the Crown Prosecution service states that 88,000 criminal cases “ one in ten “ that were charged were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution service (CPs) in 2011/12 due to a lack of evidence or because prosecution was deemed not to be in…

28.12.12

12,000 wrongly labelled as criminals in inaccurate CRB checks

Figures obtained from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) have identified that nearly 12,000 individuals have been wrongly labelled as criminals over the past five years.   some 4 million checks are carried out each year, typically by prospective employers.  It is understood that in more than a quarter of the cases that the information disclosed was inaccurate because…

Facebook and Twitter related criminal complaints up 780% in four years

The number of criminal allegations made to the police for the misuse of Facebook and Twitter has increased from 556 in 2008 to 4,908 in 2012.  Commenting on the statistics, Andy Trotter of the Association of Chief Police Officers acknowledged that the figures demonstrated a new challenge for the police.  It was recognised that offences involving social media, such…

16.12.12

Law society recommends punitive costs against 'oppressive' Employment Tribunal litigants

The Law society has suggested an extension of the current costs regime in employment tribunals.  In responding to a review of tribunal rules, the society has recommended two areas where costs could be awarded.  The first scenario is where litigants in person ˜constantly bombard opponents with unnecessary correspondence and applications.  The second was where a represented party attempted to intimidate an…

Unmeritorious applications risk clogging up Court of Appeal

The Registrar of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal Master Egan QC has warned that the Court’s workload is coming under pressure following an increase in the number of applications for permission to appeal.  7,442 applications to appeal were lodged for the year end 30 september 2012, an increase of 6%.  5,711 were appeals…

scrapping of recoverability of success fees and insurance premiums to be delayed for defamation and privacy cases

The Government has announced that it will delay the implementation of sections 44 and 46 of the Legal Aid, sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 in relation to defamation and privacy claims until an appropriate ‘costs protection’ regime has been introduced. sections 44 and 46 of the Act will mean that success fees under conditional fee…

5.12.12

Tamiz v Google Inc: Judgment reserved in landmark appeal on liability for online publication

On 3 and 4 December 2012 the Court of Appeal  heard the appeal in the case of Tamiz v Google Inc.  Brett Wilson LLP acts for the Claimant/Appellant Payam Tamiz, who is appealing the High Court decision of Mr Justice Eady (Tamiz v Google Inc Google UK Ltd [2012] EWHC 449 (QB)).  In March 2012, Eady J…