Blog
Who is responsible for transport safety?
For anyone involved in transport law, safety is always the first priority and concern of any regulator or court. The Transport Safety Commission has recently published a report ‘UK Transport Safety: Who is responsible?’ The Commission, which is an independent body established in 2013, has the role of inquiring into transport safety matters, in order […]
The curse of CCC
The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Criminal Courts Charge) Regulations 2015 continue to drive judicial despair and resignations from the lay bench. Lucy Plumpton addresses an issue which raises the prospect of further injustice for Defendants. Which charge should apply when a Defendant pleads to a summary-only offence in the Crown Court? My client had […]
Recent developments in disciplinary law
There have been two recent important cases, Squier and Enemuwe, on the vexed question of the use that professional disciplinary panels are entitled to make of Court of Appeal judgments in related criminal cases. Squier must now be regarded as the leading authority on the issue. The Queen (on the application of Squier) v General […]
From the GMC fitness to practise panel
Rajkumar (June 2015) Providing drug without prescription – vulnerable patient – invitation to patient to collude in malpractice. Facts The Doctor, without formally prescribing it, gave a patient lorazepam on a home visit, and then told her not to inform his secretary of what he had done. At the time the patient was under the […]
Rugby World Cup – how are players disciplined?
The laws of Rugby are notoriously incomprehensible to most spectators, many players and some referees. But if you thought the rules about behaviour in the scrum were murky, spare a thought for the galaxy of rugby loving legal luminaries who administer an equally complex set of disciplinary rules. The game at international level is run […]
NHS staff must declare gifts from drugs companies or face jail
Does the widely disliked “Big Pharma” bribe doctors with free gifts and hospitality? In this country at least, bribery is seldom carried out by anything so obvious as a brown envelope stuffed with used bank notes. Instead, it is made to seem respectable by invitations to conferences in comfortable hotels, where the ostensible purpose of […]
Shining the light on proceedings
Often people will ask me whether the Bar and the Courtroom exchanges are really like it is portrayed on television in programmes like ‘Silk’ or ‘Judge John Deed’ and, for those of you old enough to remember, ‘Crown Court’. Since most episodes have to fit in to a one hour slot, there has to be […]
A (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 910
Background on the relevant law S.1 (2A) and (2B) of the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014, states that there is a presumption that involvement (direct or indirect) of a parent in a child’s life will further the welfare of the child. This position is therefore the starting point […]
Revocation of adoption orders: As rare as hen’s teeth?
Once a child is adopted this severs all legal ties with the birth family and establishes a new legal relationship with the adopters family. Often these adoptions are considered to be enabling the child to be a part of a forever family. However, the law allows for applications for revocation of the Adoption Order, but […]
Variation of undertakings in financial remedy orders
Undertakings in financial remedy orders are commonplace but the recent case of Birch v Birch [2015] EWCA Civ 833 explored the issue of the court’s jurisdiction to vary undertakings on application. The facts were fairly simple. The Wife obtained a transfer of the family home and gave undertakings to the court to use her best […]
A bad day at the office, or when intervention is too much intervention
The finding of fact hearing that was the subject of a recent appeal in Re G (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 834 puts into perspective what advocates (and indeed judges) may count as a “bad day at the office”. The facts are in many ways irrelevant, but to give a little context: this was a […]
Re H (Children) [2015] EWCA Civ 583
The case arose from public law family proceedings relating to a family of four children, whose mother was unable to care for them due to mental illness. The Father cared for all four children prior to the proceedings, however, the local authority had concerns that he was unable to cope and applied for a full […]