Housing Law News Homelessness: while the numbers of homeless applications and acceptances are going up in England, they are falling in Wales. But the latest Welsh statistics indicate a significant increase in the use of B&B accommodation. For the latest statistics, click here. Housing benefit (bedroom tax 1): the first tranche of judgments on the […]
Immigration Law Cases Rahim, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 2794 (Admin) 13 September 2013Mr Ockelton, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge (DHCJ), held in the case of an Iraqi national who had originally claimed asylum in 2003 but who in 2010 had gone to […]
Employment Law News Low Pay Britain A report published by the Resolution Foundation entitled, "Low Pay Britain 2013" shows that 4.8 million Britons (20 per cent of all employees) earn below the Living Wage – a leap from 3.4 million (14 per cent) in 2009 – at the height of the recession. It is believed […]
Housing Law News Legal aid in housing cases: the number of housing law cases in which legal advice and assistance has been sought from legal aid solicitors and advisers in England has nose-dived since the introduction of cuts to the scope of legal aid in April 2013. This is particularly surprising as most mainstream housing […]
Rajeev Thacker is currently instructed for the Slack family in the inquest into the deaths of Rachael Slack, her two year old son Auden and her ex-partner Andrew Cairn.
Garden Court Chambers is delighted to be part of Open House London weekend again on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2013. The weekend gives the public the opportunity to see our 17th and 18th century buildings completely free of charge.
Housing Law News Homelessness in England: on 5 September 2013 the homelessness statistics for England for the first quarter of 2013/14 were published. They show that: (1) 13,460 applicants were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, 5% higher than during the same quarter of 2012; (2) 56,210 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 […]
Immigration Law News The Ministry of Justice has announced a second stage of consultation on amended proposals regarding changes to the provision of legal aid. To read further, click here. And for further proposals on reforming judicial review, click here. Proposed changes to Immigration RulesOn Friday 6 September 2013, a written ministerial statement was laid […]
A nine-month old girl has been returned to her family after her parents won an unusual High Court case in which they were accused of "baby shaking". Barristers acting for the parents cast enough doubt on the medical evidence for the judge to refuse the l
Housing Law News Private rented sector: in January 2013, the Newham London Borough Council declared the whole of its district an area of mandatory licensing of private sector landlords. On 27 August 2013 it published statistics indicating that 110 legal cases are on-going against local landlords, including: (1) 67 prosecutions for failure to license and/or […]
Immigration Law News The scheme by which immigration judicial reviews are to take place in the Tribunal, rather than the High Court, is now to take effect imminently. The scheme applies to any case in which an application for permission is issued in the High Court on or after 9 September 2013 or in the […]
Housing Law News Private rented sector: the Home Office consultation, on tackling illegal immigration in privately rented accommodation by requiring private landlords to carry out immigration status checks on prospective tenants, closed last week. For the response made by the Residential Landlords' Association, click here. For the response made by the Housing Team at Garden […]
Immigration Law News The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has published updated guidance on asylum seekers from Afghanistan. For further information, click here. The Migration Matters Trust has carried out an analysis of the likely increase in net migration from Bulgaria and Romania, following the end of transitional controls at the beginning of 2014. […]
Tom Wainwright has successfully secured the acquittal of a participant in the ‘Critical Mass’ protest which took place on the opening night of the Olympic Games following a four-day appeal at Southwark Crown Court.
Rebecca Hill and Tom Stoate have successfully defended two defendants charged with aggravated trespass arising out of a protest on the roof of the headquarters of security firm G4S. They had been protesting against the company's alleged unlawful involveme
Garden Court Chambers Housing Team has submitted a response to the Home Office consultation “Tackling illegal immigration in privately rented accommodation”. In our response, we set out why we are wholly opposed to the proposals to require private landlor
Housing Law News Legal aid for housing cases: the Low Commission is looking at the impact of legal aid reform on areas of social welfare law, including housing. It has closed its evidence-gathering phase but is now seeking views of those working in and around the advice sector on its draft report and emerging recommendations. […]
Brenda Campbell is due to speak at the 'Beyond Law: The UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights' event , which runs from 2-5 September 2013. The event aims to provide a practical introduction to how UN human rights can be applied in practice.
Housing Law News Possession claims against tenants: on 8 August 2013 the latest official statistics on landlord possession claims in the county court were released. 39,293 claims were issued in the three months March to June 2013 and during the same period bailiffs executed over 9000 possession warrants for landlords. For the full figures, click […]
Immigration Law News The Home Office has amended both the guidance for points-based system (PBS) dependants and the application forms for Tier 4 (Child) applications; Tier 2 Priority Dependant applications; Tier 1, 2 or 5 Dependant applications and Tier 4 Dependant applications. For further information, click here. Immigration Law Cases Che, R (on the application […]
