Government & Legislation: Last week The Legal Services Commission has announced that the present contracts for Specialist Support with Housing Cases let to Shelter, Garden Court Chambers and other specialist housing advisers have been extended to 31 June 2008. A consultation paper on the future position is planned for May 2007. For a description of […]
COURT OF APPEAL IA Somalia v Sec of State [2007] EWCA Civ 323 An asylum appeal was remitted for a rehearing in circumstances where it could not be said with confidence that the adjudicator would have arrived at the same conclusion as he had if he had taken a relevant country guidance case into account, […]
David Watkinson, appears in the March issue of the magazine 'From the Lawyers' Collective.'
CASES COURT OF APPEAL Disability discrimination O’Hanlon v Commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs [2007] EWCA Civ 283The Claimant had long periods of sickness absence, some of which were disability related. The Respondent’s sick pay policy was for six months full pay and six months half pay with a maximum of 12 months’ pay in […]
Due to the Easter break there was no issue of this Bulletin onMonday 2 April 2007 orMonday 9 April 2007. Government & Legislation On 1 April 2007 the most radical changes in 30 years were made to the law relating to private rented accommodation in Northern Ireland by the Private Tenancies (NI) Order 2006. A […]
Garden Court Chambers housing team has responded to the government's consultation on guidance for implementing Choice-Based Lettings Scheme.
News The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) (Amendment) Rules 2007 (No. 835 (L. 5)) make the necessary amendments to effect the legal changes demanded by the recent Court of Appeal decisions in AM (Serbia) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] EWCA Civ 16 (25 January 2007) http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2007/16.html and FP (Iran) […]
Garden Court Chambers has grave concerns about the changes to publicly funded recently introduced by the Legal Services Commission.
CASES EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL Statutory dismissal and grievance procedures London Borough of Hounslow v Miller UKEAT/0645/06/DAUnder s32 Employment Act 2002, where the statutory grievance procedure applies, an employee shall not present a complaint unless 28 days have elapsed since a step one grievance letter was sent. In this case the Claimant put in a claim […]
News Monday the 2nd of April 2007 saw the launch of the new Border and Immigration Agency which, a new executive agency of the Home Office. The Agency will assume the responsibilities of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The new body will supposedly focus on ‘local-level’ immigration, and has appointed six regional directors. The six […]
Government & Legislation: Last Week On Tuesday 20 March 2007, Citizens Advice published its report Locked Out: CAB evidence on prisoners and ex-offenders. The document indicates that a third of prisoners lose their homes while in custody and that homeless ex-prisoners are more likely to re-offend. In recommends an increase in advisory services for prisoners, […]
News The UNHCR has published its annual review of asylum applications lodged in European and Non-European industrialised countries. Across the 50 countries surveyed, the main countries of origin of asylum applicants in 2006 were Iraq (22,200), China (18,300), the Russian Federation (15,700), Serbia and Montenegro (15,600) and Turkey (8,700). The United States was the largest […]
On March 22nd 2007 Mr Barry Kerbey won his action against the Defendant for assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. He claimed damages including aggravated and exemplary damages. Mr Kerbey was represented by Leslie Thomas of Garden Court Ch
On Wednesday 21 March 2007, the House of Lords handed down its joint opinion in the cases of Huang -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department; Kashmiri -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] UKHL 11. Duran Seddon was junior counsel for
This year's Minority Lawyers Conference is taking place on Saturday 28th April 2007. The Minority Lawyers Conference provides a forum for BME lawyers and those in the legal profession to express their views and exert their influence on legal and relevant
Government & Legislation Last Week On Monday 12 March 2007 Baroness Andrews set out the extent of the Government’s support for tenant and resident involvement in housing matters in a speech to the TAROE national conference. For a copy of the speech click here On the same day, the Government published the latest statistics on […]
CASES EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS Trade Union Rights ASLEF v United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights (Application no. 11002/05) The restriction imposed on trade unions by section 174 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 preventing them from expelling a member on the basis of his or her membership of a political […]
Government and Parliament Fees for entry clearance for marriage or for settlement go up on 1 April to a whopping £500 under the Consular Fees Order 2007, SI 2007/649. Student entry clearance will cost £99. Fees for the issue of passports are also increased under the Order. The Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) (Amendment) Regulations […]
Government & Legislation Last Week On 6 March 2007 the Gypsy and Traveller Task Group on Site Provision and Enforcement presented Ministers with its interim report. It advised that enforcement against unauthorised sites remains a "blunt weapon" and "can only be used successfully if there is sufficient provision of authorised sites". For a copy of […]
Cases Restrictive Covenants Thomas v Farr plc [2007] EWCA Civ 118 The Court of Appeal reviewed the authorities on non-competition clauses and upheld the enforceability of a clause in a contract of employment of a managing director of a firm of insurance brokers, prohibiting him from competing with the company for 12 months after the […]
