Legal News

Police are ordered to destroy all DNA samples taken from innocent people

Posted on December 04, 2008
More than 1.6 million DNA and fingerprint samples of innocent people on police databases must be destroyed after a court ruled yesterday that keeping them breaches human rights.

Law must allow the use of data in fight against serious crime

Posted on December 04, 2008
This judgment will come as a disappointment to the police service. But it does at least provide some clarity on an issue that has been outstanding for some time. What is required now is some exhaustive and thorough research on offending (and reoffending) profiles of those whose DNA and fingerprints were taken in the past.

DNA: what happens after an arrest

Posted on December 04, 2008
When a suspect is arrested for a record-able offence a mouth swab is taken, usually when the person has arrived at a police station and the custody sergeant has authorised detention.

Football fan Michael Shields jailed for crime abroad seeks pardon from Britain

Posted on December 04, 2008
London Lawyers for the jailed Liverpool football fan Michael Shields have begun a challenge to his conviction by a Bulgarian court. Two High Court judges in London are being asked to rule that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, has the power to exercise the ancient ?royal prerogative of mercy?, even though Shields was convicted abroad...

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Times Law Panel welcomes ruling on DNA samples

Posted on December 04, 2008
A ruling by one of Europe's highest courts that could prevent authorities from stockpiling DNA samples taken from people with no criminal conviction was welcomed by lawyers today.

Recruitment, law, pubs and estate agents: four different industries, one common story

Posted on December 03, 2008
From high street pubs to City law firms, the services sector is hurting as spending dries up. The Times examines some of the service industries most affected by the economic gloom.

Drug companies celebrate collapse of price-fixing case

Posted on December 03, 2008
The Serious Fraud Office suffered a huge defeat yesterday with the collapse of its £25 million, six-year investigation into alleged price fixing among drug manufacturers. The Court of Appeal in London rejected the SFO?s appeal against the striking out of its indictment in July this year against five pharmaceutical companies...

JJB shares dive as OFT probes rival's stake

Posted on December 03, 2008
Shares in JJB Sports fell by 21 per cent today after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was investigating whether Sports Direct?s acquisition of nearly 5 per cent in the retailer was anti-competitive.

Costs, targets, paperwork: why the system fails children at risk

Posted on December 03, 2008
Ed Balls moved swiftly to remove Sharon Shoesmith from her post, and states that every local council must learn the lessons of Baby P?s death. But in many ways, Shoesmith was the perfect children?s director for the new-look Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The Water Cooler

Posted on December 03, 2008
* No fewer than 28 barristers (not to mention solicitors) crowded into court yesterday to hear Lord Justice Latham throw out the appeal by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) against the striking out of its indictment alleging conspiracy to defraud in the NHS price-fixing case ? known as Operation Holbein...

?Privacy law is not new ? we?ve had it since Naomi?s case?

Posted on December 03, 2008
Desmond Browne, QC, is already a familiar face ? to the media at least. One of Britain?s top libel silks, he is well known in press circles from high-profile court cases over decades (Neil Hamilton, Elton John, Auberon Waugh, Boris Berezovsky and Victoria Beckham all secured his services, as have several newspapers)...

In the City: putting the frighteners on whiteblowers

Posted on December 03, 2008
Clean as a whistle

Credit crisis: European Commission's dazzling moves keep businesses on track

Posted on December 03, 2008
While banks are being written massive cheques by the Government it is no surprise that in the past week we have had the motor manufacturers and the engineering employers starting to say, ?Me too!?, Channel 4 and, no doubt, a host of others are also in the queue (or about to join it).

Mike Ashley under scrutiny from OFT over JJB Sports

Posted on December 03, 2008
Mike Ashley, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Sports Direct, will be forced to justify his recent purchase of a near-5 per cent stake in JJB Sports after competition investigators said that they would examine the deal.

Lawyer of the Week: Adrian Budgen

Posted on December 03, 2008
Adrian Budgen, head of industrial disease litigation at Irwin Mitchell, acted for Ruth Durham, the lead claimant in the employer?s liability insurance policy ?trigger? litigation in the High Court. Mr Justice Burton ruled that employer?s liability insurance policies were triggered at the time when mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos, not when the disease develops, and so the insurers who were ?on risk? would be liable to pay compensation.

RBS plans 'proactive' refund of overdraft fees

Posted on December 02, 2008
RBS plans to "proactively" refund overdraft fees if it loses the ongoing test case over bank charges.

Tory grandee Sir Paul Judge?s former Lady seeks £5m more from divorce

Posted on December 02, 2008
The former wife of the multimillionaire Tory grandee Sir Paul Judge is seeking to reopen the couple?s divorce settlement, claiming that he kept £14 million back to reimburse a charity but never paid it.

Barrister was going to resign if her mother won libel action

Posted on December 02, 2008
Constance Briscoe went into the High Court libel action that could have wrecked her career fully expecting to lose, she says in an interview in today?s Times.

David Greene: 'Class actions alllow people access to the courts'

Posted on December 01, 2008
I've been doing shareholder claims for 15 years. Shareholders and consumers that have suffered as a result of a cartel; these are the areas of growth for group actions. It's very rewarding being able to bring groups of claimants together. They are often ordinary people who have each suffered a loss and wouldn't normally be able to access the courts to recover their loss.

Heavy handed tactics over Damian Green's arrest cause cross-party outrage

Posted on December 01, 2008
It has been likened to the worst breach of parliamentary privilege since the mid-17th century but this time with the Speaker found wanting. The arrest of Damian Green, MP, the searching of his home and raiding of his Commons office have provoked almost universal and cross-party outrage.

Total faces criminal charges over Buncefield blast

Posted on December 01, 2008
Total, the French oil giant, and four other companies are facing criminal prosecution over Britain's biggest peacetime explosion, the Environment Agency said today.

Mother loses libel battle against 'Ugly' daughter

Posted on December 01, 2008
The mother of a prominent barrister faces a legal bill of £500,000 after losing a High Court libel action against her daughter over allegations of abuse in Ugly, the bestselling memoir.

Ruling strengthens employment rights for carers

Posted on November 28, 2008
Thousands of people who care for disabled or elderly relatives will have the right to claim against their private-sector employers who refuse them flexibile working after a tribunal ruling.

EU says drug industry delay tactics cost us ?3bn

Posted on November 28, 2008
Big drug companies have cost European consumers ?3 billion (£2.5 billion) through deliberately hindering the production of cheaper generic versions of their medicines, the European Union said today.

Rusal attacks Tajik Aluminium over 'fruitless' claim

Posted on November 28, 2008
Rusal, the Russian aluminium giant controlled by Oleg Deripaska, issued a stinging attack yesterday on a rival producer over a "sensational" fraud claim that had wasted millions of pounds on "fruitless" legal fees.

Don't know who Tesco's chief executive is? Then you, too, can be a trainee City commercial lawyer

Posted on November 28, 2008
Freshfields lawyers' quiz questions

BAE raided in South Africa in connection with SFO corruption inquiry

Posted on November 27, 2008
A South African office of BAE Systems, the UK?s biggest defence contractor, was raided by anti-corruption police yesterday in connection with a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into alleged bribery.

Tajik Aluminium settles $500m fraud claim$

Posted on November 27, 2008
One of the most expensive lawsuits in British history settled today after three years of bitter accusations and tens of millions of pounds spent on legal fees.

Should judges respond to criticism?

Posted on November 27, 2008
In 1900, the editor of the Birmingham Daily Argos was fined £100 by the Lord Chief Justice for describing Mr Justice Darling as an ?impudent little man in horsehair?. The editor avoided a prison sentence for ?personal scurrilous abuse of a judge? only because of his abject apology...

There is evidence of a new judicial openness ? and not before time

Posted on November 27, 2008
Judges traditionally have not spoken to news organisations. But there are real signs of a change in the relationship between judges and the media in recent weeks, with judges themselves taking a new approach.

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