CPACD

What will happen after 29 March 2019 if there is no Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU?  In this "no deal" or "cliff edge" scenario, the UK would step entirely away from the EU ("third country status") and there would not be an implementation / transition period to protect British business / commerce from the inevitable ravages of such a status.  How should businesses and individuals prepare for this situation? On 23 August, the UK government published Preparations for a No Deal Brexit .  The speech of the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU is HERE .   Just how confident one should be that a deal will be achieved is highly debatable even though the Minister referred to a No Deal Brexit as an "unlikely event" and said that he was confident that a "good deal is within our sights." UK government's preparations for a No Deal scenario - states that "the government will be publishing a series of technical notices du...

On 21 August, the Judiciary published the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Annual Report 2016-17 .  In the Preface to the report, the Lord Chief Justice notes that the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) is "there to ensure that so far as humanly possible convictions which are unsafe are set aside, and sentences which are either manifestly excessive or unduly lenient are corrected.  Convictions which are safe and sentences which are appropriate must be upheld. That simple summary of the objective of the Court reveals its importance, and the high level of responsibility which all who work in the Court, whether in the office or in the Court itself, must carry." " Inside the Court of Appeal " was a documentary broadcast on 23 August by ITV - it may be viewed until mid-September via this link .  This unique documentary examined in detail three harrowing and emotional cases that were heard by the appeals court :- A)  The 2013 murder in Liverpool of Sean McHugh...

Former Magistrates' Court - Kendal The Judiciary has published Judicial Diversity Statistics 2018 setting out the position as at 1 April 2018. The data for Magistrates is particularly striking. We see a loss of 10,122 magistrates since 2012 and, of the 15,003 remaining the data notes that 55% are over 60 - i.e. 8,252.   If the retirement age remains 70, that 55% will all have left the magistracy by 2028. Interestingly, closures of Magistrates' Courts is not mentioned as a reason for loss of numbers even though many courts have been closed since 2010 - see this written answer 5 January 2016 - and closures have taken place subsequently - e.g. Kendal (pictured) in 2017. The New Statesman noted the closures on 27 June 2018 -  Crumbling Britain: The quiet decline of English courts . The number of District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) stood at 145 on 19th April 2018 - HERE . It is generally argued that the court closures are justifiable on grounds of saving money whilst impr...

Jack Adcock Jack Adcock was born on 15 July 2004.  He died at Leicester Royal Infirmary on 18 February 2011.  The clinical cause of his death was sepsis - a condition explained by the NHS and also see Sepsis Trust .  According to the Trust five people die every hour due to sepsis - "Sepsis can initially look like flu, gastroenteritis or a chest infection. There is no one sign, and symptoms present differently between adults and children." The BBC Panorama coverage of this case is an excellent, detailed and very moving programme.  It really must be viewed. The picture which emerges is complex.  This post takes an overview of the legal proceedings which ensued and also at a number of reports. Leicester NHS Report: The NHS Trust conducted its own investigation into Jack's death and, on 24 Augsut 2011, produced a report.  Pulse Today has this information regarding the report and offers a link to the redacted report - University Hospitals of Leicester NHS T...

Conservative MP and former Foreign Secretary - the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson MP - caused considerable furore over a piece he wrote for The Telegraph on 5 August - Denmark has got it wrong. Yes, the burka is oppressive and ridiculous - but that's still no reason to ban it .   Mr Johnson expressed surprise that Denmark had joined several other European countries - e.g. France, Belgium - "in imposing a ban on the niqab and the burka – those items of Muslim head-gear that obscure the female face."  He continued to say that he agreed with those who think that the burka is oppressive - "I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes; ...." Nevertheless, Mr Johnson continued to say - I am against a total ban because it is inevitably construed – rightly or wrongly – as being intended to make some point about Islam. Some restrictions are, according to Mr Johnson, acceptable.  He wrote - " I ...