The Contact Law Legal Blog covers legal topics which relate to UK citizens. The scope of our blog mostly covers legal issues in the UK, but also extends to important EU and international legal topics. As well as current affairs, we also cover common everyday issues raised by our readers, such as the basics on family law, employment rights, property purchases, landlord and tenancy disputes, small business issues and motoring offences.

Have a browse for topics of interest - if you can't find what you're after or you need specialist legal advice or representation, Contact Law can put you in touch with a specialist solicitor local to you.

Leveson inquiry considers alternative regulations for social media

Lord Justice Leveson has indicated that different forms of regulation might be needed for online social media sites and online newspapers. Leveson is the Chairman of the Leveson Inquiry, which is charged with investigating current media practices and culture.

Leveson highlighted that there is a difference between general gossip conversations and news-related storied. (more…)

Owner of breast-implant company charged

Jean-Claude Mas, the owner of the French company producing PIP breast implants, has been questioned by police and is facing charges for involuntary injury. When the interrogation was over he was released on bail, which was set at 100,000 euros and he was told that he is not permitted to leave France.

The implants have been fitted on thousands of women around the world, including several women in the UK. Last year the PIP implants were banned in France after it emerged that they contained low-grade silicone, made for industrial purposes and not fit for medical use. (more…)

PI adverts necessary for hospital economy, claims advertising sector

Hospitals have been asked to remove any form of commercial advertisement for personal injury claims. Lawyers often advertise in leaflets around hospitals for their no-win, no-fee arrangements.

Despite such adverts being banned since 2007 by the Department of Health, the financial incentive for many hospitals is too great to refuse. For allowing the adverts, hospitals are either paid directly or receive significant donations of equipment and the like. (more…)

MPs question the safety of deportation techniques

MPs have raised concerns over the removal techniques used by private contractors hired by the UK Border Agency to accompany deportees on their removal from the country. The Commons’ Home Affairs Committee has looked into the practices used after concern was raised following the death of a man who was forcibly deported from England.

Just over a year ago Jimmy Mubenga was deported from London Heathrow to Angola. He was restrained on the flight and subsequently died. The job of escorting deportees back to their respective countries is contracted out by the UK Border Agency to private firms. According to an agency spokesman, all such staff are trained in appropriate restraint techniques. (more…)

Oxford professor considers western courts fail to uphold religious freedom

Oxford professor Roger Trigg has warned that European and American courts are undermining religious freedom by disproportionately focusing on other values. Trigg argues that, “There has been a clear trend for courts in Europe and North America to prioritise equality and non-discrimination above religion, placing the right to religious freedom in danger”.

Roger Trigg runs the Centre for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Kellogg College in Oxford. He stresses that conflicting rights should be balanced in a more equal manner, rather than one overriding another. (more…)

Prime Minister says European Court of Human Rights is turning into a “small claims court”

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is today expected to push for reform of the European Court of Human Rights in a speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Cameron is expected to insist that the Court, from now on, puts less focus on countries that traditionally have a good human rights record, such as Britain and Germany. Cameron thinks that the Court would work more efficiently if it looked more into countries like Russia and Ukraine. (more…)

New flexible guidelines issued for drug-related offences

Today the Sentencing Council published guidelines for how courts and judges should handle those found guilty of drug offences. The guidelines will come into force during February and will provide a more flexible approach as a sentencing judge is allowed to distinguish between victims of drug trafficking and organised gangs.

The guidelines, for instance, recommend less severe sentences for drug mules, who have often been forced to carry the illegal substances. Juliet Lyon, Director of Prison Reform Trust, said that it would be appropriate for the Government “to review the sentences of all those who have been trafficked into acting as drug mules and are currently languishing for long years in British jails”. (more…)

Another juror found guilty of contempt of court

Last week three high court justices, including the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, sentenced a female university lecturer to six months in jail as she was found guilty of contempt of court.

The justice system is increasingly tackling misbehaving jurors. For example, at the end of last year a young juror was sentenced for contempt of court after he deceived the judge by claiming to be ill and said that he would not be able to attend court. In reality, he went to see a West End show. (more…)

Temporary Royal Mail Christmas staff still waiting for missing salary

Many job applicants relied on some form of temporary work that they had secured, in connection with the Christmas period, to afford Christmas gifts and pay household bills. Unfortunately, the bank statements of many Royal Mail temporary sorting office workers have yet to record any such income.

Thousands of the recruited temporary workers have complained that they are still waiting to get any form of remuneration. Moreover, some say that they have been paid too little in relation to their hours worked. (more…)

Lord Chief Justice recognises crime-of-passion defence to murder

A man who was convicted of having murdered his wife is to get a retrial as the trial judge was wrong not to take into account his wife’s extramarital affairs, according to the Lord Chief Justice.

The law previously provided a defence for so-called ‘passion crimes’, through the common law defence of provocation. However, the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 abolished this defence and replaced it with the partial defence of “loss of control”. (more…)