The ex-Labour MP Jim Devine has become the third MP to be jailed for expensed fraud after he was found guilty in February 2011 of two charges of false accounting.
The former MP for Livingstone was sentenced by the Old Bailey in London today. The court said that the 57-year-old from Lothian had been “lying in significant parts of the evidence that he gave.” (more…)
Ryanair have announced that they are going to add a €2 levy to their fares in order to cover the costs of complying with the EU261 Regulation.
The EU261 Regulation requires airlines to pay their customers compensation when their flights have been cancelled for whatever reason. Ryanair claims the Regulation has cost the airline more than €100m in compensation payouts in the past year. (more…)
The Competition Commission has again ordered BAA to sell Stansted airport and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport in order to comply with its 2009 ruling.
Spanish-owned BAA, which also owns Heathrow, Southampton and Aberdeen airports, was ordered in 2009 to sell three airports. It subsequently sold Gatwick airport to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for £1.51 billion but has commenced several legal battles to avoid the sale of another two airports. (more…)
A wealthy financier has won a legal first by being granted anonymity in a libel case. In addition, it is the first that the High Court has granted a superinjunction for a libel case.
The financier, known as “Mr Z”, sought the superinjunction to prevent the details of the court proceedings from becoming public. He is suing his family for libel over allegations made in the course of a family dispute over a multimillion pound family trust. The court orders that the family’s identity must remain secret as well. (more…)
The Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke is due to announce the Government’s plan to reduce the cost of civil litigation and the fees charged by no-win, no-fee solicitors today.
The proposals, which follow on from Lord Justice Jackson’s review of the civil litigation system published in January 2010, will shake up the no-win, no-fee system in England and Wales and aim to ensure that the fees charged by lawyers are proportionate the damages received by the claimant in a successful case. (more…)
Sharon Shoesmith was sacked from her job as Director of Children’s Services at Haringey Council after an Ofsted report catalogued all the failings of her department that led to the death of Baby P, now named as Peter Connelly.
The High Court subsequently ruled that her sacking had been lawful. However, Ms Shoesmith is challenging that decision by launching an appeal in the Court of Appeal. (more…)
The Prime Minister is due to launch a new scheme to incentivise entrepreneurs set up their own business. The scheme will give new start ups around £1,500 in areas such as internet advertising and IT training.
The StartUp Britain launch follows the announcements in the recent Budget to raise tax reliefs for entrepreneurs and create 21 enterprise zones offering tax breaks. In addition, the Government has pledged to reduce the amount of red tape and provide high-speed broadband to help new businesses. (more…)
Lawyers across the US are carefully watching a landmark sex-discrimination class action against the retail giant Walmart as the outcome could ‘redefine’ US discrimination law.
The class action is being led by Betty Dukes, a 60-year-old woman who has worked for Walmart for 17 years. She is suing her employer for sex discrimination, claiming that she has been denied the training and opportunity to be promoted. (more…)
George Osborne announced £540m worth of tax breaks for charities during his Budget 2011 speech on 23 March. The tax breaks include inheritance tax reforms aimed at encouraging people to leave 10% of their estate to charities.
The Chancellor said his goal is for it to become the norm for every person to leave a charitable legacy in their will when they die. In order to encourage people to do this, he is proposing to reduce the inheritance tax levy on the estates of those who do from 40% to 36%. (more…)
BlackBerrys are joining the long and ever-increasing list of potential health hazards in the workplace. Employers are being warned by their lawyers to ensure the use of the handheld devices are monitored by adequate health and safety policies to avoid personal injury claims for repetitive strain injuries.
BlackBerry thumb occurs from the overuse of the device for work purposes. The ability to access email and internet on a BlackBerry means work can be conducted outside of normal working hours and when away from the office. (more…)
