News in brief: week beginning 25 August 2014

REGULATORS

Society progression: The Law Society has appointed Catherine Dixon as its new chief executive. Dixon is currently working her notice as chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority before starting the role at Chancery Lane. Dixon has also practised at Eversheds and was general counsel of the NSPCC. Andrew Caplen, president of the Law Society, said: "I am delighted that we have someone with Catherine's track record in the profession to help take the organisation forward."

EUROPE

Human rights: Ecuador's foreign minister has accused the British government of violating WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange's human rights. "I do not think there is a will [in Britain] to find a solution," said Ricardo Patino. He added: "The British government hasn't taken any steps in that direction…Everyone around the world knows that the rights of Julian Assange have been violated." Patino's comments come after reports surfaced that Assange's health had rapidly deteriorated after being holed-up in the Ecuadorian embassy over the past two years.

CRIME

Domestic abuse: Ministers are consulting on whether to create a new domestic abuse crime which explicitly refers to coercive and controlling behaviour within the refines of a relationship. Current laws incriminate acts of violence, stalking and harassment. However, precise wording relating to personal relationships and the definition of domestic abuse is not covered.

COURTS

Wasted funds: The Howard League for Penal Reform claims that £250m was wasted last year by remanding people in custody unnecessarily. The charity for prison reforms says that 35,000 people remanded in custody only to then be acquitted or given non-custodial sentences. The Magistrates' Association said however that the charity had failed to appreciate the way remand decisions were taken.

REGULATORS

Funding requirements: The Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved the regulatory funding requirements for 2014/15, which include practising fee levels. The coming year's individual fees have been set at £320, down £64 from £384. Firm's practising fees are dependent on turnover. The Compensation Fund contribution, paid by those that hold client money, will reduce from £56 to £32 for individuals and from £836 to £548 for firms.

ABS

Council restructure: Buckinghamshire County Council has become the first local authority to be granted an ABS licence. The decision will mean the council's in-house solicitors will be able to operate under a private limited company called Buckinghamshire Law Plus.

SOLICITORS

National appointment: Commercial law firm, Muckle, has been appointed to a national panel to advise Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL), the manager of a specialist energy efficiency fund into which the Government's Green Investment Bank (GIB) has made a £50m commitment.

TRAINING

CILEx increase: Statistics released by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) show that the number of Level 6 modules, which are set and assessed at honours degree level, sat by students has increased by 48 per cent since the previous exam session in January. Figures from the Central Applications Board admissions service showed that the number of applications for the LPC's 2014/15 session have decreased by 10 per cent compared to the previous year, however, the number applications for CILEx's specialised graduate programme has increased by 32 per cent during the same period.

TRAINING

London apprentices: Mishcon de Reya is to take on two legal apprentices for its London office. The apprentices will follow the Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Legal Services, working with the real estate team and the private client department.

CRIME

Rape convictions: Retired judge Mary Jane Mowat has said it is often difficult to secure rape convictions as it is "one person's word against another" and that the current rape conviction rate will not improve until women stop drinking so heavily. "I'm not saying it's right to rape a drunken woman, I'm not saying for a moment that it's allowable to take advantage of a drunken woman," said Mowat. "But a jury in a position where they've got a woman who says 'I was absolutely off my head, I can't really remember what I was doing, I can't remember what I said, I can't remember if I consented or not but I know I wouldn't have done'. I mean when a jury is faced with something like that, how are they supposed to react?'"

POLITICS

Party fight: Criminal barrister Piers Wauchope of 5 Pump Court Chambers will take on Ukip leader Nigel Farage in his bid to be chosen as the party's candidate to fight for the South Thanet seat of Tunbridge Wells.

PERSONAL INJURY

Discount rate: The government has delayed its decision on compensation deductions even though it closed its consultation on the issue two years ago. In a letter to the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), the MoJ said that justice secretary Chris Grayling saw 'no reason' to publish a timetable setting out how long the decision will take. Grayling has appointed a panel of three financial investment experts to advise on the question of the discount rate.

COURTS

Open justice: The president of the Supreme Court has said that he was 'impressed' by the Oscar Pistorius TV trial and that televising courts is the modern extension of visiting them. "Open justice is an essential feature of the rule of law. In its most basic form, it means that court hearings take place in public and judges' decisions are available to the public. If courts sit in private, judges cease to be properly accountable for their decisions, as the public do not know what the evidence and arguments were put before the judge, or why the judge reached a particular decision," Lord Neuberger said.

SOLICITORS

Comparing meerkats: The Solicitors Regulation Authority has responded to calls from the Legal Service Board to provide more information for online registers of practitioners and has agreed to share its data on solicitors with comparison websites set up by third parties by the end of this year. The Legal Services Consumer Panel has published the names of eight comparison sites which have met its standards through a self-assessment.

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