High Court rules on euthanasia...

Debbie Purdy (pictured in happier times when she had just been given permission to appeal to the High Court) lost her appeal today.

She had wanted to force the Director for Public Prosecutions (who is in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service) to issue clear guidelines as to when the CPS would be likely to prosecute someone for assisting a loved one to travel abroad (like Daniel James did) to commit suicide. The court refused, saying it was a matter for Parliament to decide...

Watch a video clip reporting the case here, and read the story in the Times here. Are the courts getting this right? Should the issue be left to Parliament to sort out by changing the Suicide Act 1961?

AS students - if Debbie Purdy wants to appeal further, might this case be suitable for the "leapfrog" procedure, and why do you think this doesn't appear to have been considered here?

All students - feel free to add a comment on the earlier euthanasia thread below - there's still a prize up for grabs for the best one!

You might also want to read Daniel James' mother on why she thinks her son had the right to die.

The BBC has a good glossary of euthanasia-related terminology here.

A2 contract students...

If I answer a radio phone-in competition correctly and am told I have won a Renault Clio, what happens if when I turn up they try to fob me off with a toy one?

They wouldn't do that would they? Well, Radio Buxton did just that in 2001!

Was it a binding contract? Read the article (link is above) and find out!

How to get in to study law... the easy way?

Well, not quite. But this article by Sarah Ebner in The Times highlights those Universities in the top 50 with the lowest entry criteria.

She also mentions LNAT - 18 or over is a "good" score for the multiple-choice questions, apparently.

Law Lords rule sharia law discriminatory and incompatible with human rights

...articles in the Guardian, Independent and Times on this.

Let me know your views by posting a comment below - but read the article(s) first!

Should euthanasia be legalised? Web debate!

All of you should read this article about the assisted suicide of paralysed rugby player Daniel James last month.

Should we legalise euthanasia? What are the dangers if we do? Whose rights do we need to consider? Is it morally right or wrong? The Telegraph says that hypocrisy and mercy is the best we can do. A philosopher says we have a moral obligation to change the law. This group would argue it's a slippery slope..
Have a look at what the European Court of Human Rights said in their judgment in the tragic case of Diane Pretty.
What is for sure is that it's a very sad case and a tragic end to the life of a very talented young man - Daniel was a good enough rugby player to have represented England U16s as well as a dedicated student.

Comments welcome below - have your say on this important issue. Please leave your name! Anonymous comments will probably be deleted. The best comment by a Loreto student wins a prize.

Itunes U

...is a great source of free law lectures - although make sure you stick to the English ones so as not to get your wires crossed with the USA!

There are lectures here on prisons and trial by jury from the Open University, and one here from Oxford University on contract law. They're a bit advanced for A level so why not challenge yourself!

If you don't have iTunes/can't access these I can put them on a CD for anyone who wants them - alternatively I also have written transcripts of the Open University lectures!

Alternative Dispute Resolution

This video gives a good explanation of the mediation process. Having watched this, what do you think the advantages are of mediation over going to court?



...and a really good case study of the conciliation process from ACAS here. Have a watch!

AS mock exams!

Will be held in the first week after half term. The paper will be 2 hours long and will contain 4 questions in the usual two-part format (18 marks for part "a" and 9 for part "b"). Topics covered will be:

Juries
Magistrates
The Legal Profession
Civil Courts
ADR.

Make sure you do your revision over half term and check with myself, Miss Standing or Ms Vollam as to exactly when your mock will take place.

Some people like the Buzan method of note taking to help them learn information for exams. Have a look and see what you think! If you do this, and plan and practice essays as well you should be fine....

Training just got harder for would-be barristers (but easier for solicitors)

...says the Times today. Great stuff in here to throw into an exam answer on problems of training - good for A02 points!

AS students - read the article and answer the following questions for your file on the legal profession:

1. What is being proposed to "weed out" some people who want to do the BVC?
2. What did Derek Wood's reports say about the standards of some current BVC programmes?
3. In a given year, how many graduates are competing for how many pupillages according to the article, and how many places are there in percentage terms?
4. What will the revamped BVC be called?
5. What do you think the impact of these changes will be on students from disadvantaged backgrounds?
6. What measures are coming in to make it easier to qualify as a solicitor?

"What's a Circuit Judge"?

...is a question I was asked today. You can find out about Circuit Judges here. They generally hear the more complex civil cases in the County Court and sometimes the High Court.

Also, have a look at a day in the life of a Circuit Judge for an insight into what they get up to! If you're feeling brainy you can read a report into the performance of the Manchester Civil Courts here. The foreword to this is written by the Designated Civil Judge for Manchester, HHJ Holman - his title means he's responsible for ensuring that the Woolf Reforms are working properly here!

LNAT

If you are thinking of applying to one of the following Universities to read law, you need to take the LNAT test:

Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Cambridge, Exeter, Glasgow, King's College London, Nottingham, Oxford and University College London.

Miss Standing is running an extra class all about LNAT on Fridays at 1.00pm in W111 so if this is you, be there!

Small Claims Online

AS students - we are now studying the Civil Courts. One of the advantages of the Small Claims Track is supposed to be its speed. Now you can bring a small claim online - have a look around the
website here. See if you can find out:

• who cannot use the service;


• who cannot be sued using it;


• what a vexatious litigant is...

Also you can read an offical leaflet all about the Small Claims Track here. Print one out and put it in your file!

42 days.. what else was in that bill?

Cracking article here by Marcel Berlins of the Guardian. More attempts to limit the use of trial by jury? Have a read.

Meanwhile Shami Chakrabarti, director of pressure group Liberty, is delighted with the House of Lords' verdict. Read her views here.

Dickinson v Dodds - prize quest!

A2 Students - The Times Law Reports are a great source of legal info - they've been reporting on English cases for centuries and you can read their well-written reports online now.

Have a look, for example, at Dickinson v Dodds from way back in 1876. The picture on the left shows where a key scene in this case took place!

Answer the following questions:

1. Which Court was this case heard in?
2. Which Judges heard it?
3. What did the Defendant, John Dodds, do for a living?
4. When and where did Dickinson find out that someone else had got their hands on the property first?
5. Who had "won" this case previously, and who was appealing?
6. "The Vice Chancellor decreed specific performance". What does this mean?
7. What legal principle comes from this case?

You might have to do some more research for question 6...

First complete and correct answer from an A2 student emailed to Mr Howells wins a prize!

A2 Contract Law Students...

Finally something for you on the law blog - you lucky lucky people.

Firstly if you've not already done so go and have a look at http://www.carbolicsmokeball.co.uk/ for more detail on that famous case. You can even see a picture of Mrs Carlill - she lived to a ripe old age so perhaps the smokeball worked on her after all...

Secondly you will shortly (or may already have if you're whizzing along with Miss Standing) come across the important and controversial consideration case of Williams v Roffey. The judgment in full can be read here. If you can't stomach that, there's a nice summary of it here.

Below is a pic of the flats in question that caused all the trouble - Twynholme Mansions in ThatLondon:

Civil Courts: Cost, delay, complexity... is it better now?

The Woolf Report is something you need to know about as part of the Civil Courts topic. Remember that the key theme here is access to justice - in other words, can the public easily use the justice system?

Before Lord Woolf (above) reported on the civil justice system, it was in a bit of a mess, and very difficult to use. Some of the problems are referred to here. Things have improved since then - have a look at this powerpoint by Kennedys solicitors on the impact of "Woolf" and future reforms.

Following Woolf, the Civil Procedure Rules have been introduced. These are the first reference point for lawyers running civil cases and they are all online here.

The Middleton Report into the Civil Court system is also available to view here.

TASK: Find out from the website given here what the overriding objective of the CPR is and note it down!

Remember: you need to know what the problems of the system were, and how well Woolf has addressed these - what has and hasn't improved? TASK: Make a list!

Can a leopard change its spots?

You can find the website of the Law Society's Legal Complaints Service here. It explains the complaints process well, in simple terms. The board is made up of 7 solicitors and 7 lay people (listed here). It claims to be independent from the Law Society but is part of it. See if you can find some statistics about how they are doing now - are things any better than in 1996, when a frankly appalling 2 out of 3 complainants were unhappy about how their complaint had been dealt with? No wonder they've rebranded the service so often - first it was called the Consumer Complaints Service (CCS), then the Office for Supervision of Solicitors (OSS), and now the LCS. But can a leopard change its spots? In 2005-6, only 66% of complaints were dealt with satisfactorily. Still not great.

For Barristers it's the Bar Standards Board that deals with complaints. They claim to be independent but are part of the Bar Council and are a mix of 8 barristers and 7 lay people, including the chair. By contrast with the LCS, the BSB handle 90% of complaints satisfactorily. Much more like it.

Given the generally poor record of the legal professions in dealing with complaints themselves, it's hardly surprising that the government have created various ways of keeping an eye on them.

Zahida Manzoor CBE (below) is the key figure here and wears two hats: she is the Legal Services Ombudsman and also the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner. She's not a lawyer!

Her powers as Commissioner under the Access to Justice Act 1999 are set out here; basically she can set targets for the Law Society in respect of complaints handling and fine them if they don't come up to scratch. In 2006 she did just that, fining them a whopping £250,000. That'll learn 'em. She doesn't oversee the Bar Standards Board though; that's done by another independent Lay Complaints Commissioner with much less power - presumably as the BSB is less of a problem (you can read their 2007 report here).

If a client is unhappy with how a specific case has been dealt with by either of the above bodies they can take that case to Ms Manzoor in her capacity as the Legal Services Ombudsman. She can force the solicitor or the Law Society itself to compensate the client. Bet they don't like her very much!

Civil Courts - black hole?

Is there a BLACK HOLE in the budget of the Civil Courts to the tune of £90m?

If so, what do you think the impact of this will be on Court users?

Training routes into the profession

A nice diagram here if you're not clear about how it works. ...

How competitive is it...

to become a barrister or solicitor?

Well, according to Legal Week magazine, in 2006 only about 550 people gained pupillage (a traineeship to be a barrister) - only 17.5% of students on the Bar Vocational Course.

Not great value at £10-12,000 a pop so you have to be good!

Question: what impact do you think such fees have on the diversity of the legal profession?

It's also very competitive to get a training contract to be a solcitor - only about 60% of LPC students get one straight away.

Diversity and the Legal Profession

The ministry of justice have come up with a new initiative designed to overcome the barriers leading to a career in the legal profession.


This shows two things:

1. They admit there's a problem; and

2. If you are sufficiently aware you CAN get help with a career in the legal profession as you go on to university.

This would be a good little "extra" piece of information to drop into an exam question about the problems of training to be a lawyer, by the way.

The Law Society are trying to rebrand the profession (see pic above) - but are they doing enough?

Middle aged, middle class and middle minded?

That's what they say about Magistrates...

this article would seem to prove it!

At least some efforts are being made to widen the type of recruits! AS Law students - read this article and take notes on exactly why we need ethnic minortiy Magistrates.

Above: Potential new recruits to the
Cardiff Bench