From 1 July, businesses may apply to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to challenge land use restrictions that limit competition against major supermarkets. A Competition Commission investigation into the grocery market found that certain restrictive covenants and exclusivity arrangements could prevent local grocers from competing against large supermarkets. The investigation led to the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order, which allows these restrictions to be challenged. The order obliges …Read More
Flexible working in courts faces criticism
While pilot schemes have been operating throughout England, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced that courts will have to be more ‘flexible’ during the Olympics. Other ideas in a government white paper include magistrates handling cases on their own where there is a guilty plea, more use of video links when hearing evidence, and judges operating out of community centres or police stations if necessary. A spokesperson for the Crime …Read More
Solicitors warned of divorce claims
Divorce LifeLine suggests that since pension sharing was introduced in December 2000, around 750,000 people, in half the divorces across the country, could be entitled to claim thousands of pounds from their solicitors where their former spouse’s pension was undervalued. The company’s founding partner Tony Derbyshire said that in 96% of the 171 divorce settlements it had looked at, solicitors had not sought expert advice on the pension value. ‘It …Read More
A study to look at how people access legal services has been announced
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been looking at how the public accesses legal services in North Wales last month to gauge the opinions of local people on the legal services market. This was the first of a number of SRA consumer visits taking place across England and Wales in 2012 as part of the SRA’s new consumer research project. The research will look at the different problems consumers might …Read More
Children’s guide to family justice published
The government is currently in the process of reviewing the Family Justice System as a whole. As part of that, children are being asked to provide their input in explaining how they consider that they should be treated on Divorce as part of the justice system. The comments made by Children will be fed back to the Government who intend to incorporate procedures within the Family Justice System to take …Read More
Squatting has become a criminal offence in England and Wales.
It follows on from a public consultation last year on options for dealing with squatting and better protecting homeowners. The new offence will be punishable by a maximum prison term of up to six months, a maximum £5000 fine or both. Previously, the only option was to seek a civil court order to regain possession of the property, which could be time consuming, expensive and stressful. Justice Minister Crispin Blunt …Read More
Employees to be automatically enrolled into company pension schemes from this autumn
A scheme to enrol millions of people into workplace pensions automatically was launched on Monday. Up to 10 million are expected to be enrolled eventually in what is hailed as the biggest pensions revolution since David Lloyd George ushered in state pensions a century ago. A handful of the largest employers, with 120,000 or more workers, must place eligible workers into schemes. Firms will join the scheme in a staging …Read More
Owning Property in Joint Names
This article is taken from the Land Registry’s website and aims to clarify the two types of Joint Ownership of property. If you own your property jointly, either as a married couple, partners or friends, you will have chosen one of two kinds of ownership. You will own your property as either beneficial joint tenants or tenants in common. This is the case whether you own the property as freeholders or leaseholders. …Read More
Government launches web app for divorce
Separating parents will be able to find free advice and guidance through a web app released this week by the government. ‘Sorting out Separation’ provides information about all aspects of separation, from how to avoid a separation to coping with the emotional impact of a divorce, accessing legal or housing support and arranging child maintenance. It includes a link to the Law Society’s solicitor-finding service. The app, developed at a …Read More
The Legal Services Board recommends that will-writing activities ‘should be regulated’
The LSB’s recommendation follows two years of investigation, during which it said it found comprehensive evidence that the market is working contrary to the objectives outlined in the Legal Services Act 2007 to the detriment of consumers and providers. If accepted, it said the change would give consumers better protection and consistent access to redress by allowing access to the Legal Ombudsman, increase competition by creating a level playing field …Read More