In the Queen’s speech on 10^th May, she spoke of creating a single county court system, in England and Wales, which has been confirmed by the government.

This proposal, along with a number of others, was thrown out in March. However, on Wednesday, it was confirmed that this would be introduced in the Crime and Courts Bill. This Bill will also include other proposals such as the creation of a national crime agency as well as making court and tribunal services more efficient.

This single county court system will abolish geographical boundaries that the courts currently adhere to. This has been done in an attempt to reduce waiting times as well as making the most of some administrative and judicial resources. The hope is to create a better and well balanced system and allow people to be heard in a county court as quickly as possible.

The president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), Karl Tonks, has vowed to get those who have suffered as a result of an industrial disease or an accident that was not their fault, the justice they deserve.

The city of Manchester is leading the campaign for APIL. There are hopes to set up a fund for those who have suffered as a result of asbestos exposure and are unable to locate their employer or their insurers. Many who have been exposed to asbestos will not get symptoms until a number of years after their employment. Lost or destroyed insurance documents can then make it very difficult for a victim to make a claim. There is currently a similar fund in place for those who have been injured as a result of an uninsured driver on the road and Mr Tonks hopes to get the same result for those suffering from industrial diseases.

Not only is Mr Tonks seeking to set up a fund of last resort, he also wishes to tackle insurance companies who unnecessarily delay the claims process. He then went on to criticise some aspects of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which should come into force in April 2013. Under this bill, claimants will have to pay their solicitors success fees and Mr Tonks is concerned that disadvantaged victims will not be able to afford to make a claim. It has become and will continue to be more difficult for those who are injured to bring a claim for compensation.

Mr Tonks has stated that it is the job of APIL and himself to ensure that those who have been injured are heard and that the needs of businesses and insurance companies to keep costs down should be secondary.

We are pleased to announce that our Chorlton solicitors and their support staff have moved to our Manchester city centre office. This is part of expansion plans that are taking place within the firm.

We have now taken over three floors in our prestigious St John Street location and all of our members of staff are now together.

Carter Moore Solicitors would like to welcome our new receptionist Laura Sloniowsky to our expanding team and she will shortly be joined by another admin member of staff, Carley Rimmer.

Certain aspects of police interviews have become a concern of the Law Society. The concern was raised after it became apparent that some police officers have been denying those suspected of committing a crime the right to legal representation.

The way in which police are getting around the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is to interview suspects in their homes without having a solicitor there. However, police are not technically acting in an unlawful way, they are using a loophole in the PACE Act under section 58. This section refers to a suspect having the right to consult with a solicitor if they are being held in a ‘police station’ and does not mention this right if the suspect is being held elsewhere.

The Law Society has stated however that any suspect being interviewed anywhere has the right to free legal advice and have asked that section 58 be amended.

On Tuesday 10^th April, the European Court of Human Rights made a decision to extradite Abu Hamza and four other suspected terrorists to the US. This decision came after it was decided that detaining the five men and the length of their sentences would not be breaching any laws and would not quantify ill-treatment.

The five men, Abu Hamza, Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha, Ahsan Haroon Rashid Aswat, Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz have all been accused of committing terrorist acts between the years of 1999 and 2006. They were being held in the UK awaiting extradition to the US for suspected crimes including murder and kidnapping.

The five suspected terrorists will be held in a maximum security prison in Colorado following a conclusion that holding them there would not breach the European Convention of Human Rights. The reason for choosing this prison is that it is more suited to hold such alleged criminals than any in Europe.

However, the ruling from yesterday is not final; those suspected can appeal this decision within the next three month.

Last week, MPs spoke out at how British citizens are being failed by the current extradition treaty that is in place between the UK and the US. The treaty was created in 2003 and a report created by the House of Commons’ has showed that it is easier to extradite a British citizen to the US then the other way round. It has been suggested that this is changed in order to provide legal safety for both citizens, in an equal capacity.

Several high profile extradition cases have been the focus of this research including the cases of Gary McKinnon, Richard O’Dwyer and Christopher Tappin. MPs are aware that it is important that the UK has fair extradition procedures in place with the US however they are currently concerned about some aspects of this treaty.

The report created by British MPs states that in order to extradite a US citizen to the UK, ‘probable cause’ has to be proven whereas if a UK citizen is to be extradited to the US, only a ‘reasonable suspicion’ has to be satisfied.

This point, along with others concerning extradition law are to be discussed in order to make the system fairer and give British citizens the opportunity to face trial in the UK.

Women’s rights activists have continued to protest outside Morocco’s parliament in the capital city of Rabat, demanding that a law on sexual violence is abolished. Currently in Morocco, if a man has raped girl who is a minor, he is allowed to marry her instead of facing prosecution.

This issue has come to light in recent weeks after 16 year old Amina Filali committed suicide after being brutally beaten, following her forced marriage to her rapist. On March 10^th, Amina swallowed rat poison and died shortly after.

In certain areas of Morocco, it is seen as dishonourable if a girl loses her virginity before marriage, even if she was raped. The legal age of marriage is 18 years old. Activists have spoken out at how the family of the victim are pressured to choose the option of marriage in order to avoid a scandal and dishonour. When Ms Filali’s father went to report the attack, he was told by court officials that marriage was an option.

Activists are also campaigning that the judge, who allowed the marriage and the rapist are both jailed.

Anyone suffering from an asbestos related disease will be exempt from the new no win, no fee litigation reforms. On Wednesday of this week, the House of Lords agreed that those with an asbestos related claim could continue to seek access and the amendments were made to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill.

The two amendments, that will exempt these cases from proposed no win, no fee litigation reforms are:

• Those claiming for injuries relating to a respiratory disease that has arisen as a result of being exposed to a harmful substance in an industrial setting.
• Those claiming for a disease or condition that has arisen as a result of a breach of duty in the workplace.

These amendments will mean that claimants will keep 100% of their compensation, with the defendant paying the costs for solicitor’s fees and insurance premiums.

However, these amendments have been met with some criticisms from government ministers who have said it is unfair to put claimants into classes. APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) have welcomed the changes but have said they do not go far enough and more needs to be done.

Chief executive of APIL, Deborah Evans, said that whilst these amendments are important and have her full support, the news is only good for those suffering from industrial diseases. She went on to say that the same consideration has not been given to other claimants who are suffering from injuries occurred as a result of an accident that was not their fault and this is a terrible setback for justice.

The Government are introducing a new scheme that will name missing criminals if they have been lost for three months. The missing criminal’s details will be published online and will stay on there for two weeks.

Nick Herbert, the policing minister, will be writing to police forces today to announce the new proposals. The scheme will focus mainly on those criminals who have been given a prison sentence and have committed a serious offence. It will also target those who have mistakenly been released, failed to return after day release and those who have escaped from prison. Harry Fletcher of the National Association of Probation Officers has said that prisoners need to be found sooner than three months.

The new scheme will come into effect in May of this year and will be published on the last Thursday of July, October, January and April. Any prisoner’s details on the website will be taken down after two weeks in order to keep the list up to date. When the list initially starts in May, photographs will not be included and the only information that will available will be the criminal’s name, date of birth and offence.

The reason for publishing this information is in the hope that the public can help the police to get wanted criminals back into custody. Those who have committed an offence that involves children will not be included in this list.

MPs and peers are calling for a new law which will make stalking a serious offence in order to prevent such cases ending in violence and murder.

Scotland made stalking a criminal offence in 2010 and campaigners have said that simply making stalking an offence of harassment is not enough. The British Crime Survey brought annual stalking numbers to light with 120,000 cases occurring each year in England and Wales. However, of this number, only 2% of cases ended in a conviction.

Some stalking cases can result in violence and even murder and Tracey Morgan, who was stalked by the same man for 10 years has described it as being ‘mentally raped’. Ms Morgan, together with other victims, has been lobbying politicians at Westminster to bring in new laws.

Many campaigners believe that stalking is not being taken seriously enough and often use the case of Clare Bernal, 22, who was shot dead by her obsessed ex-boyfriend. Ms Bernal’s boyfriend had been bailed for harassment leaving him free to kill her.

Scotland made stalking into a criminal offence and around 400 alleged stalkers were prosecuted in 2011. David Cameron, along with MPs and peers are fully supporting the proposed new changes to the law. They acknowledge that greater care needs to be given to victims and stalkers are punished properly.