New Law to Criminalise Squatters

Posted on February 21, 2012 by markkiteley

 

Squatting is defined as being “when someone occupies an empty or abandoned property which they don’t own or rent, and without the owner’s permission”. However, simply being on another person’s property without their permission is not usually a crime in itself. But if squatters commit other crimes when entering or staying in a property, the police can take action against them.

At the moment it is common for squatters to use the infamous Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act of 1977, as a warning to anyone who attempts to forcibly remove them. By displaying a “Section 6” notice, the occupiers are making it known that are claiming a legal right to be there, and that anyone who attempts to enter the property will be committing a crime.

The existing laws have, in the main, been put in place to protect tenants from landlords trying to force entry, or from evicting them at will. Although, supporters of a new bill claim that more needs to be done to target illegal occupiers.

A law is currently being put through, called the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bills, which will make squatting a criminal offence. The proposed amendment states that “the new offence will be committed where a person is in a residential building as a trespasser having entered it as a trespasser, knows or ought to know that he or she is a trespasser and is living in the building or intends to live there for any period.”

If the Bill is passed, turning the trespass from being an offence against the individual (ie. The property owner) to being one against the state, squatters could be liable to pay a £5000 fine, or face a jail sentence of up to one year.

However this new law has a number of opponents, with many arguing that it will make the eviction process even longer. At the moment, if you have a right to possession over a property which has been taken by squatters, you can apply for something called an interim possession order to regain your property. Once this IPO has been obtained, the trespassers must leave within 24 hours.

 

For more information visit Directgov or give your local Kiteleys Solicitors a call.

Free speech wins over filtering

Posted on February 17, 2012 by markkiteley

The EU General Court has ruled that social networking sites like Facebook or YouTube cannot be forced to install filters blocking illegal trading of copyrighted music or videos.

The Court ruled that filtering information like this would ‘fall foul of existing EU law’. The decision was down to the inability of finding a fair balance between the right to enforce intellectual property by its creators or owners and the freedom to conduct business in the online world.

This ruling has followed the decision back in November that internet providers could not be made to filter content in the same way.

Both of these cases were brought to court by a Belgian company that manages copyright for content creators, Sabam. The ruling regarding social networking site was related to a lawsuit against Netlog, a Belgian social networking site where it was claimed members ‘ritually’ posted pirated material on their profile pages.

The court came to the decision that a generalised rule to filter content “would result in a serious infringement of Netlog’s freedom to conduct its business since it would require Netlog to install a complicated, costly, permanent computer system at its own expense”.

The European Commission, although welcoming this ruling, said that fresh enforcement of intellectual property rights legislation will be initiated in the coming months.

There has been a lot of pressure recently for internet groups to take more responsibility regarding copyright infringement on their networks, notably with the heavy handed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) gaining a lot of media attention. The counterargument that filtering of content breaches free speech rights and user privacy is clearly the stronger one at present.

A copyright layer, Adam Rendle, said that this recent court decision “will make it very difficult for rights owners to force sites whose users may upload or share unlawful material – like social networks, message boards and cloud services – to carry out general monitoring to identify and remove unlawful material on those sites.

“The court was clear that, in these circumstances, freedom to operate the sites’ businesses and users’ freedom to receive information trumps the claims of rights owners to have infringement blocked.”

Start Telephoning Me

Posted on February 13, 2012 by markkiteley

 

The Government implements a new mediation process, in the hopes of resolving small disputes more quickly and cheaply for businesses and individuals.

Last week, the Ministry of Justice confirmed plans to redirect up to 80,000 cases a year through a new telephone mediation process.

These new plans come in the wake of a public consultation, which looked at improving the handling of the 1.5M disputes, which civil courts in England and Wales process each year.

Kenneth Clarke, Secretary of State for Justice, says, “I want people to be able to resolve their disputes cheaply and simply’.

The mediation service consists of a trained mediator talking to both parties, usually by telephone, in the hopes of settling the case. This service has a 95% satisfaction rate, and is said to take between five and six weeks to arrange, compared to fourteen for a court hearing.

The plan, however, is not without controversy. Whilst 80% of those interviewed were in favour of this new mediation service, many members of the legal profession have voiced their concern.

The official ministry response noted that: “Six out of the seven judicial responses were firmly against the proposals, with most of their comments focusing on the use of telephone hearings.

“The biggest concern amongst the judiciary was that telephone hearings would significantly reduce the judge’s ability to control and observe the parties/witnesses properly during the hearing.”

Nevertheless, Ken Clarke argues that some businesses and individuals find the current state of the civil justice system intimidating – stopping them from making their case, as they wonder whether it will be worth the time, expense and hassle of going to court. The Secretary of State for Justice voiced hopes that the new system would, help people to solve their disputes and, allow judges to make quick and effective decisions.

The Government implements a new mediation process in the hopes of resolving small disputes more quickly and cheaply for businesses and individuals.

Explaining legal terms: Recoverable benefits

Posted on February 10, 2012 by markkiteley

 

When a personal injury claim is made, the Defendants must register the claim with the Secretary of State. They will then issue a certficate of recoverable benefits or CRU.

This certificate sets out what benefits the Claimant has received since the accident and they require the Defendants, if the claim is settled, to repay those benefits to the State.

Some benefits received will be set off against the Claimants damages. For example, if a Claimant receives £10,000 for past loss of earnings but during the time they were off work they received £2,000 incapacity benefit, then that £2,000 would need to be repaid to the State and the Claiming would receive £8,000.

This ensures that the State is not out of pocket and that the Claimant does not have a double recovery.

The set off only applies to damages and benefits on a like for like basis.

If you are thinking of pursuing a personal injury claim following an accident, contact us at your local office to have a free, no obligation chat about your case and options.

We offer the best possible advice in cases ranging from relatively straightforward accidents, to cases involving serious head and spinal injuries and cases involving industrial disease claims. We are also delighted to be able to offer our clients a ‘No Win No Fee’ service.

To find more about the different types of personal injury claims we can help you with, click here.

Roses are red…

Posted on February 7, 2012 by markkiteley


It’s just a week until the most romantic day of the year, St. Valentine’s Day and here at Kiteleys, we want to spread the love!

In a legal profession, we can often be surrounded by family breakups and disputes so we wanted to do something focussing on spreading love and joy, while raising money for Southampton Hospital Charity’s Red & White Appeal.

In the run up to Valentine’s Day, we will be selling red roses across Southampton General Hospital (where our head office is situated) for a minimum donation of £2. All proceeds will go straight to the Red & White Appeal, which is doing a great job on it’s way to raising £1.76million to create a specialist treatment centre for patients with blood cancer.

So you can make someone’s day by giving them a Valentine’s rose while knowing you have donated towards a great cause which could make someone’s life!

Law changes amidst inquiry to protect victims of stalkers

Posted on February 7, 2012 by markkiteley

It has been proven that almost half of the victims who have reported stalking harassment have led to severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Most victims have been let down by the criminal system as stalking isn’t being regarded as a real crime and the lack of interest or support, seen as just ‘cries for help’ from the authorities only further injects the pursuit of their tormentors.
The consequence to victims not only creates fear and isolation but can trigger real medical effects.

A six-month all-party inquiry has detailed how victims feel something needs to be done to overhaul existing restraining order policies which currently see very few known stalkers receive custodial sentences. In response to this inquiry MP’s have called for change so that the rights of victims come first and that stalking becomes a specific crime.

Elfyn Llwyd, the barrister and Plaid Cymru MP who chaired the independent inquiry, said: “Changing laws and strengthening guidelines are both essential so that victims get the support they need and perpetrators receive appropriate sanctions and treatment.”

There are an estimated 120,000 cases of stalking every year, but less than half are recorded as crimes. More importantly it is becoming more frequent that persistent stalkers take the life of their victims and so the inquiry has urged changes to be made to recognise helping victims before they are harmed.

Laura Richards of Protection Against Stalking said: “Stalking is not a new phenomenon – cases are more common than people think and more dangerous than is currently appreciated – and it is only set to increase, particularly given technological advances.

It has become apparent that with the advent of advanced computer communications and social media sites, stalkers are finding new ways to enhance their pursuits and the inquiry is asking these platforms to co-operate when subject of police investigations where necessary.

Laura Richards  continues “It is time we recognised stalking as a crime, along with ensuring professionals are adequately trained, that specialist advocates are available to support victims and that perpetrators are put before the courts and treated for it. Only when these measures are in place will early identification and intervention occur resulting in lives being saved.”

Power to all

Posted on February 2, 2012 by markkiteley

When we write our Will there is a sigh of relief that all our prized assets will be securely passed on to our loved ones, however what happens if we fall seriously ill and can not instruct a different course of action that would require an update to our Will.

None of us are infallible, even the great Iron Lady Mrs Thatcher herself full of intelligence and integrity is a unfortunate example of how later life can be cruel  as she herself battles with dementia.

Topically the current blockbuster film ‘The Iron Lady’ which depicts the life of the lady in blue actress Meryl Streep commented in recent interview with Daily Mail; “I have had experience of people with dementia. Putting dementia on the screen like we are doing will hopefully create a debate about a condition that affects millions — perhaps billions — of people.”

Highlighting serious conditions like dementia, Lasting Power of Attorney allows a designated person on their trusted behalf to document their preferences regarding health, wellbeing and financial affairs, when they are unable to do so personally.

If you would like to update you Will and add Lasting Power of Attorney to give you complete peace of mind however your health might affect you, contact Kiteleys for more information.

Convicted to be banned from claiming from Criminal Injury fund

Posted on January 30, 2012 by markkiteley

 

The justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has announced that convicted criminals will not be able to make claims from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, a fund set up to help victims of crime.

It is estimated that 20,000 people with criminal records have received more than £75m from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in the past 10 years. The proposed reforms will mean anyone with an unspent criminal conviction will be banned from claiming under the scheme.

However, there will be exemptions which include prisoners who are injured while rushing to help a prisoner officer being attacked, or people who have been convicted of a relatively minor offence such as shoplifting.

Injured criminals who are banned from the scheme can only apply for compensation through a civil claim, although the rules don’t apply ones a conviction has been spent.

An additional scheme is also to be unveiled by Kenneth Clarke to ensure criminals have to make greater payments to their victims. This three point scheme to raise £50m from offenders toward victims means that all offenders will pay a victim surcharge, face bigger motoring fines and pay towards victims’ services. The final point will be through deductions from prisoners’ pay from in-prison work and day release by implementing the prisoners’ earning act.

Currently only offenders who are fined have to make payments toward the victims, not those who have convicted serious crimes and been imprisoned.

These reforms look to be a step toward a fairer justice system for victims of criminal injuries who are not convicted criminals themselves.

Time limit laws for personal injury claims

Posted on January 27, 2012 by markkiteley

 

Personal injury claims are subject to strict time limits which are set down by statute law. If you have an accident, you only have a certain amount of time to pursue a claim before the claim will be time-barred. If your claim is time-barred, it means you will not be able to recover any compensation regardless of your injuries or who’s at fault.

The time limit for pursuing personal injury claims is 3 years from the date of your accident, or 3 years from the date you realised your injuries were the result of a certain extent.

The latter is applicable particularly in cases involving asbestos-related illness. For example, if you worked in an environment using asbestos in the 1960s, you probably didn’t realise at the time that it could be causing you harm. However, in March 2010, for example, you might start to suffer from breathing problems and be diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of working with asbestos. This would mean that you have until March 2013 – 3 years from the diagnosis – to pursue your claim.

Q. What happens if my claim doesn’t settle before the 3 year time limit?

A. Court proceedings have to be issued to prevent your claim being time-barred.

Q. Does the 3 year time limit apply to all injury claims?

A. No, if you have been a victim of a violent crime and you wish to make a claim through the criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) the time limit is 2 years. The 2 year time limit also applied to injuries sustained as a result of accidents on a boat, ship or aeroplane.

Call us at one of our offices to discuss your situation and we can help you go through your options.

 

Gold star for Kiteleys’ charity work

Posted on January 24, 2012 by markkiteley

 

We were delighted to receive an award from Southampton Hospital Charity at their recent corporate awards event. We had a great evening, topped by receiving a gold corporate star award for our ongoing support for the charity.

We are proud to support the fantastic work this hardworking charity carries out and are always looking forward to the next fundraising initiative or event!

Their Red & White appeal which raises money for a specialist centre for blood cancer patients is just one of Southampton Hospital Charity’s many campaigns. If you would be interested in supporting this charity, get in touch or visit their website.

We also offer deals to people making wills with us who choose to leave a gift to the charity. If this is something you would be interested in, let us know.