Legal Updates

This month we are considering a recent Supreme Court case and whether it affects the Law of Contract. The Law of Contract is covered in Unit 2 of ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course, where the elements of what makes a legally binding agreement are considered. As with any area of law, there are continual developments which your regular reading of the Legal Secretaries Journal and News section of our Membership area should help you keep up to date with.

Formation of a contract

If you have covered Constitutional Law in some detail, you will appreciate just how difficult it can be to get Private Members’ Bills pushed all the way through both houses of Parliament in order to become law. Only a very small percentage of these bills acquire Royal Assent and become statutes. Therefore, it is interesting when a Private Member’s Bill appears to be attracting more attention than usual, especially when it covers such an important aspect of family and criminal law. 

At present, there are many people who believe that the laws surrounding child neglect do not go anywhere near far enough to protect the youngest members of our society. Whilst they do cover ‘intentional neglect’, which basically means protection against physical neglect, there are absolutely no provisions in law to protect a child’s emotional, spiritual, educational and moral needs.

Children’s care homes have been all over the news in recent weeks after scandals have erupted around the dangers of being unable to access information on children’s homes. This has concerned the delicate topic of how it has enabled children to be groomed by gangs and paedophiles. 

Technically, there are no laws around secrecy; however, requests to access information have been met with a wall of secrecy. This is primarily due to the Data Protection Act (DPA), which protects classified data held on any individual in the United Kingdom. The Act itself has caused difficulties when officials were unable to access information regarding vulnerable children in care. Ofsted are bound by the DPA, and they are unable to disclose information unless the applicant applies via the DPA; this can be a lengthy process. 

The anonymity of rape suspects has been debated recently, and in light of the Michael Le Vell case, questions have been asked by legal representatives. The press coverage of this particular case has highlighted more than ever that rape suspects and anonymity is a problem. 

This month we are doing something a little different and looking at the big picture so far as English law is concerned. This is something that is covered in the first unit of ILSPA's Legal Secretaries Diploma so that students can get a good grasp of how English laws are created. By knowing something about the ‘big’ picture, you are showing an interest in the same thing that intrigues many lawyers.

The topic of online trolls and bullies is hot news at the moment, but it’s also been around for some time. The tragic death of Hannah Smith has highlighted this issue and brought to the attention of parents and other people that while online media has its benefits, it hides a dark flaw and allows people to abuse and bully. Unfortunately many people clearly feel that nothing can or will be done to prevent such overt abuse.

There are current laws in place which would cover trolling and bullying. 

The Protection of Harassment Act 1997 

Employment law updates are not broadly announced unless you look for them. On 29 July 2013, updates to current employment legislation were made under government reforms. There were only a handful of planned reforms that launched on 29 July; nevertheless, these reforms should be highlighted for both employers and employees. 

National Minimum Wage Increase

This reform is not being launched until October, yet the increases were announced and it’s the one update that employers in particular keep their eye on. 

Planned increases are as follows: 

• 21 years and over – £6.31
• 18-20 years – £5.03
• 17 years and under – £3.72
• Serving apprentice – £2.68

Flexible Parenting Leave

On 1 April 2013, the provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act came into effect to cut the legal aid bill. Legal aid has been withdrawn for clients who are involved in family disputes such as child residency disputes. Prior to the changes in April, the Legal Services Commission enabled Family Law clients access to legal aid for all services. 

How the Changes Affect Family Law 

The Criminal Justice System in British Law has one fundamental basis. Innocent until proven guilty, and this entitles a person who is charged with a crime the right to a defence and a defence Lawyer. If a person is arrested and charged with a crime, those who qualify for legal aid will have their defence Lawyer paid for by the taxpayer. Guilt is based on the burden of proof – beyond reasonable doubt based on the evidence presented, and a person can be a convicted only by a jury of their peers in a trial. Magistrates can convict a person, but the powers of a magistrate court are limited in terms of case-management and sentencing powers.

This month we will consider the Law Societies Property Information Form (TA6) and explain in more depth how it is used in a normal domestic property sale. We will also try to explain what the seller’s responsibilities are when answering the questions on this form and highlight some of the serious consequences that can follow if information provided by a seller proves to be false.

Purpose of the Form