Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, faced a protest outside Parliament over his proposals to restrict the availability of Legal Aid.

As he outlined the Government's plans to reform the criminal justice system, Mr Clarke said Legal Aid would no longer be routinely available in cases including most private family law, clinical negligence, non-discrimination employment, and immigration.The Sound Off For Justice campaign led a protest in which they presented Mr Clarke with a "Magna Carta cake" to remind him of the "obligations to protect the ancient document’s promises to the British people".The "Let Them Eat Cake!" party on College Green saw members of the public and MPs gather to cut up the cake to symbolise the "cutting of access to justice for large swathes of the British population".The Law Society’s president, Linda Lee said: “Back in 1215 when the Magna Carta was signed, it was set out that ‘to no one will we sell, to...

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Bank of America pays £5.3bn to settle sub-prime mortgage claims

Bank of America has agreed to pay $8.5bn (£5.3bn) to settle claims that the bank sold poor-quality mortgage loans to investors ahead of the housing collapse.The deal represents the single biggest settlement so far tied to the sub-prime mortgage boom and bust. The bank said the settlement covers nearly all the residential mortgage-backed securitisation (RMBS) investments tied to its controversial Countrywide lending unit. The RMBSs had an original balance of $424bn.The settlement follows legal action from a group of 22 investors including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pimco Investment Management, and Blackrock, which argued Countrywide enriched itself at the expense of investors by continuing to service bad loans while running up servicing fees.The payment would wipe out all the profits...

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Police are urgently reviewing the cases of tens of thousands of crime suspects following a court ruling which restricts officers to bailing suspects for up to 96 hours before they have to be charged or released completely.

Police are urgently reviewing the cases of tens of thousands of crime suspects following a court ruling which restricts officers to bailing suspects for up to 96 hours before they have to be charged or released completely.The ruling – made by a district judge at Salford Magistrates’ Court and upheld in the high court by Mr Justice McCombe – overturns the previous system, under which suspects could only be detained in the police station for a maximum of 96 hours (four days) but were regularly released on bail for weeks or months while further enquiries are made and then brought in later for more questioning.MoreBut under the new rules, bail will be included as time in police custody and if no charge has been issued within four days, suspects will have to be released and can only be arrested...

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Criminals could walk free if they are not charged within 96 hours

The ruling, made by a district judge at Salford Magistrates' Court and backed by the High Court, means an end to the practice of releasing people on bail and calling them back for further questioning later - a common practice in most major inquiries.Police forces can no longer put anyone out on bail for more than 96 hours without either being in a position to charge or release them.After the four days is up, officers can no longer question suspects and can only rearrest them if they have new evidence, the ruling says.Police chiefs have been left baffled by the "bizarre" ruling and both the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are currently considering the ramifications for forces across England and Wales.Home Secretary Theresa May said: "I think...

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UK extradition rules are unfairly weighted

THE UNFAIRLY WEIGHTED UK extradition treaty with the US needs a thorough reworking, according to a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) that found that UK citizens, like Gary McKinnon, are not afforded the same legal protection as Americans."The committee concludes that the current statutory framework does not provide effective protection for human rights," wrote the group. "The rights most often relevant to extradition are: prohibition of torture; fair trial; liberty and security; private and family life; and prohibition of discrimination."Because of this the group is asking the UK Government to do more to improve protection for its citizens and specifically their human rights."Human rights provisions in the Extradition Act are clearly inadequate. The Government should spell...

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Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has been told to pay more than £1,000 to his former landlord, following a county court ruling.

Paul Sampson, 48, succeeded in parts of a legal battle against the former Cabinet Minister over a dispute surrounding offices the Labour MP had rented in Normanton, West Yorkshire.The dispute centred around four offices the MP rented from Mr Sampson for £80 a week from June 2005 until July 2010.After he left them last summer, Mr Sampson claimed that there were a number of issues regarding the property and initially sought a total payment of almost £2,000 to cover the costs.Mr Balls eventually conceded three issues before the case was heard at Leeds County Court yesterday, agreeing to pay a total of £830 for the redecoration of the property, the removal of rubbish and also the removal of furniture left behind.The MP, who did not attend the hearing, was also ordered to pay £265 towards Mr Sampson’s...

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Juror faces charges after contacting defendant on Facebook

A MEMBER OF A JURY in a drugs trial allegedly contacted a defendant through Facebook and is now facing contempt of court charges.Joanne Fraill from Blackley in Manchester sat on the jury of a major drug dealing trial that had run for 10 weeks and cost upwards of £6m, but the case has been aborted after allegations of juror misconduct.Fraill is accused of using Facebook to contact one of the defendants in the case, Jamie Sewart, who allegedly asked her to provide information on the jury's ongoing deliberations.It's not clear how the two came into contact, but presumably Fraill searched for Sewart on Facebook and added her as a friend. We do not yet know the motivations for this contact, but even if it was intended in an innocent manner it throws the entire case into jeopardy.Both Fraill and...

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The fate of six West Indian prisoners on death row will be decided through the adjudication of the privy council this summer amid fresh pressure from the Caribbean to limit the UK's role in determining capital punishment cases

.In July, senior British lawyers will fly to St Kitts and Nevis to represent, in local courts, four islanders who have been condemned to hang after being convicted of murdering a key witness in a gangland trial.The lives of Romeo Cannonier, Louis Gardener, Sheldon Isaac and Ruedeney Williams were saved in 2009 when judges on the judicial committee of the privy council sitting in Westminster granted them a temporary stay of execution – known formally as a "conservatory order". One of the men, Sheldon Isaac, has suffered brain damage from a gunshot. Their appeals could yet return to London.Next month, the JCPC will hear the case listed as Ernest Lockhart v the Queen. Lockhart faces the rope in the Bahamas; he was found guilty of a fatal shooting on the evidence of a co-defendant.At the...

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Experts are warning that the UK tax authority is more inclined to prosecute evaders as figures show millions of pounds of unpaid tax has been recouped.

Follow-up enquiries have added millions to the collections made following high-profile disclosure campaigns.Criminal investigations have been launched into 10 people with offshore accounts and six in medical trades.Maximum fines for tax evaders have recently increased, but can be reduced for those who come forward voluntarily."Criminal investigations have not been the weapons of choice for HM Revenue and Customs, but now they are part of the armoury," said Gary Ashford, representative for the Chartered Institute of Taxation.CampaignsTax evaders include "chip shop owners, taxi drivers and landladies", HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said. It has been set targets by the government to harvest unpaid tax.The original campaign aimed at evaders with offshore accounts was launched in 2007 and gathered...

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Spain has lodged a complaint about plans for an EU-wide patent system with the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which is obliged to hear the case.

The European Commission has defended the plans, claiming they are not unfair to countries that do not join up.Plans to streamline cross-border patent protection processes were proposed by 12 EU countries last year, were backed by the European Commission in April and have been supported in all by 25 of the EU's 27 member states.Under the new plans a European patent holder will make only one application to the European Patent Office for patent protection across the 25 EU countries that have signed up to the scheme, with successful patents being published in English, French or German. The countries hope it will make it easier and cheaper for inventors to safeguard against infringement.The two countries that have not signed up the plan are Spain and Italy. Though reports have emerged that Italy...

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