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It was my dream as a child to help people through a career in law and now I am one step away from being able to say that I have achieved my dream. This is a fantastic profession which offers you the opportunity to genuinely help people in life and so if you are considering going into law, I would recommend that you don’t let the chance pass you by because the feeling you get knowing you are one step away is a fantastic one. Many thanks to Manak Solicitors and in particular Surinder Singh Manak for showing faith in me when others may not have.

Lee Baldwin

Wills & Probate Paralegal

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Russia have not responded kindly and will ignore the ruling, referring to it as ‘gross interference in the judicial affairs of a sovereign state’. Russia’s Justice Minister called the ruling ‘unenforceable’ and that there was no legal basis upon which to release Mr Navalny from custody.

The dispute poses a difficult international legal situation. While Russia have a legal obligation to abide with rulings of the ECHR as per their membership of the Council of Europe, they have previous form in unilaterally ignoring them. In 2014, they were ordered to pay nearly €2billon in compensation to shareholders of the Yukos oil empire assembled by oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed for tax evasion and fraud with the company broken up into state controlled firms. They did not abide with this ruling either.

In fact, last year Russia adopted new constitutional amendments that stated that they had the right to ignore any and all international legal decisions that they deemed violated their national sovereignty. Actions like these leave room for large discussions as to the effectiveness of international courts where rulings can be accepted and rejected by governments such as Russia’s.

After a suspected FSB poisoning, which he claims was orchestrated by Vladimir Putin, Mr Navalny says his life is in danger while in custody. He is currently incarcerated due to violating parole from a 2014 sentence, with further jail time on the cards as the government presses new charges. His original conviction was an embezzlement charge, widely seen as politically motivated, for which he will soon appear in court to appeal.

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Zoe Stacey gave birth to her second child in February, and recently received a letter informing her that she had to attend Winchester crown court for jury service in May. She requested that she be excused because she will be breastfeeding her son over this period. However, she was refused her request and only offered the option to defer her service for 12 months.

Ms Stacey has stated that she wished to breastfeed her child for longer than a year, so it was still not possible for her to attend jury service.

Ellie Reeves, the shadow solicitors general has since written to Robert Buckland QC, the lord chancellor, criticising government policy for not having formal exemption procedures in place. Reeves has said that the current rule “unfairly penalises mothers of new-borns” and shows that there is still a large lack of understanding of, or interest in, the lives of new mothers.

However, justice minister Chris Philip has retorted that while he empathises with the difficulties of jury service for breastfeeding mothers, the jury is “made up of a cross section of society and provisions must be in place to ensure anyone who is eligible, including new mothers, can perform this duty”.

While Ms Stacey was eventually excused from jury service after appealing the original decision, the issue is still being debated. The Ministry of Justice has since claimed that while it’s vital for juries to represent the population, which should include new mothers, they are urgently reviewing guidance to make it clear that they should be able to serve at a time that’s right for them.

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In collaboration with the charity Bridging the Bar, the scheme comes at a time in which the supreme court, judiciary and legal profession face scrutiny over inclusivity.

Current diversity is evidently limited with all 12 supreme court justices being white and only two being women. As of 1st April, throughout the judiciary in England and Wales there is an 8% proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) court judges. In senior positions, the proportion is just 4%. The respective figures for women were 32% and 26%. As claimed by the 2011 census, 14% of the population were BAME and 51% were female.

The upcoming programme will offer a five day placement to eight Bridging the Bar candidates who have accepted or completed the bar professional training course.

Chief executive of the UK supreme court Vicky Fox stated: “The court recognises that it has a leadership role to play to support increasing diversity of the judiciary and it is our intention that this programme will support the progression of underrepresented groups into the legal profession and ultimately into judicial roles.”

Over the course of the week, each intern will be allocated to a judicial assistant and will observe cases, debate legal arguments with justices and obtain insights and guidance.

The announcement for this scheme came as the supreme court published its judicial diversity and inclusion policy, which intends to support the advancement of underrepresented groups into judicial roles and achieve an inclusive environment for justices.

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The finale was not necessarily expected to be entangled with such controversy, but given the fact a lawyer was brought to the track in advance, suggested that the race was not likely to proceed without a problem.

Soon after Verstappen’s win, it emerged that Mercedes had barrister Paul Harris QC accompany the team in Abu Dhabi for the grand prix, and without question used his services after the chequered flag in order to protest against the result.

This stimulated ample discussion as to whether or not Mercedes was preparing for a legal battle rather than a race.

Following the event, Red Bull was quoted commenting: ‘We are a race team. We did not come here with a QC. We did not come ready to protest.’

Since last weekends events, the Mercedes challenge appears to have failed, with Formula 1 officials turning down two protests against the result, with a further appeal still in discussion.

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The annual expenditure, minus of VAT, during this period could be approximately £193m, however NHSR emphasises that there is no guarantee of work or its value. The new contracts commence on 1 March.

Support will be provided by the first panel to the organisation to handle claims under clinical and non-clinical indemnity schemes for NHS trusts, GP practices and independent sector providers. The firms included in this category are: Bevan Brittan, Browne Jacobson, Capsticks, Clyde & Co, DAC Beachcroft, DWF Law, Hempsons, Hill Dickinson, Kennedys and Weightmans.

A second panel supplying expert advice on regulatory, health and employment law include: Bevan Brittan, Blake Morgan, Browne Jacobson, Capsticks, DAC Beachcroft, Hempsons, Hill Dickinson and Weightmans.

NHS Resolution noted in a statement that: ‘Contracts were awarded following a rigorous, competitive procurement process to ensure firms are appointed that can provide a high quality service at a competitive price, ensuring maximum value for money.’

The panel is made up of an extension of the firms selected in 2019, the final time the process ran. On that particular event, seven firms were allotted to facilitate with all seven employed in the new group.

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In a blog, customer policy executive Darren Standring stated that feedback showed customers ‘like a quick phone call’ how to fix a simple application issue. ‘We don’t currently have comprehensive information on how often they were used and how much time they saved for customers and for our caseworkers. The aim of the trial is to help us make evidence-driven decisions about the future of telephone requisitions,’ he noted.

At present, older cases are being trialled in which a caseworker will call a conveyancer. If however the issue cannot be resolved over the phone, a requisition will be made in writing as before. Most requisitions are emailed to conveyancers.

Telephone requisitions will be tested for no less than a month. ‘We will then take stock of what the trial has told us and make a decision on how to proceed. At this stage we are not necessarily committing to the reintroduction of telephone requisitions as we want to be sure that any long-term solution provides real support for our customers as well as bringing greater efficiency – and therefore speed – to our services,’ Standring noted.

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Howard Kennedy is being sued over a scheme to develop multiple sites owned by Lewes District Council (LDC) in East Sussex by Karis Developments Limited and Karis Southern Housing Projects Limited, of which Brighton-based developer Joshua Arghiros is the ‘controlling mind.’

The court heard included a deal for the sale of some development sites from LDC to the housing association, the claimants entered contracts with the local authority and housing association Southern Housing Group in 2015. However, the agreement was terminated following a change in the leadership of the council that December – which the claimants allege is the result of Howard Kennedy’s negligent drafting.

Roger Mallalieu QC at the High Court yesterday told that the claimants ‘were looking to the defendant to ensure that the agreement as drafted provided adequate protection in the event of there being a change of control at the council.’ He also added that this was because Arghiros had ‘his fingers burnt before’ after a previous deal with Brighton & Hove City Council fell through, in part because of a change of political control of the authority.

Mallalieu argued Arghiros was given ‘false reassurance’ by Howard Kennedy that the agreement did not ‘expose [the claimants] to the very risks that they had raised.’ He also told that ‘there was simply no need’ for the agreement with LDC to be drafted to give the local authority ‘absolute discretion’ to terminate the deal ‘unfettered as it was by any obligation to act in good faith or to seek to resolve any resolvable differences.’

But Jamie Carpenter QC, for the firm, said the claimants is ‘just not sustainable ’case – which he described as being ‘I told Howard Kennedy to produce an agreement which could not be terminated following a change of political control’ and the firm did not do so. He also told the court that ‘It is not Mr Arghiros’ evidence that he gave those instructions and, secondly, the only way to implement those instructions, would be to produce an agreement containing no provisions allowing LDC to exit at any time.’ Carpenter added that the issue of a change of political control of LDC was ‘a commercial risk, not a political one.’

The trail is due to conclude at the end of this month before Mr Justice Trower.

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