Solicitors in Leeds

Irwin Mitchell Human Rights services

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:18:28 +0000

Amongst the many legal services provided by the law firm Irwin Mitchell, which includes most types of corporate and personal law cases, one of the more specialised services they offer is legal representation in cases involving human rights issues. Part of the large Public Law team employed by Irwin Mitchell includes legal representatives specialising in this area, including Yogi Amin, who won the Legal Aid Awards Social and Welfare Lawyer of the Year. He is the head of the team devoted to dealing with cases of this nature.

This highly experienced and qualified team involves some of the finest Human Rights lawyers in the whole of the UK and amongst the most common types of cases they are called upon to handle are – those involving claims against the police, and more general human rights abuses. The first of these specifically relates to issues of wrongful arrest, or injury resulting from excessive use of force by police officers. There is no dispute that police officers perform a difficult and demanding role that, for the most part, is handled in exemplary fashion. However on occasion, there are failures to meet the responsibilities the police have to the general public, which can result in issues such as wrongful arrest or injury to a member of the public due to an excess of force by the police in the carrying out of their duties. In this type of instance, the person who has been the victim of one of these circumstances is entitled to pursue a claim for damages, which will require the assistance of lawyers specialising in matters of Human Rights and their abuses.

Other types of situations in which a person may feel that his or her human rights have been violated can range from a situation in which you, or a member of your family, has been denied access to medical treatment because of finance, or a situation where your child has been excluded from attending school, without a good reason. Whatever the particular issue, Irwin Mitchell employs a team whose areas of specialism cover every area of Human Rights law – including prison law, disability law, social and healthcare and education law.

If you are interested in learning more about Irwin Mitchell, and their services for accident claims in leeds or their other services, then you can find out more at www.irwinmitchell.com.

Ombudsman Orders Compensation Following Planning Approval

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 08:48:00 +0000

<div> A Council that took account of the personal circumstances of an applicant for planning permission, when granting an application to construct a bungalow outside the designated development area and in green belt land, has been criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The person who applied for permission to build the bungalow was elderly, disabled and owned a home which was susceptible to flooding. Melton Borough Council granted planning permission despite the objections of the owners of adjoining land and even though the application was contrary to the Council’s stated planning policies and went against the recommendation of the planning officer who had reviewed the application.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The Ombudsman ruled that the owners of the adjoining land should be compensated for the diminution in value of their property as a result of planning permission being granted and awarded an additional £500 for their time and trouble in raising the complaint.</div> <div>  </div>

Defective Wording Does Not Remove Liability

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 08:06:00 +0000

<div> When a document contains errors, the court will often act to ensure that commercial common sense dictates its interpretation.</div> <div>  </div> <div> In a recent case, a farmer sought to avoid an estate rentcharge for roads and sewers on the farm estate whe <div> <img alt="Field" src="/system/assets/508/small/100_0463.JPG?1300288142" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" /></div> n the covenants in the land transfer documents contained errors and omissions.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Concluding that the rentcharge was not intended to yield a profit but merely to allocate the costs to the occupier of the land, the court ruled that the documents had to be construed to give effect to the ‘missing covenant’.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The decision was also influenced by case law which provides that a person who takes the benefit of a deed cannot avoid a burden which attaches to it.</div>

Charity Trustees Given Financial Crime Awareness Warning

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:13:00 +0000

<div> Charity Trustees have been reminded of the need to be aware of the possibility that their charity may be used for financial crime, with the National Fraud Authority estimating that annual losses to charities due to financial crime amount to more than 2 per cent of total income.</div> <div>  </div> <div> As the Charity Commission points out, ‘trustees have a legal duty and responsibility under charity law to protect the funds and other property of their charity so that it can be applied for its intended beneficiaries. They must also comply with the general law (and overseas law where applicable) including in relation to the prevention of fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing.’</div> <div>  </div> <div> The Charity Commission has therefore prepared a list of ‘ten top tips’ for charity trustees to ensure they are aware of the possibility and take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of financial crime.</div> <div>  </div> <div> These are as follows.</div> <div>  </div> <ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"> <li> Review your financial controls at appropriate intervals and do so critically, keeping them up to date. Just because you have not been a victim of fraud, do not assume that it will never happen;</li> <li> Segregate duties – do not allow one or two people to be in charge of all aspects of your charity’s financial controls without any checks being made;</li> <li> Make sure all of the separate parts of the financial records agree with each other. Always ask for and keep receipts. Reconciling bank statements with invoices, receipts, purchase and payment authorisations will often help to identify fraud at an early stage, and may discourage potential fraudsters;</li> <li> Never weaken your financial security for the sake of short cutting or time saving. For example, do not pre-sign blank cheques, even if a second signature is required. Doing so reduces your cheque security by 50 per cent –or, to put it another way, doubles the risk;</li> <li> Keep lists or registers of valuable fixed assets and key charity property, and periodically inspect them;</li> <li> Ensure that electronic or online banking arrangements are secure and are protected with dual-level authorisation;</li> <li> When recruiting staff – especially those who handle the charity’s finances – make appropriate background checks and take up references;</li> <li> If your charity makes grants to beneficiaries or other organisations, carry out appropriate due diligence checks on applicants. Guidance on this can be found at  ‘<a href="http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Our_regulatory_activity/Counter_terrorism_work/compliance_toolkit_2.aspx#f" title="Know your beneficaries">know your beneficiaries</a>’;</li> <li> Ensure that as trustees you receive and consider regular reporting information about the charity’s finances. If you are a trustee or manager, make sure that you understand the financial summaries and reports that are presented to you, and if you do not, ASK for an explanation that you CAN understand; and</li> <li> If you suspect or become aware of fraud, make sure that you know what to do and who to inform. Make sure it is part of the culture of your charity. Prompt and appropriate action will help to protect your charity and limit any financial damage.</li> </ol> <div>  </div> <div> <strong>If you have concerns about how a charity of which you are the trustee is being run, contact us for advice.</strong></div>

No-Shows – ECJ Rules No Vat Due

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:56:00 +0000

<p> A recent decision of the European Court of Justice will come as good news for hard-pressed hoteliers and has led to HM Revenue and Customs issuing new guidance on deposits.</p> <div> <div> <img alt="hotel 1" src="/system/assets/371/small/S2300031.JPG?1294826976" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" /></div> </div> <div> The decision confirms that there is no relationship between a deposit taken and the supply of a standard-rated service. Accordingly, therefore, where a deposit has been taken for a hotel booking and retained because the person making the booking is a ‘no-show’, there is no need to account for VAT on the deposit.</div> <div>  </div> <div> However, if the deposit is made for a specific room which is therefore kept vacant, the supply remains one on which VAT is due.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Hotel owners can reclaim VAT overpaid as a result for the past four years only. In addition, hoteliers will want to consider their terms and conditions to ensure they are VAT efficient.</div>

Trade Mark – Whole, Not Parts of Whole, is What Matters

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:04:00 +0000

<div> The High Court has confirmed that a trade mark refers to the general impression given by the mark, not to the details of the mark and this can include auditory and conceptual factors as well as purely visual ones.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The important issue is whether the average consumer would be misled bearing in mind that the mark is perceived as a whole, not by its individual parts.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Merely creating a mark that is subtly different from a trade mark may well be insufficient to prevent an action for violation of the trade mark or ‘passing off’ (deriving an economic benefit from it) if the overall impression is similar. For advice on all trade mark and other intellectual property matters, contact us.</div>

If it is in the Sky, It is Weather!

admin — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:58:00 +0000

<p> <img alt="Plane on runway" src="/system/assets/160/small/for_RSS_30_April_2010_031.jpg?1272651291" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" /></p> <div> The Financial Services Ombudsman has refused to refer a test case involving a travel insurance claim to the court in order to determine whether the volcanic ash cloud which caused so much disruption to European aviation in 2010 was not covered by the phrase ‘poor weather conditions’.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Most travel insurance policies contain limitations in cover which exclude or limit claims resulting from ‘acts of God and those relating to areas where there is civil unrest or war or to which travel is undertaken when the Foreign Office has advised against it. Normally, they allow a claim to be made where it results from adverse weather conditions.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The case involved a woman whose claim was refused by the insurer, which argued that it was not covered by the clause that allowed a claim to be made when the travel disruption resulted from adverse weather conditions. She appealed to the Ombudsman.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The ombudsman concluded that it was not a suitable case to refer to the court as a test case and made an award to the claimant.</div>

Who is a Member of a Company?

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 07:28:00 +0000

<p> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">Keeping company records up to date is not always a top priority for the directors of smaller companies. However, failing to keep the shareholders’ register up to date can have a downside if a share transfer has occurred but the new owner’s name is not entered into the register of members.</span></p> <div>  </div> <div> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">The problem is that under the Companies Act 2006, except in very limited circumstances, the person shown as a member in the register of members is a member and a person not shown isn’t – until the register is rectified.</span></div> <div>  </div> <div> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">This can have practical effects such as making notices of meetings invalid, invalidating votes of shareholders and so on and can affect, as it did in a recent case in the Supreme Court, whether or not one retains the rights attaching to shares transferred for financial purposes into the names of nominees.</span></div> <div>  </div> <div> <b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;">Contact us for advice on company secretarial and company law matters.</span></b></div> <div> <b> </b></div> <div> <b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;"><br /> </span></b></div>

More Businesses ‘Critical’

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:37:00 +0000

<div> <img alt="Sale" src="/system/assets/75/small/Nov_2009_010.jpg?1268499526" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" />The number of businesses in the UK which are suffering from ‘significant’ or ‘critical’ financial problems on the first quarter of 2011 has risen to 186,000, according to a report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor. This is an increase of 26 per cent over the figure for the third quarter of 2010 and is 15 per cent more than the same quarter in 2010.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Another report shows a 4 per cent jump in the number of retail businesses at ‘high risk’ of insolvency and there has also been a 15 per cent increase in the number of retails using company voluntary arrangements compared with 2010.A <a href="http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2068769/corporate-insolvencies-rise-continues" target="_blank">report by accountants PwC </a>also revealed an increase of more than 12 per cent in corporate insolvencies with retailing the worst-hit sector.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Things are tough in retailing and the building industry was recently identified as having had a particularly bad winter.</div> <div>  </div> <p> <strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;Times New Roman";">For advice on managing your trade risk, contact us.</span><br /> </strong></p>

Competition Act Extended to Land

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 08:53:00 +0000

<p> <img alt="Arcade" src="/system/assets/365/small/100_0261.JPG?1294826072" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: left;" />The Competition Act 1998 has recently been extended from 6 Apri 2011 to cover agreements with regard to land. Such agreements were previously excluded.</p> <div>  </div> <div> The Act seeks to prohibit agreements, etc. which prevent, restrict or distort competition.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The change is important for owners and occupiers of land, because it has been common for agreements (especially tenancy agreements) to contain exclusivity clauses – for example, where a tenant retailer agrees with its landlord that no competitor of the tenant will be allowed retail space in the same development. Such agreements may now be unlawful.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Where such agreements are in place, we recommend having them reviewed in order to ensure that they do not conflict with the principles contained in <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/41/part/I/chapter/I" target="_blank">Chapter 1 of the Act</a>. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The Office of Fair Trading has issued guidance on the changes, which can be found <a href="http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/policy/land-agreements/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Contact us for advice concerning the application of the Act in your individual circumstances.</div>