Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Posts Tagged ‘United Kingdom’

U.K.: Great moments in immigration law

Telegraph:

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal ruled that sending the Bolivian man back to his homeland would breach his human rights because he was entitled to a “private and family life”, and joint ownership of a pet was evidence that he was fully settled in this country. …

The Bolivian’s identity has not been disclosed and even the name of the pet cat was blanked out in official court papers to protect its privacy.

Delivering her decision on the case, which is thought to have cost the taxpayer several thousand pounds, Judith Gleeson, a senior immigration judge, joked in the official written ruling that the cat “need no longer fear having to adapt to Bolivian mice”. …

More: Rougblog (“We are all familiar with the term “anchor baby,” but the “anchor cat” is a new concept for me.”)

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October 15 roundup

  • “Jury Says No to Libel Claim Over Truthful E-Mail” [NLJ, Ardia/Citizen Media Law; high-profile First Circuit Noonan v. Staples case, earlier here and here]
  • Transmission of folk music is getting tangled in copyright claims [BoingBoing]
  • Scientific shortcut? Veterans Department will presume Parkinson’s, common heart ailment are caused by Agent Orange for GIs who set foot in Vietnam [NY Times]
  • Federal hate crimes bill: yes, courts will consider speech and beliefs in assessing penalties [Sullum and more, Bader]
  • Texas trial lawyer Mark Lanier’s famed Christmas bash will feature Bon Jovi this year [ABA Journal, background here and here]
  • Let’s explain our Constitution to her: U.K. cabinet minister thinks Arnie can close private website because it’s based in California and he’s governor [Lund, Prawfsblawg]
  • Ten best Supreme Court decisions, from a libertarian point of view? [Somin, Volokh]
  • Cert petition on dismissal of suit against Beretta shows Brady Center still haven’t given up on undemocratic campaign to achieve gun control through liability litigation [Public Nuisance Wire interview with Jeff Dissell, NSSF]

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U.K.: “Homeowners set to sue banks over low interest loans”

Apparently thousands of British borrowers had guns held to their heads when they signed on to mortgages that provided low or zero interest rates but promised the lenders the lion’s share of future increases in home value. The subsequent huge runup in housing prices in Great Britain made this a great deal for the banks, and some of the homeowners are now taking their retrospective buyers’ remorse to court in a group action. [Independent] Note the interesting use of the phrase “trapped in their homes and unable to move”, which appears from context to mean “free to move, but lacking the large accumulation of equity that they wish they had”.

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France to regulate Photoshopped pics?

Barb Dybwad, Mashable: “The proposed law comes from French MP Valerie Boyer and is inspired by a recent report she authored on anorexia and bulemia. She points to the detrimental effect that unrealistic body images can have on adolescents.” More: Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica; Ken at Popehat (UK’s Liberal Democrats promote similar ban for some ads).

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September 24 roundup

  • Florida man and attorney file multiple ADA complaints against businesses in Seminole-Largo area [Tampa Bay Newspapers]
  • “The growing ambitions of the food police”: FrescaBottleCapdietary paternalism in Bloomberg’s NYC and Washington, D.C. doesn’t go over well with writers at Slate [William Saletan, Jacob Weisberg, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Glenn Reynolds]
  • Assumption of risk is alive and well in New York cases over sports and spectator injuries [Hochfelder first, second, third posts, NYLJ]
  • Favorable review of William Patry, “Moral Panics and the Copyright Laws” [BoingBoing]
  • Kentucky high school case: “Coach Acquitted in Player’s Heatstroke Death” [ABA Journal]
  • Olivia Judson on the Singh case and the many problems with British libel law [NYT; earlier here, here, etc.]
  • Kids behave stupidly with girlfriends/boyfriends or dates, then the law ruins their lives [Alkon, Balko, Sullivan]
  • “Report a bad doctor to the authorities, go to jail?” [Orac/Respectful Insolence, Texas; disclosure of patient and official information alleged against nurses]

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