MORE COMMON SENSE

Mrs Parker (on a winter holiday) was told by her tour operator's representatives no to proceed beyond a red light on a toboggan run. She did and was injured and she sued.  She thought that there ought to have been a member of staff on hand to prevent her from proceeding past the red light.  The Trial Judge (the ever sound and excellent HHJ Simpkiss of Brighton County Court and DCJ for Surrey, Sussex and Kent) dismissed her claim.

As did the Court of Appeal Longmore LJ:

I cannot bring myself to hold that it is the duty of a tour operator dealing with rational adults on a winter holiday to repeat simple warnings already given with clarity or to point out obvious dangers of ice on the road and the relative safety of snow at its side.  So to hold would only encourage potential claimants to believe that whenever an injury occurs someone must be to blame. That is not what the law of negligence is about.

Common sense prevailed again.

Parker v TUI:   Follow the link

[2009] EWCA Civ 1261

COMMON SENSE PREVAILED IN THE END

During the Prison Officer stirke of August 2007 a prisoner called Mr Iqbal could not get out of his cell in accordance with the usual prison regime because there were no prison officers.  The Governor ordered the prisoners to be kept in their cells.  Mr Iqbal sued the Prisoner Officers Association (POA) for false imprisonment.  This made no sense to me.  If a person is lawfully in prison, how can he be falsely imprisoned in his cell?  Anyway His Honour Judge Shaun Spencer QC thought he had been falsely imprisoned and awarded him £5 against the POA.
The POA appealed and the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment below on 4th December last year - Iqbal v POA [2009] EWCA Civ 1312.  The Court was worried that if prisoners were not let out of their cells by mistake or inefficiency, the Courts would be overwhelmed with claims:

"The rights of prisoners should certainly be acknowledged: indeed according and respecting rights are one of the hallmarks of a civilised society. Further, it can fairly be said that every moment out of his cell is valuable to a prisoner. However, I think that the court should be reluctant to reach a conclusion whose implications could lead to many small private law damages claims arising from what may often be little more than poor time-keeping by prison officers, and whose outcome may often turn on issues such as whether an officer in an undermanned prison could better have organised his working day to ensure that a prisoner was let out of his cell at precisely the time stipulated by the governor."

The MR would have awarded him £120 rather than £5 if he had have been falsely imprisoned.

But at least common sense prevailed in the end.

TRY THE BOAT

Today I defeated the snow and ice by using the Thames River Boat service.

It was excellent.  You can wi fi, drink excellent coffee and you get a seat.

Andrew Gilligan agrees (follow llink) and so does The Policy Exchange in a report issued today (Link)

See the time table

CONGRATULATIONS TO GREENWICH

My home Borough, the London Borough of Greenwich is to have Royal Borough status conferred on it in 2012 to mark The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  It will join Windsor & Maidenhead, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames and The Royal Town of Caernarvon in Wales. 


Sutton Coldfield was made a Royal Town by Henry VIII (for 'forever' his Charter said) but was subsumed into the City of Birmingham.


There will also be a competition for City Status in 2012.  I am hoping that Huddersfield, another place close to my heart will finally cease to be the largest town in England, although technically the City honour would have to go to the made up place of the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in which it administratively dwells.   Reading may also be a candidate?


Interestingly Greenwich applied to be made a City (along with Croydon?) in the 2002 Golden Jubilee City Status competition.  The winners were  Preston, Newport, Stirling, Lisburn and Newry in 2002.  


Trivia - Rochester upon Medway in Kent is the only City to ever have lost its City status (in 1998) - perhaps Her Majesty will be pleased to give it back.


The Queen will also promote a Mayor to Lord Mayor and a Scots Provost to Lord Provost in 2012.  In 2002 the Lord Mayor winner was Exeter.  Scotland has not had a new Lord Provost for years.


There is also going to be a 4 day week-end and a new medal.  


This is what Lord M said in the House of Lords this pm;

3.08 pm

The First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council (Lord Mandelson): My Lords, with your Lordships’ permission, I would like to make a brief and important Statement about the Government’s plans to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Two thousand and twelve will be a landmark year for Her Majesty, Britain and the Commonwealth. Queen Victoria is the only British monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee. However modestly our present Queen might approach this celebration, I know that people across the whole country will want the chance to recognise this remarkable achievement, paying tribute to the Queen and celebrating with great pride and affection Her Majesty’s 60 years on the throne. It will also be an opportunity for us as a country to reflect on the incredible changes that have taken place, both here and around the world, over the past six decades. We want this to be a nationwide celebration. Working with colleagues in Buckingham Palace and the devolved Administrations, we are currently planning a series of fitting events to enable communities all over the country to mark the Diamond Jubilee. Although we are still in the early stages of organisation, I can confirm to the House that these celebrations will take place around the first week of June 2012.

In honour of Her Majesty, we will create a special Diamond Jubilee weekend, moving the late May bank holiday to Monday 4 June, and adding an extra bank holiday on Tuesday 5 June. In Scotland, national holidays are a devolved matter and we will work closely with the Scottish Government to help ensure that people across the United Kingdom can celebrate the jubilee together.

In keeping with previous jubilees, we also plan to issue a Diamond Jubilee medal. Over the next few months we will be considering this in more detail, and who should be eligible to receive it. In addition, we will be holding national competitions to be launched later this year for city status, a Lord Mayoralty and Lord Provostship. Further details of these and other government plans for the Diamond Jubilee are available in the Printed Paper Office as well as online, via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s website (www.culture.gov.uk/diamondjubilee).

Finally, I can confirm that the Queen has agreed, as a mark of royal favour, to confer royal borough status on the London Borough of Greenwich. This rare honour is to be bestowed in recognition of the historically close links forged between Greenwich and our royal family, from the Middle Ages to the present day, and the borough’s global significance as the home of the Prime Meridian, Greenwich Mean Time and a UNESCO world heritage site.

Further announcements will follow as our plans for the Diamond Jubilee are confirmed, but I know that voluntary organisations and local communities will benefit from this early indication of the relevant dates. This will be a truly historic occasion and a testament to the hard work and dedication of Her Majesty the Queen to this country and her people. We are committed to ensuring that celebrations take place of which we can all truly be proud.

The Legal Services Board

Just noticed that this leviathan came into being on 1st January 2010

http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/index.htm

Its mission?

We are the new, independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. Our goal is to reform and modernise the legal services market place by putting the interests of consumers at the heart of the system, reflecting the objectives of the statute that created us, the Legal Services Act 2007.

Notes

Some cases of some interest:

(1) JENNY ANDRESEN (2) ANNE ANDRESEN v PAUL LOVELL

[2009] EWHC 3397 (QB)

Good case on circuit judges granting inappropriate without notice orders and how to get them set aside.

See here

R (BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL) v BIRMINGHAM CROWN COURT

[2009] EWHC 3329 (Admin)

Allowing appeal 10 months out of time against ASBO?

See here

Plus a new extra High Court Judge

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Guy Richard Newey, Esq., Q.C., to be an additional High Court Judge with effect from 12 January 2010.
The Lord Chief Justice will assign Mr. Newey to the Chancery Division.QC

Notes to Editors
Mr. Newey, 50, was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1982 and took Silk in 2001. He was appointed an Acting Deemster in the Isle of Man in 2003 and is approved to sit as a deputy High Court Judge.
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice made a written Ministerial Statement in the House of Commons on 25 November 2009 acceding to the request of the Lord Chief Justice for this additional High Court Judgeship.

March on Wooton Bassett

Some people are planning to march on Wootton Bassett. See here

Is there an application under section 13 Public Order Act 1986 pending?

13 Prohibiting public processions

(1)     If at any time the chief officer of police reasonably believes that, because of particular circumstances existing in any district or part of a district, the powers under section 12 will not be sufficient to prevent the holding of public processions in that district or part from resulting in serious public disorder, he shall apply to the council of the district for an order prohibiting for such period not exceeding 3 months as may be specified in the application the holding of all public processions (or of any class of public procession so specified) in the district or part concerned.

(2)     On receiving such an application, a council may with the consent of the Secretary of State make an order either in the terms of the application or with such modifications as may be approved by the Secretary of State.

UPDATE:

The Times today (5/1/10) carries an answer to my question:

Wiltshire police said it had received no request from al-Muhajiroun, or its alternative name Islam4UK, to hold a march in Wootton Bassett.

A police spokesman said any proposed demonstration had to comply with public order legislation.

He added: "The Public Order Act states that the organiser must inform the police of the date, time and route of the proposed procession, together with the name and address of the organiser.

"If the march or procession is believed to be likely to result in serious disorder, disruption or damage, then the police can impose conditions upon the organiser.

"In exceptional circumstances, the police may apply to the local authority for an order prohibiting such a march."