Legal News

Is the anti-money laundering regime too vague? In this week’s NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC, Red Lion Chambers, looks at two recent cases involving solicitors where the standards applied were assessed according to whether they were ‘adequate’ or ‘appropriate’.

The UK government has the power to review and potentially stop any business transactions that could threaten national security, courtesy of legislation that came into effect at the start of 2022. In this week’s NLJ, Ludovica Pizzetti, counsel, Arnold & Porter, looks at the operation to date of this legislation, the UK National Investment and Security Act 2021 (NSIA 2021).

A collaboration of more than 100 animal charities and campaigners have signed an open letter co-organised by a solicitor urging the Environment Secretary to bring the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 into effect.

Leading drug, alcohol and DNA testing laboratory, AlphaBiolabs, has made a £500 donation to Beatson Cancer Charity in Glasgow as part of its Giving Back campaign. 

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) appears to have ‘simply accepted’ Crown Court backlogs will continue to grow rather than taking the urgent action required, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned.

Possession of non-consensual intimate images (NCII) would become a criminal offence similar to that for child sexual abuse material, under proposals launched by a parliamentary committee.

The Lord Chancellor has announced an increase in judicial sitting days and a £28.5m budget boost for repairs to the court buildings.

Lawyers are failing to uphold ethical standards in a range of ways from misleading courts to misusing non-disclosure agreements, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has said.

The Sentencing Council has revised its guidance for magistrates and judges on the principles to follow when imposing community orders and custodial sentences.

A government white paper issued this week has set out plans to reinvigorate commonhold and make it the default tenure.