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01 January 2009
Issue: 7350+7351 / Categories: Legal News , Landlord&tenant , Profession , Intellectual property , Employment
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News in brief

Musicians take note; Working time; Bar nursery

Musicians take note
Copyright protection for performers and producers could be extended from 50 to 70 years in the UK, under recommendations announced by culture secretary Andy Burnham last month. The proposals are a compromise on EU proposals—EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy favours
extending the term to 95 years.

Working time
The European Parliament has voted to end member states’ ability to opt out of the EU’s Working Time Directive, which prevents employers asking people to work for more than 48 hours per week. The UK currently retains the right to allow employees to opt out. However, the vote has no binding force unless adopted as a decision of the Council of Ministers.

Bar nursery
A chief objective of the new Bar Council chairman Desmond Browne QC is to ensure that more women practitioners are retained in the legal profession. “There is too much evidence of heads banging against glass ceilings,” he says. Browne adds that a Bar nursery would be one “concrete step” in the right direction.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers to be joined by leading family law set, 4 Brick Court, this summer

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Real estate and construction energy offering boosted by partner hire

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Firm bolsters real estate team with partner hire in Birmingham

NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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