Hundreds Of UK Lawyers Says IPB 'Not Fit For Purpose'

Hundreds of UK lawyers have signed an open letter addressed to the UK government that declares the Investigatory Powers Bill as "not fit for purpose".

The 200 lawyers who signed the cases have a fraction of high-profile QCs involved in cases where evidence of the new powers' inefficiency has been present.

According to the letter "a law that gives public authorities generalised access to electronic communication compromises the essence of the fundamental right to privacy and may be illegal."

According to the letter, it fails to include verification of "reasonable suspicion" for an instance of data interception and does not need a demonstration or evidence of criminal involvement or a threat to national security for the use of powers.

Meanwhile, the Conservative government has pushed the IP Bill as having passed their expectations. They said it has an 'adequate balance between privacy and security."

The Labour party said it will abstain from the second reading. The party also threatened to vote against the bill if significant changes are not made. The Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party are heavily opposed to the bill.

Tech companies have warned that the IP bill could compromise existing communication technologies because of the use of a backdoor. The new bill also threatened tech companies of arrest or suspension if they will not comply with a hack-on-demand.

UK Government Dropped Passage On Obligation To Uphold International Law

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is to launch a legal case against the UK government for abandoning 13 words that could alter its decisions regarding the use of military force abroad. The Ministerial Code had been missing the section that indicated all ministers have an "overarching duty" to fulfil Britain's international agreements.

Lawyers from the GCHR said key issues involved decisions about involvement in international conflict , the UK's adherence to human rights legislation and the impact of International court rulings on British Law.

According to GCHR's Melanie Gingell:

“We cannot call these governments to account if at the same time western governments are diminishing their commitments to international law and the separation of powers.

“Removing international law from the code weakens ministers’ accountability to parliament and clearly signals a watering down of the UK’s respect for human rights law. I hope the court will recognise the profound consequences of removing just 13 words from ministers’ duties.”

Former Government Legal Service Head Paul Jenkins said:

“It is disingenuous of the Cabinet Office to dismiss the changes to the ministerial code as mere tidying up. As the government’s most senior legal official I saw at close hand from 2010 onwards the intense irritation these words caused the PM as he sought to avoid complying with our international legal obligations, for example in relation to prisoner voting.”

Street Preachers, Bible Quotes and The UK Law

It’s not that hard to make something viral if something trivial was given the biggest amount of attention by authorities and experts.

Recently, a street preacher was fined for quoting the bible verse while preaching. Preacher Michael Overd’s quotes have been considered as “threatening” according to a Judge from the Bristol Crown Court.

Fifty-year old Michael Overd quoted verses from the bible that claimed homosexuality as an “abomination.” According to the Bristol Crown Judge, it had helped him make the decision.

Overd was fined about £270 along with compensation and costs that total to £1500 at the very least for homophobic harassment and “racially aggravated” harassment.

It’s great to protest against religion being part of a constitution’s core morals. But to imprison someone for using their freedom of speech and taking a word-for-word of the bible is quite arrogant, or more racist, in my opinion.

Overd said that the words from Leviticus 20, a book from the bible, had never passed his lips. He didn’t use other parts of the bible and the judge has redacted the bible, he said.

An Easy Explanation on How To Get A Divorce [Infographic]

Teenager Jailed For Murdering Surrey Schoolboy

Fourteen-year-old Breck Bednar from Caterham was stabbed to death by a teenager he met while playing online video games.

Lewis Daynes, 19 years old, pleaded guilty to the murder of Bednar and had been sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in jail. Mrs. Justice Cox had sentenced Daynes at the  Chelmsford Crown Court. She condemned his “sexual and sadistic” killing

Bednar was found in a flat in Grays, Essex, with a fatal neck wound in February 2014.

Daynes confessed to having met Breck at an online gaming community that he ran. He invited Breck to his home and he slit his throat. After taking photographs, he sent the photos of his body to his friends.

Daynes had also confessed to engaging in sexual activity with his victim.

Mrs. Justice Cox said "Having lured the young victim to your flat, you murdered him.

"You had befriended Breck and a number of other adolescent friends through an online community.

 

"Your contact with Breck increased in a sinister way.

"The precise details of what happened in your flat are unclear and may never be known.

"I'm sure that this murder was driven by sadistic or sexual motivation."

Daynes’ sentence included attempted rape, two counts of engaging a person in sexual activity without consent, possessing indecent images.

Source

Liberal MP Julian Huppert Against UK Porn Restrictions

According to Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert, the laws restricting explicit pornography in the United Kingdom should be based on issues of “consent” and “genuine risk”, not moral objection. He states that explicit pornography produced in the United Kingdom would implicate a mass exodus of companies from the industry, and will place the United Kingdom at a disadvantage from the rest of the world.

Adult Broadcaster for Portland TV Chris Ratcliff also agrees with the statement, saying that the UK’s porn industry will be at a disadvantage from overseas competitors.

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 was implemented on December 1. It requires UK producers of pornography distributed online to fall under the guidelines set by the British Board of Film Censors for R18 rated films. It strongly regulates “explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults”.

The laws apply to online porn and video-on-demand (VOD). All these would require a certificate from the BBFC, must have effective age verification controls to prevent the content being accessed by minors.

Huppert said "It seems to me to be very odd to say that this, assuming it is consensual, is acceptable for somebody to do in their own home, for them to photograph it, film it, but not to look at it online if it comes from the UK.

"To me the case for banning things should be driven by issues around consent, and around genuine risk, not about whether we happen to like things or not."

Source

Revenge Porn: Why Peers Don’t Like It

Some people met the news about the revenge porn law’s disapproval by the peers of the British parliament. I met it with a slow disappointment, but eventually, I realised what was in store for the United Kingdom if the revenge porn law was approved. 

Let’s define terms first. Revenge porn is when a former partner uploads to a public network media explicit in nature that both of them have produced. However, in publishing law, all parties who had partaken in producing a medium must have the approval of both parties in question. This means that the victim is also part-owner of the produced media and has a veto on the publishing of such.

This is the law that British peers are trying to use instead of having the revenge porn law. The revenge porn law incriminates anybody who had uploaded explicit media that could tarnish the reputation of another party, namely the victim. This gives the victim the right to litigate the suspect or uploader because of damages to privacy.

However, it is similar to Google’s defiance against the EU data laws that allow people to erase their online histories because it damages the private lives of such persons. If we have the revenge porn law, journalists will have limited rights to publish material especially with exposes and documentaries. It commits damages to personal privacy.

So, until the definition of revenge porn, cyber bullying and other new terms the internet has come up with is put into the constitution, we will never have a good chance of having good governance in the internet. This may work for the worse, or for the better.

The Benefits of Revised Renting Laws in the United Kingdom

After reading an article in The Guardian regarding people who are calling for the government to revise the laws on renting in the United Kingdom, I found myself thinking about the possible benefits it could bring. Apparently, any revision entitles change and improvement, but still, it is not perfect. Revised renting laws could bring the following options to UK tenants.

1.    Prevent “Revenge” Evictions

The Guardian article told about the story of Andrezj Koper, a tenant of Fergus and Judith Wilson. The latter couple had been infamous because they used the rights of landlords abusively. It was described in the article that Koper had been evicted because he only wanted to have the boiler in his rental home repaired. A revision of laws could better protect tenants from such situations. Apparently, the UK property laws do not obligate landlords to give a reason for eviction.

2.    Enforce Landlord Responsibilities

Many of these infamous revenge evictions, as far as I am concerned, refers to the Landlord trying to evade their responsibilities to tenants. Here is a full list of landlord responsibilities, and these need to be reinforced. The UK legislation must realize that tenants are still customers,

and that landlords need to act like proper business personnel who provides service.

3.    Improve the Economy

Renting is the best option for moving professionals and their families, and avoiding a hundred-thousand streak of evictions yearly could improve the economy. With stability in terms of landlord-tenant relationships with proper laws in place, industries could have mainstay employees, and property prices could even increase.

GCHQ Has Been Violating Political Securities for A Long Time

According to MP Caroline Lucas and Lady Jones of Moulseccomb, GCHQ had been eavesdropping on MPs and peers on a blanket basis, along with other communications from political personalities in the United Kingdom. Their complaint is based on a rule introduced in 1966 by the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, which advises British intelligence agencies not to tap the phones of MPs and peers unless there is a national emergency.

According to Lucas and Lady Jones, there is no clear sense of emergency in the UK when the tapping were begun. They said “The Wilson doctrine is a fundamental doctrine of public policy. It not only protects the rights and privileges of elected politicians, but it also protects the privacy of their communications with their constituents.”

The complaint of Lucas and Lady Jones adds up to the pile of cases pending against the GCHQ. The spy centre had viewed a great deal of communications people and suspected criminals. According to the Snowden report, the information was also shared with the NSA, including phone call recordings, email inboxes and even social media entries.

Human Rights law firm Leigh Day had filed the case on behalf of the two MPs.

Lucas said she was deeply concerned about GCHQ’s spying on members of parliament, especially their very personal issues against other constituents. It may also erode trust in the UK’s government and security system.

Source

Corporations Benefit From Laws, Not You

Let’s examine the reality of a situation and use an example to justify the meaning of many things in society. Your brother just graduated from college and had landed a job as a highly-paid architect. He receives praises and word from your parents. However, you are in college and are in need of an apartment to live closer to your school. Your brother also needs the same. Your parents will prioritize your brother because he becomes the new breadwinner of the family. You? You just have to bear with what options are left for you and you completely understand that your brother pays for your tuition and is the priority.

In an economy, corporations make the bills run and circulate all over the UK. This is not just the UK, but in any country whatsoever. If you think of it, laws are built around corporations so that they can promote proper competitiveness to raise an economy. Consumer rights are prioritized because if consumers lose confidence in the corporation’s products, we end up with a lower economy.

Sometimes, government policies will clash with ideals. The UK tapping into the Muslim finance market signifies a goal to increase the economic output of the country, and some money into the pockets of politician friends. The recent UK Rail Union Vs. Privatized RailFranchises case marks the trend that ‘friends’ and ‘breadwinners’ of the government prioritize the profitable returns, never the individual’s concerns.

This is not a bad thing, but this is a reality that most people, especially the common person, will have to deal with.

Culture, Law and the Future of the World

The passing of new bills can shock an entire nation or even the whole world if it proves to be controversial, and what the world dubs as “controversial” is something that oppresses a value held by the common person. The common thought in society is called culture, its rituals the public will consider as tradition and these practices are passed on to generations who accept it.

Culture closely ties itself to the laws created by a country. In the Middle East, Islamic law and the law of the land are the same. In the case of an Afghan man granted asylum by Britain to avoid a death sentence on his return to Afghanistan for abandoning his faith, is a sign that tradition and religion indeed overwhelms the local government.

While many atheists and humanists may argue that religion is only a belief and the state is an entity that has a paradox in protecting the individual but respects the choice of the majority through democracy, tradition is a mass societal movement and thought and if religion is embedded, the state cannot remove itself from such.

The involvement of culture, religion and tradition makes it difficult for individualistic ideas and understanding to be protected by law. Sadly, regardless of an ideal society splitting law and religion, the reality is that tradition declares the law, and tradition includes religion. Unless people are willing to lay down their religion into schools of thought as is philosophy or other beliefs, then the future of the world will continue to root itself in its tradition.

Transparency International Recommends Tighter Laws Against Corruption

Transparency International UK’s report indicates that the UK is the safest place corrupt individuals could store their illegally-acquired properties and assets because it has an almost 1% detection probability going through the country. The report, published during the United Nations’ International Anti-Corruption Day, included recommendations from the watchdog to the United Kingdom.

The report indicated that a new law be introduced that would allow UK authorities to seize suspicious assets obtained by a public official. If the amount of the assets exceed the income of the public official, these could be seized and held. The official will have to prove that their assets were acquired legitimately to get them back.

According to UK’s previous financial watchdog the Financial Services Authority, almost £23-45 billion pounds were laundered into the United Kingdom on a yearly basis. According to TI-UK head Robert Barrington, the UK’s detection rate for stolen and laundered money in the UK is very low and will need great improvement.

The report also recommended that the UK should make use of the private sector to help detect suspicious asset movements in and out the United Kingdom to ensure sanctions be made to those who facilitate the movement of such assets.

Another is to ensure that the recovery team is properly resourced and should follow the example of Switzerland and Canada, whose governments allow authorities to freeze public officials’ suspicious assets when it is considered a ‘non-functioning judiciary’.

A full summary of the report could be found here.

Discussing Terrorists and Legal Rights

Syria is probably the hottest topic in the world and in the Internet right now. With most western countries believing that the Syrian regime is the one who perpetrated the August 21 chemical attack, the general public still believes that a coordinate military strike will solve nothing.

Terrorists have always existed in the world time and again and their methods continue to be destructive and end up killing many lives. But should they be given redemption for their actions and be treated in a way similar to any criminal who committed a crime?

A country or society that believes in the rule of law is obliged to say that no one is above the law. This means that they could not make an exception even to terrorists. Like all the famous sayings about the law, the law is nothing if no one will follow it.

However, people are also cynical about the legal system in the way that most professional lawyers and other corrupt individuals, organisations or companies manipulate laws and exploit loopholes to their benefit. Some just want to see the terrorists dead. ‘They killed thousands of lives and why should they be saved?’ is a common statement among people who want justice and do not consider them human.

Most terrorists die because they believe in something strongly, whether a political angle, an ideology or a religious calling. Murder and mass killing are heinous crimes and a crime to humanity. However, a crime does not make a person. Terrorists only die for their beliefs, which also do not make them. Nobody truly knows who a criminal is except for their actions.

What do you think? Should terrorists have legal rights? Or should they be persecuted for the thousands of lives they have taken.

Why Zero Hours Contracts Are Very Controversial

Imagine that your employer asks you to work for their company without specifying the actual length of time you’ll need to fulfil working. You could go to work at any time you wish and work the number of hours you choose. However, companies could bind you to respond if they need your help at any time during the day, even beyond your work hours.

Zero hours contracts became famous with the UK workforce because it allows employees more freedom in managing their schedule and also allowing them higher pay for more hours. However, it is not always as good as it sounds.

Sports Direct, a zero-hours contractor itself, faces a legalaction from one of its former employees. The employee expressed that the lack of financial security because the zero hours guaranteed nothing about work and income made it problematic for her as she suffered panic attacks.

According to recent statistics, zero hours contracts make up 4% of the UK workforce. Vince Cable even warned the entire UK about the issues surrounding zero hours claims.

He said that it was a way for employers to escape their responsibility to their employees. It also tips the balance to the employer.

There had been cases were managers who believe you have not done well with your work could easily slash off your work hours and employees were left helpless without a legal binding. It is also a tool for “employer bullying”, making it legally easy for them to just cut off their employees without any problems.z

Common Legal Issues With Websites

The Internet is the fast-evolving business and information access medium for many people in the world, but unfortunately, the legal system couldn’t keep up with the progress of these technology. Legal disputes can exist with owning a website and knowing the common legal issues might help steer you away from potential problem areas listed here.

1.    Copyrights

A website you made by hand cannot be copied by other websites and content from your websites should be given credit when referenced by other websites. While copyrights to your website design could be your main concern, you could have trouble if you display the creative works of other Internet users, specifically photographs, images, audio and video. Always give credit to your sources.

2.     Domain Names

A website’s domain name is the most important part of a website. To avoid losing a domain name, it is important that you obtain a trademark registration. Most website owners without a trademark registration ended up giving up the domain names that they actually paid for. For multiple domain names, you’ll need to make multiple registrations as well, even if working with just a single webhost.

3.    Defamation

It is easier to write lascivious material in the Internet especially if you’re anonymous. If any other website or comment defamed your website, it must adhere to the following before it is approved a valid defamation complaint:

1.    The statement is published with a third-party involved

2.    The person who issued the statement knows the statement was false

The Truth Behind the Internet Privacy Act

Wikipedia describes that the Internet Privacy Act is a non-existent and bogus law created by websites that perform illegal activities such as peer to peer networking, download hosting and piracy. Usually, websites use this law as a defence against arrest and claiming entrapment in court.

I saw one website make use of this Act as a defence for itself in the early days of the Internet during the year 2000. The big problem was that many people believed this. Some websites had viruses for people with IP addresses linking to government or state authority establishments.

The Act was said to be signed by Bill Clinton in 1995, which allows the website owner to hide their Internet Service Providers, companies and people storing the files they own. The act also protects people affiliated with the page, including their relatives, from prosecution.

However, since authorities found it false in 2005, it is still seen in some modern file sharing networks, protocols and other areas. Some hackers make use of the Internet Privacy Act to bug visitors and eventually hack into their terminals with browser-based viruses. Websites who use the Internet Privacy Act also wish to give the public and the visitor a false sense of security regarding data protection.

What You Need To Look For in a Reputable Legal Representative

Law firms and claims management companies are plenty everywhere in the UK. However, which one would guarantee you good results? A reputable legal representative has the following qualities listed here

.

1.     No Upfront Fees

What you might consider unprofessional and just plain rude is when a lawyer already asks you an upfront fee just before you consult your case with them. Upfront fees are not a good sign of a fruitful working relationship. A professional legal representative would first tell you their plan of action and achieve for you results before charging you with anything.

2.     Years of Experience

A lawyer knows more than he or she should if they have already been long in the industry. You could expect professional aid and in-depth knowledge based on your lawyer’s years of experience. They could also apply many legal propositions easily in court given that they have tried and tested these ideas in past cases.

3.     Expert in the Field

A legal representative could only be effective if they specialize in the field or aspect of your case. A personal injury lawyer could only do so much for corporate and business laws. It is important to know the specialty of your lawyer before you employ them to handle your case.