Absolvitor: Scots Law Online

So, other than Gavin Henson’s return to first team rugby with the Ospreys, what else has caught my eye today?

Well, Mark Irvine of Action 4 Equality has discovered that the cost to Glasgow City Council of all the “independent” lawyers advising equal pay claimants on their compromise agreements back in 2005 was a hefty £347,477.76 – quite a pay packet. Fortunately, the Council made doubly sure that they were paying the female lawyers the same rate as their male colleagues.

I also came across an equal pay campaign initiated by the Conservative party (sic) which reveals that over a lifetime the cost of being female in lost wages alone is £300,000! (And that’s before you add in the price of killer heels and matching handbag for the interview.) The campaign’s slogan, “Women – Like men, only cheaper.” is a good one in that it’s not at all open to misinterpretation or innuendo.

How awkward! My 100th post, and I have to use it to apologise for an error in the post below.

It seems that the litigant in the Ryanair case was not the advocate Maurice O’Carroll, but in fact his Mum & Dad. Sorry to all concerned, and thanks to Jonathan Mitchell for pointing out the mistake.

Remember kids, when you assume, you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”!

The following caught my attention while browsing PanGloss on the subject of suicide websites.

The UK Government has announced that the law on “suicide websites” is to be rewritten to ensure people know they are illegal. It follows concerns that people searching for information on suicide are more likely to find sites encouraging the act than offering support.

It is already illegal under the Suicide Act 1961 to promote suicide, but no website operator has yet been prosecuted.

Lilian Edwards (the author of PanGloss) worries that this will lead to a blanket blocking of all suicide related websites, including those offering valuable support.
She also points out that suicide law is different in Scotland and predicts that if this is not adequately dealt with, we might see an upsurge in suicide websites hosted on Scottish servers!

Image is the logo from the website: To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

Mike Dailly of the Govan Law Centre returns from Cameroon with news that the government there are supporting efforts to establish the country’s first law centre in the region of Bamenda.

After winning verbal support from local ministers, Mr Dailly is working to raise funds for a law centre in Bamenda, to be built and run by local human rights workers.
He said: “It will offer people access to lawyers they could not otherwise afford and educate them about their rights to make sure they are less vulnerable to exploitation.”

This is also great news for Toto fans, as it gives me another excuse to post a YouTube clip:

The Scotsman carries a story about the concerning rise in the number of children in secure accommodation in Scotland. The number of admissions has risen from 307 last year to 346 this year, with over 10 per cent under the age of 13.

Just came across this post on the extradition of the Howes family by/to the USA.

According to the website, the family ran a small business selling chemicals over the Internet from the home in Bo’ness. However two of the substances they sold were iodine and red phosphorus. The former has medical uses and the latter is often used in the manufacture of fireworks and other pyrotechnics.

Their business was perfectly legitimate, had been checked by the Health & Safety Executive and neither substance is controlled under Scots (or UK) law. However, they are ingredients in crystal meth, and as such US enforcement agencies have decided to take action.

Under the terms of the draconian extradition treaty our government has kindly signed with the United States, US law enforment agencies no longer have to provide evidence of a prima facie case in order to secure extradition.

And so, due to our efforts to fight the “war on terror”, a Scottish couple running a legitimate business have already spent 7 months on remand and may well end up spending the next twenty years of their lives doing hard time in an Arizona prison.

Which seems a little harsh, doesn’t it?

My thanks to those lovable folks at the IP Kat for drawing my attention to this fantastic Disney-parody explanation of copyright law and “fair use”. Confused? Just watch and enjoy…

Scots Law Blogger, Jonathan Mitchell QC brings us an interesting piece on some potentially thorny questions arising from the recently announced Legal Profession (Scotland) Bill.

Covering questions including the “cab-rank rule” and “mixed doubles”, his post on The Proposed Legal Profession Bill is well worth a read.

Perhaps the Bill will finally sort out all the mixed metaphors which so bedevil one down at the Faculty.

With thanks to the “Lawyer TV” channel on YouTube, footage of Dr. Pamela Abernethy of Simpson & Marwick Solicitors giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament‘s Justice Committee to the effect that Pleural Plaques are “a good thing”.

From Friday’s Herald:

“In The Herald … yesterday, it was wrongly stated that Lady Cosgrove, Scotland’s first female judge, had died. She is, in fact, chairing the public inquiry into why patients were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C contaminated blood. We apologise to Lady Cosgrove for this error. In addition, there are four women judges in Scotland, not three as stated in the article.”