Archive

Easy as ABS

Firms considering adopting the ABS model should take into account several regulatory issues before making a final decision, says Tony Guise

Make my day

Practitioners should consider a few elementary practicalities before rushing to complete an application to enforce, says DJ Tim Jenkins

Update: personal tax and trusts

David Bird reviews cases on double tax agreements, establishing non-resident status, HMRC guidance on employee shares and the treatment of business assets

Update: police

Caroline Day and Jill Lorimer consider DNA retention, stop and search, the validity of search warrants and police powers of entry

Lady in red

I am sitting in Northampton Square, Islington at lunch time eating a sandwich of cotton wool bread and stale chicken. It is a quiet area of grass dotted with a few flowerbeds and surrounded by wrought iron railings. In the middle is something like a bandstand and next to it a woman in a red hooded coat with a patchwork bag is talking to a blonde woman in a grey coat. The woman in red is smoking a cigarette on which she draws occasionally. The scene has the hall marks of a John Le Carré novel. Any moment I expect the woman in red to sit down beside me and give me a coded message: “The daffodils are blooming in St Petersburg.” But she did not – she just stubbed out her cigarette and moved off.

Straw delays action on private war crimes prosecutions

Jack Straw, the justice secretary, has decided to consult the justice select committee of the House of Commons before taking action to limit the right of private individuals to launch war crimes prosecutions.

Government takes direct control of legal aid as Regan resigns

The government has announced its intention to take direct control of legal aid by turning the Legal Services Commission into an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice.

Council golf course is a 'town green', Supreme Court decides

A council golf course near the Tees estuary in Redcar must be registered as a 'town green' under the Commons Act 2006, the Supreme Court has ruled.