Eric Graham, in Memoriam
25th January 2011
Eric Graham
in Memoriam
16 March 1924 — 21 Jan 2011
Renfrewshire Law Centre Director since 26 Jan 1999
Chair, 2000 — 2010
It is with great sadness that Renfrewshire Law Centre has to report the death of Eric Graham during the evening of 21 January 2011 peacefully at his home with family. Eric served as a Director of Renfrewshire Law Centre from 26 January 1999, acting as Chairman from 2000 to 2010, our longest serving chairperson ever. As Director and Chairman he gave of his time wholly voluntarily, and Renfrewshire Law Centre is indebted to him for his stalwart support over ...
Law Clinic Feedback
17th January 2011
Renfrewshire Law Centre is pleased to report student feedback from the first crop of student advisors to particpate in the RLC/UWS joint law clinic venture, Law Wise, as originally publisged on the Law Clinic website.
Law Wise Law Clinic began in September 2010 and had its official launch on 15 October 2010. We were honoured to have Professor Seamus McDaid (Principal and Vice Chancellor of University of the West of Scotland) Hugh Henry MSP, Professor Donald Nicolson (Director of University of Strathclyde Law Clinic) and Mungo Bovey QC speak at the launch. The event was a huge success and ...
Human Rights Lawyers Re-Unite Family
17th January 2011
Longstanding friend of Renfrewshire Law Centre, Joe Bryce, Advocate, Volunteer Law Clinic Supervisor and Conference Consultant, has won an important asylum case with instructing solicitor, Neil Barnes of Loughran Barnes LLP, thus bringing a Congolese family to Scotland to reunite them with their grandmother.
Pascaline Kunda-Kilufya was granted asylum from the war-torn Congo 2007, but her family remained stranded in a Zambian refugee camp.
The Scottish Refugee Council Family Reunion Unit tried to persuade the British High Commission in Zambia to allow the children in to come to the UK, but this was refused on the basis that some of ...
Council Supports Homeless Applicants
6th January 2011
Renfrewshire Council has adopted a new policy which should improve the rights of homeless persons and families and those facing homelessness.
In terms of a homeless applicant’s age, although statute law currently only grants (i) automatic priority need to those aged 16 or 17, and (ii) discretionary priority need (a) to those aged 18-20 who have left care or who face particular risks, and (b) to older individuals if some other factor applies, nonetheless Renfrewshire Council hasextended automatic priority need to include (iii) those aged under 36 and (iv) those aged over 50.
This is ahead of Central Government ...
Online Consumer Rights, Law Society Advises
6th January 2011
Law Society of Scotland’s Advice to Consumers on Online Shopping Rights
From Scottish Legal News E-Bulletin
The Law Society of Scotland has advised consumers to be aware of their rights when it comes to returning any unwanted or faulty gifts which have been purchased online.
The Law Society said that while there are greater protections in place for consumers who make online purchases than consumers who purchase goods in a face-to-face shop transaction, there can, in certain circumstances, be a lack of certainty about just what these are.
Frank Johnstone, a ...
Scotland Welcomes McKenzie Friends
6th January 2011
New rules on the use of so-called 'McKenzie Friends' in Scotland's sheriff courts came into force on 1 January 2011 to the welcome of such organisations as Consumer Focus Scotland following lengthy campaigning for reform of the country’s civil justice system.
Essentially, a McKenzie Friend is a non-legally qualified individual whom a party to a court case may bring to court with him/her to assist in the conduct of litigation. The name comes from an English divorce case, McKenzie —v— McKenzie. The idea is that if a party may bring a friendly, knowledgeable helper to court, then ...
Scottish Mortgage Lenders All Wrong
26th November 2010
In its early years the UK Supreme Court appears keen to forge a reputation for itself as an audacious and independent powerhouse of jurisprudence. Not even a month after its judgment in Cadder ―v― HMA sent shockwaves through the landscape of Scots criminal law, now on 24 November, it has pronounced judgment in the case of Royal Bank of Scotland plc ―v― Wilson, with like consequences in the Scots civil law of mortgage repossessions.
The central question for the court related to the form of procedure adopted by a bank in court action for repossession of a mortgage customer’s ...
Private Rented Housing Panel Training Handout
23rd November 2010
The training handout for this workshop at the SALC Conference on 22 November 2010 is now available on this website by clicking here.
New Bankruptcy Law Helps Debtors & Home Owners
2nd November 2010
The Office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy has announced certain changes to the law of bankruptcy, which shall take effect on 15 November 2010 in line with the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010 (in respect of which which Renfrewshire Law Centre took part in the parliamentary consultation). The changes are as follows:—
- New Debtor Application Pack
- New route into Bankruptcy by Certificate for Sequestration
- Exclusion of family home in Protected Trust Deeds
- Extended shrieval powers in respect of family home in bankruptcy
- Abolition of certain requirements to advertise in Edinburgh Gazette
Certificate for Sequestration
The new Certificate ...
Supreme Court Rules on Cadder Case, Not All Good News
26th October 2010
Today the UK Supreme Court pronounced an extremely important judgment with profound implications for Scots criminal law. The case is Cadder —v— Her Majesty’s Advocate, an appeal against conviction based on an argument that Scots police procedure breached his human rights, particularly Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a fair trial.
(Technically, Cadder is an appeal against the High Court's refusal of leave to appeal, which was in turn based on another case, McLean —v— Her Majesty’s Advocate; for the full judgment please click this link.)
On 13 May 2007 Peter ...