Will the Legal Aid Cuts Actually Hit Us Hard?

10 Feb

UK has a very heavy compensation culture and each person knows his or her legal rights as best as the other person does. We know our legal rights because it is affordable for us to have legal representatives where needed despite a lack of raise in wages and a gradually recovering economy. Now, legal aid cuts may actually affect our legal rights, or will it really hit?

According to this article, many legal personnel, including barristers, law students, solicitors and others, are protesting the cuts because they deem it unnecessary. Let’s break down the facts.

The BBC article says that £2 billion of our taxes go to legal aids every year, with most of it going for criminal defences and civil cases. The cut will remove £220 million from the total cost.

How much do you actually spend on legal services?

Sure our banks can cheat us, or another business could just reject our claim for a defective product and a solicitor comes in handy. Of course, UK’s legal aid helpfulness is flawless during accident cases and burden of responsibility for safety cases, but if you think about it, a legal aid cut of £220 million could be used for us in other ways, say, welfare or property buying.

If this actually strikes a balance for our country’s fiscal needs, then it is a good choice. It won’t be too hurtful to add a few pounds for legal aid when it could generate some positive consequences on our part.

 

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UK’s Home Office Said It Will Defy EU Regarding Legal Highs

14 Jan

British ministers will be defying the European Union’s attempts to regulate legal highs. According to Home Office Minister Norman Baker, the European Commission will only paralyze the UK’s discretion to control psychoactive substances currently in the country’s market.

Baker argued that the EU’s argument that 20% of the legal highs in the country and in the rest of Europe have a legitimate use. However, the United Kingdom may face sanctions due to violations on controlling the policy on legal highs. Baker ensured that the UK’s defiance is not a sign that it is giving up the commitment on drug enforcement.

According to Baker, the UK Home Office only wants to have options that would enable them to deal with the dangers of the substances in a quick and efficient manner. Baker and other ministers were alarmed after drugs known as “legal highs” had claimed many lives in 2012.

The Office of National Statistics supports with records of death due to drugs jumping from 29 to 52 from 2011-2012.

Legal highs have been made illegal in the United Kingdom, but varieties of the drug with similar effects still exist in the country. Websites owned by independent and underground organisations with street suppliers are also making it easy for people to purchase the legal highs.

Source

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A Factor That Makes Money Illegal

9 Dec

I’ve been around the Internet for a while and I’ve found myself very interested in the future of the network and its new dominant currency, the Bitcoin. Bitcoins could exchange from $700-1000 during the next few weeks as you read this post. However, its high volatility makes it something investors are worried and excited about at the same time.

However, let’s talk about money. Money only has power if people make use of it and adhere to its value. When people do not recognize the value of money, the financial system collapses. Any sort of currency is legal as long as it promotes fair trade, competition and is regulated by law.

All currencies are government-regulated and issued. This means that the government has some control over the inflation of money by means of estimating the amount of money the mint prints.

Why bitcoin is not recognized by many governments or is even considered illegal and highly risky, is not just because of its high volatility, but its capability to hide transactions. Bitcoins could hide transactions into encrypted codes, which make them untraceable even if the bitcoin network records each and every transaction made by Internet users.

The government enforces the laws agreed upon by society for one another, and if these laws do not apply to bitcoin, which is a decentralized currency, regardless of any official statement, it is already considered an illegal form of currency.

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Business Laws You Need to Be Familiar With

7 Nov

Laws differ depending on your category in industry and every proprietor must know these laws to avoid possible violations. Laws ensure that consumers get the right quality products and services they pay for and to avoid fraud from existing businesses. It also ensures proper ethics with the competition.

1. Health and Safety Laws
Most countries have health and safety laws for all businesses. However, these laws vary depending on the nature of work. For example, in construction companies, health and safety laws greatly affect their employees and their clients. The use of asbestos had its own unforeseen consequences, and health and safety laws banned the use of the product to protect both contractors and clients.

2. Fair Competition
When in business, employing spies to gather information about a competitor’s new product or service is illegal under fair competition laws. Fair competition means that businesses are to compete with other business only in terms of improving product quality and optimising their business structures and integrity. Espionage could disrupt the balance of competition and may lead to deteriorating quality of products for consumers.

3. Tax Laws
All businesses have an obligation to the country to provide support for its betterment. Even if it provides job employment and consumer activity, which helps the country’s economy, it also has a responsibility to provide aid for government activities.

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What You’ll Need for an Effective Injury Compensation Claim

2 Oct

Someone is bound to be responsible for the accident that happened to you and if ever you find out who they were, you have to know how to make an accident compensation claim.

1. Circumstances
Accidents could happen at work, during traffic or just by even walking down the street. Whenever something happens to you, be sure to take into consideration the circumstances. Remember where you are , take note of what happened to you and your injury. In case of car accidents, be sure to take a photo of the two cars, the driver and their car’s registration number.

2. Medical Check-Up
You would not get past your insurance company or offender if you do not have expert backing about your injuries. Medical professionals could issue a medical certificate that shows pain and suffering, and possible long term injury effects on your lifestyle.

3. File a Complaint
Contact your offender and tell them about your compensation claim. It is highly probable that they will compensate you out of court. But in case they make it difficult and push to the court to settle your dispute, you could file a complaint against them. However, if you pursue this claim while you are still injured, you could seek help from CompensationClaims.Co or other reputable claims management companies for legal counsel.

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Court Separates Son With Autism from Abusive Mother

10 Sep

The court had separated a 25 year old son with what medical professionals likely said to have Asperger’s syndrome who lived with his abusive mother. Despite the abusive treatment he receives, the autistic son, only known as WMA, wanted to stay with his mother.

His mother, known as MA, had her autistic son locked inside the house and rarely allowed him outside. WMA has no social skills and no ability to look after himself. The mother had neglected care and maintenance for their house. The court Judge Martin Cardinal said that the photographs of the house was revolting.

Most of the time, I am emphatic to those with autism. I have a cousin that had Asperger’s and it was very hard taking care of them. However, in this case, the court’s decision was harsh, but effective. It was harsh because nothing is more painful than a mother separated from her son. Her son, regardless of autism, only knew her as his guide and guardian, also feels pain being separated.

Nobody has the right to inhumanly treat another, especially if the person has a special disorder and based on the photographs taken by the local council, I would agree that the mother does not deserve any kind of son or offspring with that kind of treatment. People with special disorders also feel it when they are being abused and nobody has the right to condemn them because they did not choose what they have become.

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Why the Legal Aid Protests Don’t Seem to Cut it for Me

7 Aug

I find the UK’s legal system one of the most fair and mobilized legal system in the entire of Europe, and maybe even the world. Because of the UK legal system’s efficiency, a “compensation culture” is undeniable in the country. However, when Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced legal aid cuts, many people protested against it.

People said the legal aid cut propositions were a reduction to the UK’s quality of justice. Barristers and solicitors threatened to go on strike because of the reductions as people continued to campaign against the aid cuts. But will it be so bad?

According to news and media sources, around £3000 is spent for legal aid funding in the UK than in other parts of Europe. British and Irish judges are also the highest-paid in the European continent alone as they receive seven times the average work pay. The total annual budget in England, Wales, Scotland and North Ireland is at a record high with £15 billion.

I am, like all protesters, concerned with the miscarriages that could happen with the legal aid cuts. Even with UK’s current legal system standing, many sentences did not make sense and many processes were quite slow.

According to sources, England and Wales will still have £1.5 billion pounds to spare yearly for legal advice alone. Authorities said that the changes brought by legal aid reduction will not affect a fair trial or will it destroy the UK’s criminal justice system.

Both sides have their point and somewhat, a five-times-against-Europe funded legal system reduced a bit can still deliver good justice. I don’t find the legal aid protests compelling. The money for legal aid isn’t spent for producing evidences to help cases. If a case is true and has enough evidence, then no amount of legal aid can make it wrong.

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