The long-awaited report from the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics was published yesterday, making calls for new laws to support the formation of a tough new watchdog.
The recommendations fall short of new statutory control of the press, instead calling for legislation to be used to create a new, independent press watchdog.
In a televised statement following the publication of the report, Lord Justice Leveson said: "The press has wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people for many decades."
The Law Commission has launched a consultation on the law relating to contempt of court, in a bid to modernise the law for the digital age.
The Commission identified the law relating to contempt of court following a proposal from the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee, a body responsible for modernising court procedures and practice.
Contempt of court is an enormous area of law, concerned with actions that undermine the course of justice and the legal procedures that are used to deal with them. Examples of contempt of court include disobeying a court order or lying to a court.
A Kuwaiti firm has become one of the first to use the UK legal system in order to enforce a foreign $1.7bn debt-restructuring deal on a minority of its creditors.
Global Investment House has designed a deal that will see creditors given a 70% share in the company as a payment on their loans. Under the terms of the deal the company will become debt free.
The deal is a first because it concerns a foreign firm seeking to use UK courts to enforce their debt-restructuring plan.
The Royal Mail has warned dog owners that they risk having deliveries to their address cancelled if they fail to take steps to prevent their pets from attacking delivery staff.
The call follows the publication of an inquiry that has concluded that UK laws on the keeping of dangerous dogs needs to be toughened to protect postal staff, who were attacked some 3,250 times by dogs last year alone.
The independent report was chaired by a former High Court judge, Sir Gordon Langley, and was published last week by the Royal Mail's chairman, Donald Brydon.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed how government plans to set a minimum price for a unit of alcohol could spell the end for popular meal deals that offer diners the chance to buy a supermarket 'dinner for two' with wine for £10 or less.
The news comes as the Prime Minister plans to reveal a consultation on the proposal to introduce a minimum alcohol price, as well as new laws that will effectively impose a limitation on retailers' ability to offer extremely cheap 'bulk buy' deals on alcohol, as a loss-leader in order to entice shoppers in to buy other more profitable goods.
The proposals come hot on the heels of the Scottish legislature, which is currently in the process of implementing its own minimum alcohol-pricing at 50p per unit.
Victims of crime who suffer injuries will face a major drop in the amount of compensation they can claim from the Government, after changes to the awards made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), which came into force today.
The cuts were announced earlier this year by the then Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clark, as part of a plan by the Ministry of Justice to cut some £35-45 million per year from the annual £450 million criminal injuries compensation budget.
The cuts have been condemned by Labour and the trade unions, as well as by victims groups.
The College of Law has become the first 'for-profit' university, after it was awarded 'university' status on 22 November 2012.
The College has now formerly changed its name to the 'University of Law'.
The College was formed in 1962 as a merger of the Law Society's School of Law and a tutorial firm, Gibson and Weldon. It was then given a legal form by Royal Charter in 1975 and registered as a charity in 1976 to 'promote advancement of legal education'.
A new law that makes a specific criminal offence of stalking came into force in England and Wales yesterday.
The law passed through Parliament as part of the new Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012.
Section 111 of the Act creates two offences, one of stalking under s.111 (1) 2A punishable with up to six months in prison, and the other under s.111 (2) 4A of stalking involving fear of violence, serious alarm or distress, which carries a tougher five-year maximum jail sentence.
The decision by the Church of England's General Synod to continue its prohibition on women serving as bishops has sparked considerable fury from many sections of society.
Last week at Prime Minister's Question Time, David Cameron said he was 'very sad' that the Church voted against the admission of women.
Now the debate has moved on, with the Church of England's representative in the House of Commons, Tony Baldry MP, saying that the General Synod should hold a revote as soon as possible.
A survey by one of the UK's leading law firms has surprisingly revealed that infidelity is not the leading cause of divorce, it's the mundane daily chores that causes most marriage break-ups.
The survey was conducted by HBJ Gateley, which has offices in London, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dubai among others.
The firm surveyed 350 people who had been through a divorce, examining past case notes to establish the cause for the break-up.
The ongoing investigations into the events at News Corporation's former 'News of the World' title took another twist this week when it was revealed that former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson would face criminal charges for conspiring to make illegal payments to officials.
The charges came as a blow to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who is a close friend of Mrs Brooks and who previously hired Mr Coulson as his director of communications.
The pair were charged along with other senior former News Corp employees for separate incidents.
David Cameron believes that the UK is in the economic equivalent of war and says he will fight those who challenge government policy, saying that judicial reviews are hindering the UK's chance of returning to growth.
The war cry came in a speech to the Confederation of British Industries (CBI), a leading lobbying organisation that represents key UK companies and business interests.
The main target for his ire is the process of judicial review, whereby an individual or organisation can use the law courts to mount a challenge of any decision made by a 'public body', if they feel the procedure used or the basis for the decision was legally flawed.
The tragic death of 31 year-old Savita Halappanavar in Galway, Ireland has led to fresh calls for a review of abortion laws in Northern Ireland, headed by one of the country's leading obstetricians.
Ms Halappanavar died of multiple organ failure on 28th October, after contracting septicaemia as a result of a miscarriage. Doctors at University Hospital Galway denied her a potentially life-saving abortion because the state's strict abortion laws do not allow a termination in such circumstances, and when she presented the doomed foetus still had a heartbeat.
Abortion is still widely outlawed in Ireland on a religious and ethical basis, something that many in the state wish to see changed after this tragic incident.
Statistics published this month by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that a record number of UK citizens are deciding to cohabit rather than marry.
The astounding figures show an increase of 100% in the past 15 years, with 3 million of us now living together out of wedlock.
It is thought that these numbers will continue to rise, as couples choose a less formal relationship status ahead of marriage, which it is thought may be the minority relationship status by 2050.
The news highlights the fact that many cohabiting couples are totally unaware that they have virtually no legal rights under current UK law, reports the Huffington Post.
The Energy Secretary Ed Davey has warned energy companies that fix the price of their gas that they will face the full force of the law if caught, reports the Independent.
The warning comes in response to allegations of gas price fixing, made by a whistleblower, Seth Freedman, to the energy watchdog Ofgem and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), as revealed by the Guardian newspaper. The information has prompted both organisations to mount an enquiry.
Mr Freedman worked for ICIS Heren, a company that sets benchmark prices which energy companies then trade against. Mr Freedman believes he discovered attempts by energy companies to distort this benchmark price, and duly informed the authorities.
A broadband television service, 'YouView' chaired by Lord Sugar has lost a High Court Intellectual Property case, after the court ruled that its name was too similar to that of 'Your View', a business to business service operated by Gloucestershire communications company, Total.
YouView started its life under the name Project Canvas, an Internet Protocol Television service (IPTV) originally conceived by the BBC.
Subsequently all the major UK television channels jumped on board, including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The company also has links with TalkTalk, BT and transmission firm Arquiva. The service launched to customers in September 2012.
The Independent newspaper has conducted an investigation into the activities of various payday loan companies, discovering that almost two thirds of those approached have no valid consumer credit licence and are therefore trading illegally.
Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, businesses that lend money need to have a 'Category A' consumer credit business licence.
Company licences are available from the Office of Fair Trading, the body that regulates the industry, investigates unfair practices and has the power to revoke licences if its rules on responsible lending are broken.
The UK Supreme Court will reportedly investigate the circumstances of the death of a British soldier killed in Iraq to determine soldiers' 'right to life' under article two of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Private Phillip Hewett of the Staffordshire Regiment was killed by a roadside bomb that hit the armoured 'Snatch' Land Rover that he was travelling in.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the relatives of soldiers killed in action can pursue claims against the UK Government for negligence, but cannot sue for compensation under the Human Rights Act 1998.
A UK motorist has launched a petition demanding for a new law to oblige foreign lorries to be fitted with 'blind-spot lenses' after being involved in a horrific crash on the M20.
Ms Julie Hay was involved in a collision with a Polish lorry near junction 10 of the M20 at Ashford in Kent.
She believes that the accident could have been prevented had the driver been legally required to fit a stick-on plastic lens that widens drivers' field of vision in left-hand-drive vehicles.
The Bank of England has warned UK banks that they face being broken up unless they consent to new plans to ring-fence assets to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, that saw two major banks taken under state control.
Andy Haldane, the Bank of England's financial stability director, told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that a statutory law enabling bank break-up would ensure banks stay in line.
The Government is currently looking into ways to implement the proposals on banking reform suggested by the Vickers Commission, which reported to Government in September 2011.
A Bradford bus driver has won his claim for racial discrimination at the European Court of Human Rights after his lawyers successfully argued that his dismissal for membership of the hard-right British National Party breached his human right to freedom of association under article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
In 2004 Arthur Redfearn, who is disabled, was a 'first-class' driver of a minibus for the disabled on behalf of Serco Limited, a contractor for West Yorkshire Transport Service.
He was dismissed on 'health and safety' grounds after winning an election to the post of councilor for the right-wing British National Party.
Supermarket giant Tesco has been fined £115,000 for employing foreign students at one of its warehouses, in breach of their student visas that only permit them to work up to 20 hours per week.
Immigration officials entered a warehouse in Croydon, South London, which is operated as part of the Tesco.com online business.
They arrested 30 students for breaches of their visa terms that restrict their working hours whilst studying in the UK.
They lasted centuries, in fact in some cases seven centuries, but it took the House of Lords just a few minutes to repeal hundreds of ancient laws on Monday, as part of a government-coordinated attempt to slim down the statute book.
The laws were repealed by the Statute Laws (Repeals) Bill, which passed through the UK's upper house without any opposition.
The bill is the latest in a long series of similar Acts, the last of which was passed in 2008, designed to rid the UK statute book of unnecessary and obsolete laws.
One of the UK's largest growers of trees, Crowders Nursuries, is to sue the Government over its slow response to the killer ash dieback disease which looks set to cause the destruction of huge numbers of ash trees around the UK.
The company, based in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, has already destroyed some 50,000 of its ash trees after it was hit by dieback.
The company claims that it warned the Government three months ago that its trees had been affected and wanted advice on what it should do.
The Government has revealed that it will legislate to ensure that patient's families are consulted before doctors decide to place them on an 'end-of-life' care pathway.
The reforms, which were put to consultation yesterday, will allow hospitals and doctors to be sued if they fail in their obligation to consult families.
The Liverpool Care Pathway is the controversial NHS scheme that has caused considerable uproar in recent weeks, after it emerged that doctors were placing patients on the pathway without informing their relatives.
One in ten university students in the UK have admitted to having tried the legal high Salvia Divinorum, in a new survey conducted by a student research group called The Beans Company.
The drug causes powerful hallucinations and is banned in many European countries.
The University Drug Culture Survey interviewed over 1,900 UK university students and asked them about the levels of illegal drug-taking at their institution, as well as asking them to identify which drugs they had tried.
UK High Court judges have placed a temporary ban on the transfer of prisoners from UK military detention centres to Afghan jails, after it emerged that prisoners may face torture there.
The Ministry of Defence was planning to resume transfers to Afghan jails, which were halted earlier in 2012, as it believed that treatment there had improved.
However, UK courts are currently hearing a case brought by an Afghan farmer who claims that he was tortured after being sent to an Afghan jail by the British.
Two so-called 'legal' highs, Mexxy and Black Mamba, have lost their moniker after being added to the list of class B banned substances.
The substances were previously declassified and therefore could be bought and sold legally, lending them their title as 'legal highs'. The drugs were commonly traded on the internet, providing those who took them with similar experiences to substances banned under drug laws.
Under the laws surrounding class B drugs, users will now face criminal sanctions, with a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail.
Plans by the Welsh Assembly to bring in new laws to put English and Welsh on an equal footing will not be challenged by MPs in Westminster, after the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, announced that he will not challenge the Official Languages Act.
The new law was passed by Assembly Members last month, and is designed to give the Welsh and English language equal footing in the eyes of Welsh law. The law will ensure that laws must be written in Welsh, and that the Assembly must use Welsh as well as English when dealing with the public.
There was some doubt as to whether the assembly could legislate in this area, requiring the Attorney General to consider the matter.
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