Finance crimes to be offered plea bargains October 23, 2012 CORPORATE criminals could soon be offered US-style plea bargains, under a new scheme by the Ministry of Justice to encourage companies to admit wrongdoing and avoid fraud charges. Instead of facing an automatic prosecution, firms will be given the opportunity to publically own up to economic crimes, and given a strict set of conditions with [...]
Ireland shows why press controls are not the solution November 29, 2012 LORD Justice Leveson met his deadline yesterday, issuing the findings of his eight month inquiry into the “culture, practices, and ethics” of the press. It came as no surprise that he concluded the state has a role to play in overseeing newspapers. Leveson decided that a statutory body, much like Ofcom, should take responsibility for [...]
Should home owners have the right to use disproportionate force against intruders? October 9, 2012 YES Robert Buckland The government is right to want to give home owners the peace of mind to know that they can defend their homes and their property without fear of being treated like a criminal. We have all heard stories about the victims of burglary finding themselves prosecuted and the time has come to [...]
BP pays $4.5bn to settle Gulf spill November 15, 2012 BP has agreed to pay $4.5bn (£2.84bn) and plead guilty to charges of misconduct to settle all claims relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history. The total settlement over the Gulf of Mexico spill, which resolves all charges with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and [...]
Hillsborough victims’ families make moves for new inquests September 16, 2012 THE families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster have announced that they are to seek new inquests into the episode Those related to the 96 who died have at Anfield formally met legal representatives for the first time since an independent report was published with Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Families Support Group saying [...]
Hillsborough victims’ families make moves for new inquests September 16, 2012 THE families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster have announced that they are to seek new inquests into the episode Those related to the 96 who died have at Anfield formally met legal representatives for the first time since an independent report was published with Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Families Support Group saying [...]
The HP Autonomy allegations reveal US-UK differences November 22, 2012 ANOTHER US-UK economic conflict is brewing, following HP’s revelation that it has taken an $8.8bn (£5.5bn) write-down. It comes after the claim that it had discovered “serious accounting improprieties” at Autonomy, the British software company. Autonomy completely denies the allegations, of course. But like Standard Chartered’s run-in with the New York regulator over Iranian sanctions, [...]
Potential problems in the oil pipeline remain November 19, 2012 NOT long ago, the peak oil consensus painted a picture of a future of uncontrollably spiking oil prices. The rapid rise of developing market demand would lead to a squeeze on oil markets and surging oil prices. But as oil and gas producers can attest, many of these forecasts have come to nothing – a [...]
US Justice Department drops Goldman financial crisis probe August 10, 2012 The US Justice Department said it will not pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs or its employees related to accusations that the firm bet against the same subprime mortgage securities it was selling to clients. The decision not to prosecute Goldman, a firm held up by critics as a symbol of Wall Street greed during [...]
Now for justice for the 96, say Hillsborough campaigners September 12, 2012 HILLSBOROUGH campaigners last night demanded the punishment of those involved in covering up details of the disaster and a new inquest into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters following the publication of an independent report into the 1989 stadium crush. The Hillsborough Independent Panel found that South Yorkshire Police amended 164 statements to reflect better [...]