In November 1965 England abolished capital punishment for murder. As a sweeping generalisation, this was done, in part, to remove the risk of hanging the wrong person. More than 51 years later - can the same logic be applied to the new approach of hiring private law firms to tackle cybercrime?
Internet fraud remains a hot topic. In the past year alone, statistics suggest a 5.8m incidence of cybercrime and fraud estimates have reached £193bn per year. Authorities are increasingly under pressure not to just solve the existing crimes, but also to prevent new ones. However, with resources being cut across all police forces, making the task at hand even greater, a new approach has been adopted in a bid to speed things up.
Reports say that the rock star started dating his third wife, Orianne Cevey, again after moving to America to look after their children whilst she recovered from surgery on a slipped disc.
Complications in Ms Cevey’s surgery left her partially paralysed, so looking after their children – Matthew, 14, and Nicholas, 11 – would have been a struggle without help from their father.
Both the Daily Mail and the Express reported that the couple now hope to get married again.
Contrary to what many people may think, it is by no means unheard of for separated couples going through a divorce to reconcile either during the process or even once the divorce is complete. Some people worry that there is no going back after making the decision to initiate divorce, but it’s still possible for couples to rebuild their marriage even long after a divorce if they want to.
Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey did, in fact, complete the divorce process, which according to reports involved a £25 million financial settlement.
It is also possible to rescind or ‘cancel’ divorce proceedings at any time before the decree absolute – the final decree of divorce - is pronounced. The exact process for cancelling a divorce depends upon which stage in the divorce process the proceedings have reached. It is only once the final decree is pronounced that the proceedings cannot be cancelled if there is a change of heart.
If you want to rescind your divorce, I would advise you have the proceedings formally withdrawn or dismissed, rather than letting them lay dormant on the court file. This can usually be achieved with a straightforward ‘application by consent’.
Some people say they feel embarrassed about backtracking or changing their mind, or as though they have wasted the solicitor’s or court’s time, but this should never be a concern – for all the scary reputations about divorce lawyers, we actually love nothing better than a happy ending!
Contact Oratto on 0845 3883765 to speak with a family law adviser or use our contact form to arrange a call-back.
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In his 2004 book "The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less" American psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that elimination of choice is key to reducing anxiety in consumers.
He writes, "Autonomy and freedom of choice are critical to our well being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy. Nonetheless, though modern Americans have more choice than any group of people ever has before, and thus, presumably, more freedom and autonomy, we don't seem to be benefiting from it psychologically."
Whatever your views on the rightness of decision, we must now move on from the polarised pre-referendum debate and accept that Britain has, however marginally, voted to leave the EU.
But alongside Brexit comes an enormous number of challenges and uncertainties, not least for the UK's legal sector, which, it is fair to say, will never be quite the same again. In fact, there are so many implications for the UK's legal sector, from intellectual property, data protection and trademark law, to litigation, employment law, commercial law, environmental law and contracts that it is in some ways difficult to know where to begin.
The good news is that now is not the time for panic but for sober consideration. Article 50 is yet to be invoked and Brexit negotiations are still only at the rough planning state – the most UK's lawyers can do is to keep a cool head and help steady the ship so that the process is as smooth and beneficial as possible. Who knows, perhaps we may even decide to remain subject to EU Treaties, while Directives are likely to remain valid until repealed or superseded. Let's face it, the UK Government is unlikely to want to repeal and replace the majority of EU legislation.
Of course, there will come a time when lines must be laid down, but right now there is no harm in feeling optimistic about what a post-Brexit legal sector might look like. Yes, there is no certainty and, yes, with the loss of EU membership and, potentially, the framework provided by its top-down hierarchy of Treaties, Regulations, Directives, Commission Decisions and Court of Justice case law, we may have many voids to fill and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome over the next decade. However, the reassuring truth is that the British legal system has long been one of the world's best and the history that underpins it is not about to suddenly disappear, and this includes the legal impact of our more than thirty years of EU membership.
It may not currently feel like we are about to enter a brave new world, but we can at least allow ourselves some sense of excitement that we might be about to move forward with purpose and positivity by making the most of our age-old traditions while also seizing the opportunity to embrace innovation, whether it is online courts or democratic online legal platforms, of which Oratto is just one.
Undoubtedly, once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is invoked many of the same newspapers that decried the EU will seek to scare the public with shock headlines of administrative Armageddon, but the fact is that by taking stock and planning as carefully as possible, the UK's lawmakers and lawyers can ensure that we are prepared to enter a new legal environment.
It is up to us – that is, everyone with an interest in the legal profession – to take the lead on the crucial questions so that we can tackle all the most important challenges with knowledge and with confidence. It does not matter how opposed you were to Brexit in the first place – now is an opportunity for all our finest and most enthusiastic minds to come to together to ensure the legal impact of Brexit does not undermine what remains of perhaps the world's greatest and fairest legal system.
Of course, holding uncertainty and managing change present enormous challenges – as much psychological as logistical – but with the right groundswell of action there can be little doubt that as a profession the UK's lawyers are more than capable of meeting the challenge. Yes, it will require flexibility, open-mindedness and a willingness to listen, but we must see the challenges presented by Brexit as an opportunity to define a new era – and who wouldn't want to be part of that?
It seems that client generation websites are multiplying faster than a boat full of rabbit sailors enjoying a period of extended shore leave. Notwithstanding the significant doubt surrounding whether leporine society actually boasts a merchant navy, it does seem that these types of websites are launching with greater regularity. They all promise to attract pretty much the same thing: sensible clients with the ability to pay for legal services.
The problem these sites are facing in persuading lawyers aboard in significant numbers, however, is that previous versions have been spectacularly unsuccessful. Unless the current models represent a significant departure from the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ platforms of the past, they too are heading for the dustbin.
