Star Wars, SRA Ruling and New AI Convention

Welcome to weekly legal/business updates, sharing the latest developments and noteworthy events in the legal and business sectors

Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and welcome! In today’s fast-paced world, it’s overwhelming to keep up. That’s why I’ve curated a weekly round-up of headlines that interest me. Stay informed, enhance your commercial awareness, and gain valuable insights. Sit back, relax, and let this newsletter be your companion in navigating news and knowledge.

Star Wars Court Battle

Deputy High Court Judge Tom Mitcheson KC has stated that film companies Tyburn Jim Productions and Lunak Heavy Industries (UK) Ltd (owned by Disney) over the use of the image of actor Peter Cushing in a Star Wars film. Cushing played imperial commander Grand Moff Larkin in the original film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1977 and his character was recreated in 2016. Tyburn claim they entered an agreement that prevented the reproduction of Cushing’s appearance without their consent. Luank opposed the claim and sought to get permission from the executors of Cushing’s state in return for a fee. The Judge ruled that “the case was not “unarguable” and a “full factual inquiry” was needed”.

You can find out more here and below.

Successful Discrimination Claim for Court Worker

The Secretary of State for Justice have been ordered to pay £27,000 to a magistrates court worker by the employment tribunal. “Employment Judge Bedeau commented that the delay in providing an ergonomic keyboard was ‘longer than reasonably necessary’ and a ‘tilted document holder would have prevented the claimant from having to bend her head down aggravating her neck’.”

You can find out more here and below.

SRA Bans Paralegal from Working in Law

The SRA have issued a Paralegal with a notice barring her from working in the legal profession after she fabricated telephone notes to make it look like she was busier than she was. She did this go move files from her inactive to active files. The SRA have said this conduct is serious because it was “dishonest and showed a lack of integrity”.

You can find out more here.

Report Shows Huge Underfunding of the Justice System

A report for the Bar Council, Justice short changed: Public funding of the justice system in England and Wales, has revealed that the justice system is underfunded by £3.5 billion pounds. This is “almost a third lower than where it would be if it had kept up with UK inflation, population and economic growth”. An alarming additional £2 billion would need to have been spent in 2022 for the funding to have been “constant in real per person terms… within this person, total government spending was £1,154.9bn.”

You can find out more here and below.

New AI Convention

The UK Government has become one of the first states to sign up to the Council of Europe Framework Convention designed to ensure AI is regulated in a way to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood said “Artificial Intelligence has the capacity to radically improve the responsiveness and effectiveness of public services, and turbocharge economic growth. However, we must not let AI shape us – we must shape AI” and she believes that “this convention is a major step to ensuring that these new technologies can be harnessed without eroding our oldest values, like human rights and the rule of law.”

You can find out more here and below.

Fun fact!

It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing armour. The 1313 act, “A Statute forbidding Bearing of Armour” states: <i>that every Man shall come without all Force and Armour, well and peaceably, to the Honour of Us, and the Peace of Us and our Realm.</i>  The Act was written in Anglo-Norman during the reign of Edward II and is still in force today, some 705 years later.

Taken from https://simply.law/england-wales/blog/odd-and-antiquated-laws-that-are-still-in-effect-today/.

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