World-class concert to kick-start the Govan Law Centre Schools Trust

GLC is launching a new trust to support local school children in Govan, and we hope to raise funds for this initiative through a classical concert with internationally acclaimed artists, to be held in Glasgow on the evening of Friday, 30 July 2010.  Through the kind generosity of clients of our national Education Law Unit, we are delighted to announce a performance which will include some of most gifted young classical musicians on the international stage:

Jacob Shaw, cellist
Jacob Shaw is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most promising cellists of his generation, appearing reguarly across Europe to critical acclaim. Jacob first studied at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in London, before entering into the class of Geneviève Teulières-Sommer, and Devy Erlih at the École Normale de Musique de Paris supported by the Zaleski Fondation and the ASSOPHIE association.

He became the youngest ever cellist in the history of the school to graduate the Diplôme de Concertiste.  He has peformed across Europe and the USA, and has recorded his debut album, comprising of Sonatas and shorter works by Brahms, with the renowned Argentinean pianist José Gallardo, due for release this year. Future performances will bring him to Japan, Brazil, Korea and China.

A passionate chamber musician, Jacob is often asked to appear alongside renowned musicians, in recent years bringing him on stage with artists such as Daniel Blumenthal, Andrius Szabys, Pierre-Henri Xureb, Elisabeth Zeuthen-Schneider, Valeriy Sokolov, Mark Gothoni, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kyung-Sun Lee and José Gallardo.

Suyeon Kang, violinist
Born in South Korea, Suyeon Kang began the violin at the age of 6 in Canberra, with Josette Esquedin Morgan. During further studies in Sydney and Melbourne, she was named the Australian Young Performer of the Year 2005, which led to her concerto debut with the Sibelius Violin Concerto. In 2007 Kang moved to Germany to study with Professor Daniel Gaede (ex-concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic), and since 2009 has been working as his assistant.

Suyeon has appeared as soloist with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra (KORK), Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester, the Melbourne, Tasmanian, Queensland, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria etc. She has performed extensively in recitals in concert venues throughout Europe, Australia and Asia.

A passionate chamber musician, Suyeon has appeared with artists such as Siegfried Jeruselem, Julius Berger, Franz Halasz, and recently formed a duo with the cellist Jacob Shaw. Always keen to push the limit of the capabilities on the violin she has worked with musicians and composers of different musical horizons, ranging from classical to jazz/folk music.

The concert will be held in Adelaides Auditorium on the evening of Friday, 30 July 2010, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ.  The programme will be finalised shortly, and will include an outstanding young classical vocalist.  Ticket prices are £10 for adults and £5 for children; no concessions are available as this is a charitable fund raising event. 

To buy or reserve tickets, or for further information, please contact GLC on 0141 440 2503 or e-mail m @govanlc.com; or fax us on 0141 445 3934.  Please note that 100% of the ticket price will go to help school children in Glasgow Govan; everyone involved in this event is kindly donating their time without charge to support our trust fund.

GLC will be setting up a stand-alone charitable trust which will provide funds to help local school children in Glasgow Govan. The new trust will help pay for additional school materials, educational visits and school trips for kids who otherwise couldn't afford to enjoy such opportunities, as well as providing a number of specific educational bursaries to help local Govan kids progress with their studies.

World-class concert to kick-start the Govan Law Centre Schools Trust

Bank charges update: remit from small claims to the ordinary court

One of the current strategies of UK banks in Scotland is to ask the court to remit cases from the small claims procedure (where expenses are capped) to ordinary cause procedure (where expenses are potentially unlimited).  Remit between different court procedures, or to a senior court, can be granted where there are difficult questions of law, or exceptionally complicated factual issues. 

From the consumer's point of view having a claim removed from the small claims system means either instructing a solicitor in the hope of obtaining civil legal aid, or dropping the claim unless you were prepared to risk court expenses several times the value of your claim in the event of failure. Legal aid is not straight-forward either, one has to pass all of the qualifying hurdles, and for those on a modest to good income, you may have to pay a financial contribution to the legal aid board in excess of the value of your claim; and if you win, it is not necessarily straight-forward that you won't have 'contra' expenses, or be required to pay some of your award back to the legal aid board. Things can get complicated with expenses.

The practical result of remit will be that some consumers will drop their claims as it becomes uneconomical or financially imprudent to pursue a case.  If that happens, access to justice will have been thwarted.  This raises fundamental questions about the proportionality of our justice system in relation to expenses, and whether bank charge claimants of modest means have the right to a 'fair hearing' before our courts, as guaranteed by Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the case of Walls v. Santander UK plc, counsel for the defender sought remit from small claims to the ordinary cause. Govan Law Centre opposed this application on behalf of the pursuer.  After lengthy submissions, Sheriff Cubie at Glasgow Sheriff Court made 'avizandum' (which means he will reflect upon the issues and provide a written judgment). Sheriff Cubie's Opinion is expected later this month. GLC will provide a further update in due course.

Bank charges update: remit from small claims to the ordinary court

Regulation of property factors in Scotland

The Local Government Committee of the Scottish Parliament has made a call for evidence on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill (the Bill and accompanying documents were drafted with assistance from GLC's Parliamentary and Policy Unit); for further details please see here.  The Scottish Parliament's Information Centre (SPICe) has published a new research briefing on the Bill, which is available here (opens as a PDF).

The SPICe briefing includes experience from the Republic of Ireland, where the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PRSA) has recently been established on an administrative basis. Legislation, currently before the Oireachtas, is intended to establish the PRSA on a statutory basis and will apply to all Property Services Providers (PSPs). PSPs are defined to include all those involved in the purchase, sale and letting of any land or property as well as those involved in the provision of property management services.

Under the proposed legislation, the functions of the PRSA will include operating a licening system covering all providers of property services; setting and enforcing standards for the grant of licences and provision of services; establishing a system of investigation and adjudication of complaints; promoting increased consumer protection and public awareness; and establishing a compensation fund to compensate parties who lose money as a consequence of the dishonesty of a licensee

The PSRA will have power to sanction a licensee up to and including the revocation of a licence and may also impose fines of up to €250,000 where a PSP is found to have engaged in "improper conduct". The Authority may bring a prosecution against a PSP for failing to comply with his or her statutory obligations or against any person providing a property service without a licence which may result in either a large fine or imprisonment or both. Under the new regulatory regime all PSPs are required to contribute to the "Property Services Compensation Fund". Where a person suffers a loss due to the dishonesty of a PSP the Authority may award compensation from the "Fund".

Regulation of property factors in Scotland

@Orkney Street Seminars: a new series of legal events from GLC

GLC has launched an innovative continuing professional development (CPD) programme - entitled 'Govan Law Centre @Orkney Street Seminars' - with 18 events scheduled between October 2010 and January 2011.  The theme of the series is to provide a high quality strategic analysis of topical legal subjects, not readily available elsewhere, at an affordable price.

The series includes morning sessions on reclaiming bank charges following the Supreme Court's surprise decision last year; tackling property factor disputes; new lines of defence in mortgage repossession cases; as well as 'what you need to know' events designed for legal practitioners, and money advisors. 

Innovative forms of delivery include a series of 'twilight' sessions tailored to suit the specific needs of educational professionals, and 'bite-sized' late afternoon events designed to address the needs of social care and social welfare practitioners.  Events within the series will be of interest to solicitors, professional and volunteer advisors, school teachers, social workers and health care professionals, among others.

GLC's Principal Solicitor, Mike Dailly said:
"It's testimony to the first class legal team at GLC that most of our events will be led by our own award-winning solicitors and social care professionals.  Our relocation to the Orkney Street Enterprise Centre has given us purpose built in-house conference facilities, and the transport links to Central Govan and its Helen Street business corridor compare very favourably to other major UK cities.  This series of seminars represents the first stage in an ambitious and innovative legal educational programme".

The CPD seminar programme is available here (with links to the seminar booking page. Note: a limited number of ultra low cost seminar places may be made available under a GLC discretionary programme to be announced in due course).

@Orkney Street Seminars: a new series of legal events from GLC

Bank charges update from GLC

GLC has received lots of e-mails and messages from citizens across the UK asking for an update on our bank charges cases.  In Scotland, the banks have deployed the strategy of applying to the court to 'remit' cases from the small claims system to the ordinary court procedure on the grounds of complexity.  This can be a powerful tactic in practice.  The Royal Bank of Scotland used the remit rules to thwart a claim for negligence last year.  Once a case leaves the small claims procedure in Scotland the protection against court expenses flies off, and the claimant would be exposed to unlimited expenses in the event of failure.

In the case of Sharp v. Bank of Scotland, the defender applied to remit the case to the ordinary court procedure.  As our client is eligible for civil legal aid this was not a problem (legal aid is not available for small claims in Scotland, but it is for ordinary cause actions). However, we may oppose this in other cases where appropriate, and will disseminate this knowledge if successful.  Accordingly, the case of Sharp will proceed to an Options Hearing next month, and it is likely a 'debate' (a court hearing on all of the legal arguments) will take place shortly thereafter.  This is necessary because the banks defence to a s.140A Consumer Credit Act (CCA) claim is to argue that the banking contract was not a regulated credit agreement.  The banks are also arguing that claims cannot go back before 6 April 2007.

Accordingly, if we can persuade the court that these lines of defence are irrelevant and wrong in law, this would leave claims to be determined on the facts as regards the unfair relationship test and the level of unfairness and consumer detriment.  Of course, in many cases the level of unfairness is severe.  Because cases depend so much on their own facts under the CCA - whether in terms of the transitional arrangements or the unfair relationship test - there may be little point in cases being sisted or stayed. Each case is different, and under the CCA each case is looked at specifically between the parties, the contract between them and the consequences of the charges on that customer. 

GLC will post further updates, but we are unable to make too much detail public at this stage as cases are live, and we cannot prejudice the prospects of our clients.

Bank charges update from GLC