Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

A number of laws will be changing in 2020 and many will affect your daily lives.

The changes in legislation will have an impact on pensions, workers rights, holiday pay and even life-saving organ donations.

More new laws are likely to be added as the year progresses and with the General Election having just taken place and with Brexit looming, some laws may change.

Here are some of the new laws, regulations and changes which will come into force this year:

State pension rates are undergoing their biggest change in years in 2020.

They are set to rise by 3.9 per cent which will see those receiving the old state pension receive a boost of 5.05 a week to 134.25.

Those who are receiving the new state pension will see a bigger increase of 6.60 a week resulting in 175.20.

The old state pension refers to those who reached pension age by April 6 2016 and the new state pension goes to those who reached state pension age after April 6 2016.

In September 2018, a new workplace right for paid leave to be given to bereaved parents was officially enshrined in law.

The first of its kind in the UK, the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act 2018 is expected to come into force in April 2020 and will give employed parents the right to two weeks leave if they lost a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Employed parents will also be able to claim pay for this period, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

Agency workers rights are also changing in 2020.

From April 6 2020, the following things will apply:

Abolition of the Swedish Derogation: This may also be known as the 'pay between assignments' contracts which would previously see agency workers agree a contract that would remove their rights to equal pay with permanent counterparts after 12 weeks working at the same assignment. From April 6, these will no longer be permissible and agency workers who have been in their employment for 12 weeks will be entitled to the same pay as those on permanent contracts.

All agency workers will be entitled to a key information document that more clearly sets out their employment relationships and terms and conditions with their agency.

Agency workers who are considered to be employees will be protected from unfair dismissal or suffering a detriment if the reasons are related to asserting rights associated with The Agency Worker Regulations.

From 6 April 2020, the reference period to calculate a 'week's pay' for holiday pay purposes will be extended from the previous 12 weeks of work to the previous 52 weeks.

In England, people currently have a choice as to whether they sign up to be an organ donor.

But from spring 2020, organ donation will become an 'opt-out' system for those over 18.

This means that all adults in England will be seen to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die unless they have specifically recorded a decision not to donate or are considered to be in one of the excluded groups - which includes those under 18 and people who lack the mental capacity to understand the new arrangements and take the necessary action

The new system may also be referred to as Max and Keira's law.

Max Johnson was given the gift of life by a young girl called Keira Ball, who tragically passed away aged 9 years old.

Keira's parents made the incredibly difficult and selfless decision to help others.

Max and his family have also continued to campaign and raise awareness around organ donation and it was Max who wanted Kiera's name added to the new law.

The NHS are asking everyone to record their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and tell their family and friends what decision has been made.

A new law being introduced in April will see a clampdown on 'cruel' puppy farms and dealers.

Lucy's Law will ban the sale of puppies and kittens from third parties, making buyers deal directly with breeders or rehoming centres.

When it comes into force in spring, the new legislation requires puppies and kittens in England to be born and reared in a safe environment, kept with their mother and only sold from their place of birth, instead of a pet shop or commercial animal dealer.

The law was named after Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who died in 2016 after being poorly treated on a Welsh puppy farm.

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These are the new laws coming in during 2020 - ExaminerLive

WITH the year fast drawing to a close, Higher ED looks back at the highlights and events that have shaped and influenced the tertiary education space.

This year, Malaysia took great strides to provide inclusivity and quality education to various levels of the society.

Increased pathways were created for access into education at various higher education institutions (HEIs). There was a keen focus on making tertiary education provide graduates with relevant skills and knowledge that would fit both industry demands and society needs as well as push further the pursuit of knowledge.

These were all drawn up via a clear framework stipulated in the Education Ministers 2019 Mandate that was unveiled in January where four key directions were cited for higher education quality, autonomy, collaboration and internationalisation that aimed to bring back credibility to universities.

To achieve quality higher education, research from universities should be aimed at solving societys problems.NSTP/SHARUL HAFIZ ZAM

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik advocated increasing the visibility of academics works and nurturing a discourse culture in universities to solve societys problems and develop the nation as a means to achieve quality higher education.

Ethics and integrity were given emphasis where university publication should reflect the mastery of academicians and be regarded as universal references.

The quality of research grants should be increased to ensure knowledge transfer and translation of great works.

Maszlee announced that student empowerment woud be emphasised through efforts like the abolition of Section 15(1)(c) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971.

Students Unions would be established to increase students decision-making roles. International Islamic University Malaysia was selected as the first university to be the pioneer.

In preparing students to become societys troubleshooters, universities must create collaborations with various parties, such as schools, polytechnics and vocational colleges.

To help local communities, public universities could provide training to improve the quality of the teaching and learning process in schools.

To make Malaysia an international education hub, Maszlee said there must be an increase in international students and local universities must establish more campuses abroad through the satellite university method.

For Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the ministry would continue to improve its institutional capabilities to be on par with other educational pathways.

A harmonised accreditation system with quality assurance would be established to enable student mobility in TVET institutions.

The quality and delivery of TVET programmes would be increased to improve the skills of graduates through an industry-led approach, removing duplication of programmes and resources, increasing cost effectiveness and expanding TVET funding.

Disabled students are among the priority groups given special routes for entry into public universities.. NSTP/AZHAR RAMLI

HAPPENINGS in the tertiary education gradually ramped up from early March prior to the release of SPM and STPM results.

Plans on access, wider pathways for furthering education, autonomy and quality education were generally made good on as the year progressed.

SPECIAL ROUTES

The Education Ministry announced special pathways to public universities for four groups, namely, people with disabilities, athletes, Orang Asli and those in the B40 group in early March.

Students from these priority groups do not have to compete with the mainstream group to pursue their tertiary studies.

In line with the ministrys Education for All concept, this initiative follows in the footsteps of developed countries in prioritising the admission of athletes into varsities.

Some 51,191 students from B40 group benefited from the special routes to public universities and special training institutes, of which 32,282 made it into public universities.

STUDENT-RUN ELECTION

Also in March, Universiti Malaya made history when its campus election became the first in 50 years to be independently run by students.

It is a testament to students capability to uphold democracy and be responsible citizens.

The electoral process was organised by the Campus Election Committee 2019 comprising 19 student leaders who were given the mandate by UMs vice-chancellor last year with full autonomy.

Improvisations were carried out to benefit students such as coalitions were allowed to be formed and contest under one logo.

The election was conducted in the second semester to familiarise new students with the university environment and their student leaders.

Campus elections at all public universities this year were independently run by students.NSTP/AZIAH AZMEE

PROGRESS ON UEC

Decision on whether to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) continues to be a hot issue.

On April 3, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that only the government could make the decision to recognise the UEC.

The UEC is the unified examination for Independent Chinese Secondary Schools which does not follow the national education system.

The Unified Examination Certificate Task Force, an independent three-man panel appointed by Education Ministry in 2018, updated the NST that it was actively gathering views on this matter from various stakeholders, individuals and entities including associations, political parties, scholars and parents.

As of last month, the task force was reported to be in the midst of finalising the report.

MORE SEATS FOR MATRICULATION

In April, the Education Ministry announced that it was increasing the student intake into the matriculation programme to 40,000 from the present 25,000.

While the quota system, which allocates 90 per cent of seats to Bumiputeras continue to be in place, seats for non-Bumiputeras increased proportionally to 4,000.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the system is in line with the matriculation programmes vision to encourage more Bumiputeras involvement in the sciences.

HEIGHTENED FOCUS ON TVET

To formulate more relevant policies to implement the TVET agenda according to industry needs, the TVET Empowerment Committee named Maszlee chairperson in May.

Later in August, the committee (JKKPTVET) was formed in line with the governments hopes to make TVET a mainstream choice, instead of an alternative. The move is expected to help create a skilled workforce by 2030.

GOING UP THE RANKINGS

Twenty Malaysian universities were featured in the QS World University Rankings 2020 released in June.

Produced by global higher education consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds, the list ranks the worlds top 1000 universities.

In its second consecutive year in the top 100, Universiti Malaya made Malaysia proud by climbing up to the 70th position from 87th globally.

In the 200 rank are Universiti Putra Malaysia from 202 to 159; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 184 to 160; and Universiti Sains Malaysia from 207 to 165.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia climbed from 228 to 217.

UCSI University went from 481 to 442, the highest for a private university in the country.

According to Quacquarelli Symonds, Malaysias progressive performance was due to improving results in two key surveys Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation.

However, Malaysian universities research impact has room for improvement. Only five of Malaysias 20 entrants improved their performance in Quacquarelli Symonds Citations per Faculty indicator.

UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY

The Education Ministry announced that a new Act would be created to abolish and replace several higher education-related Acts, including the Universities and University Colleges (AUKU) Act 1971 and Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 (Act 555).

According to the ministry, the move was aimed at having a more efficient and sustainable governance and financing structure in efforts to support universities academic freedom and autonomy.

Chaired by Maszlee, a meeting was held on June 22 to discuss the policy framework and findings of studies by independent academic researchers.

The abolition of the Acts was in line with the governments promise to bring back credibility to local universities.

ALTERNATIVE POSTGRAD PATHWAYS

In July, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency revealed that there would soon be alternative pathways to provide opportunities for working adults and undergraduates to have a PhD qualification.

MQA chief executive officer Datuk Dr Rahmah Mohamed said the agency was carrying out an implementation study of the next phase of the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) programme where work experience could be translated into a masters or doctoral degree, or speed up the process of getting a PhD.

Defined as a systematic process involving identification, documentation and assessment of prior experiential learning, the programme thus far has created access to certificate, diploma, bachelors degree and masters degree study programmes to individuals with working experience but lack or are without proper academic qualifications.

MQA targeted to introduce APEL T-8 and APEL Q next year that would give access to PhD level qualifications. APEL T-8 is an extension of APEL A, which provides higher education opportunities based on a persons working experience.

APEL Q awards masters and doctoral level academic qualifications without class attendance.

The purpose of the various initiatives is to ensure there is a growth in the number of postgraduate degree holders, in line with the countrys aspiration of becoming a high-income nation.

REASSESSING COURSES

In September, the Higher Education department shared that it had instructed all universities to identify and reshape their academic programmes to enhance students job opportunities and be in line with industry needs.

This led to a confusion among students currently pursuing certain courses and their parents were particularly anxious about the status of the said programmes that would no longer be offered by public universities in the country.

The then Higher Education department director general Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir highlighted that the idea behind the move was essentially to revise strategically and systematically courses currently offered at universities to keep abreast of change and market developments or risk stagnation.

International Islamic University Malaysia was selected as the first university to establish a Students Union to increase students decision-making role.NSTP/SALHANI IBRAHIM

BUDGET 2020

To level up human capital in the country, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, when tabling Budget 2020 in Parliament in October, announced an allocation of RM64.1 billion in 2020 for education reflecting the governments commitment to provide quality education at different stages of life for the rakyat.

From the sum, a whopping RM5.9 billion is dedicated to mainstreaming TVET which include, among others, funding to strengthen the synergies between the public and private sectors through increased allocation for State Skills Development Centres and Public Skills Training Institutions as well as expanding pathways for TVET graduates to pursue further studies and secure jobs.

To encourage adult learning, Lim said the Employees Provident Fund will be allowed to facilitate the withdrawal for qualifications attained at certificate level, especially for accredited programmes that are in line with the nations IR4.0 aspirations.

The withdrawal scheme will include members parents and spouse.

A RM20 million allocation will be made available to be matched by another RM20 million from the Human Resource Development Fund towards having working adults take up professional certification examinations in fields relating to IR4.0.

Emphasis on learning opportunities under MARA and Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera for low-income and rural bumiputeras through education institutions such as Kolej GIATMARA and Universiti Kuala Lumpur will be continued with an allocation of RM1.3 billion for education institutions under MARA for 2020, with a further RM2 billion allocated for student loans, benefiting 50,000 students. In addition, RM192 million is also allocated for professional certification programmes under Yayasan Peneraju.

To drive economic growth in the digital era, the government encourages the provision of technology scholarships, training and upskilling for digital skills for communities in need through the concept of Digital Social Responsibility (DSR).

DSR is the commitment by businesses to contribute to digital economic development while improving the digital skills of the future workforce.

Enhancing the research and development framework was also cited as a key strategy to drive economic growth in the new economy.

For that, Lim announced that the government will allocate RM30 million for R&D matching grants for collaborations with industry and academia to develop higher value-added downstream use of palm oil, specifically tocotrienol in pharmaceuticals and bio-jet fuel.

To promote commercialisation of R&D from the public sector, research universities, beginning with UM, will establish a one-stop Innovation Office to transform intellectual property into commercially exploitable opportunities, said Lim.

STUDY PATHWAYS

In November, the Education Ministry announced the replacement of the science/arts streaming system in upper secondary into a system where students can choose from 89 elective subjects grouped in two packages: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), and Arts and Humanities under the new Secondary Schools Standard Curriculum (Upper Secondary) or KSSM Menengah Atas.

This will give students a taste of what they might pursue at tertiary education level and maybe even get a headstart in their desired future careers.

In a briefing, Education Ministry deputy director-general (policies and development) Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim advised students to pick their subjects wisely because it paves the way for their future.

She added that the students can change subjects midway through schooling but noted that it will not be an easy feat because there will be a lot of catching up to do.

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A year of great strides - New Straits Times

THE UK has had nearly a decade ofConservativegovernment, bringing the misery of austerity, benefit cuts, food banks and a low-wageeconomy.

Now the General Election result has ushered in five more years of Tory rule and the question of what will be in store under Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

The plans unveiled in the first days have already set alarm bells ringing.

Fears have been raised over the prospect of a No-Deal Brexit, a rollback of workers rights and reform of Parliament and courts which some interpret as revenge for hampering his efforts to force through Brexit.

Leaving the EU will still dominate the headlines for months to come, with the deadline for departure looming on January 31 next year.

However, its far from the only issue facing Johnson, who now has to turn vague pre-election promises into political reality.

Dr Victoria Honeyman, lecturer in British politics at the University of Leeds, said pledges on the NHS, investment in the north of England and immigration policy would be priorities on his domestic agenda.

She added: Perhaps the biggest issue will be in relation to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Can they get Stormont working again?

Can they resist the increasing calls from the SNP for another independence referendum, particularly if they do well in the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections?

One benefit they currently have is that the Labour Party and the LibDems are in the midst of re-evaluating themselves after the election and finding new leaders, so there is less focus on the Conservative government, but the media and the voters will be watching.

Many of those new Conservative MPs will need real tangible benefits to take back to their communities if they want to win their seat next time.

Johnson has insisted he wont agree to an extension of talks with the EU on a new trade deal a vow which renewed fears of a No-Deal Brexit if negotiations fail by the end of December 2020.

Meanwhile the new EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, which has passed its second reading in the House of Commons, has stripped out protections on workers rights and unaccompanied refugee children.

In the run-up to the election, concerns were raised that the NHS would be on the table in trade negotiations with the US an idea that was denied by the Prime Minister.

READ MORE:What now for Brexit? The challenges and deadlines facing the UK

A clause which would have given MPs oversight of negotiations for trade deals has also now been ditched.

Despite Johnsons combative approach, Honeyman said the UK would be the underdog in talks with global powers.

She said: The most significant trade deals will be with the big economies the US, China, the EU, India, Brazil.

In all these negotiations, Britain may be economically stronger than its geographical size suggests, but it will still be the underdog.

These nations will demand their pound of flesh, and more, and Britain will be in a very difficult position, as it has few options other than to accept concessions to secure its economic markets.

She said it was impossible to know what the UK might look like in five years time.

But she added: The expectation is that Britain will be dealing with the fallout from Brexit, whatever that is.

It is possible that the Labour Party might have resurrected itself but that is dependent on it offering the electorate what they want, not what some in the party think they want.

The impact of Brexit on the UK economy could also hamper the Governments plans to spend more on public services.

While the Conservative manifesto promised Scotland 3.3 billion in Barnett consequentials, this will be dependent on delivering commitments the party has made.

An analysis carried out by the think-tank Institute for Government has suggested promised spending increases will only be enough to maintain standards in the English NHS, not raise them.

Researcher Sarah Nickson said: If the Government wants to increase spending on other public services, it will need to loosen or break its fiscal rules or raise more revenue from taxes.

The latter could be tricky as the Government has also promised not to increase rates of VAT, National Insurance or income tax.

The Queens Speech, which outlined the Governments plans, did not mention Scotland by name with only a reference to the integrity and prosperity of the UK as being of the utmost importance to the UK Government.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of think tank Local Government Information Unit, said the big question was whether the new UK Government would represent continuity or radical change.

He said: In Scotland, interest is likely to focus on the broader issues addressed in the Queens Speech, Brexit, climate change and a commitment to a constitutional review. Across all these areas, the stage seems set for a constitutional showdown between Westminster and Holyrood.

It is clear that we are heading for a difficult period with a UK civil service that is trying to work with trust and integrity for two very different governments.

The key rub will be how the Barnett consequential monies for the NHS and other services are used and applied. And where will that leave local government funding.

Johnsons plans for reform of the UKs constitution consist of setting up of a Constitution, Democracy and Human Rights Commission.

The abolition of the fixed-term parliaments legislation introduced by David Cameron is also in his sights, along with plans to introduce voter ID and reform postal voting which critics say will make it easier for the Tories to win elections.

Details of the commission have yet to be revealed, but it has been viewed as potential retaliation to the Supreme Court, which ruled Johnsons prorogation of Parliament in September was illegal in a case led by SNP MP Joanna Cherry.

READ MORE:The long game for indyref2 and Scottish sovereignty

Naomi Smith chief executive of Best for Britain, a campaign group which was set up to stop Brexit said: Johnsons proposed constitution, democracy and rights commission should set alarm bells ringing for anyone who believes that Parliament must be able to act as a brake on a runaway government.

We must be hyper-vigilant to any chipping away of the checks and balances that keep our democracy functioning. We have already seen that Johnson is prepared to bend the law to his will further subversion by stealth cannot be allowed.

Meanwhile Johnson has also pledged an immigration shake-up, promoting an Australian-style points-based system.

Once again, the details are thin on the ground and with a deadline of January 2021 set by the Conservatives to deliver it, what this will look like is still far from clear.

There are concerns about the impact on Scotland, which relies more heavily on immigration than other parts of the UK for population growth.

Andrew McRae, policy chair for the Federation of Small Business Scotland, has warned any new immigration system must be sufficiently flexible to work for Scotland.

He said: An expensive, bureaucratic system could see a decline in Scotlands working age population with a devastating impact on growth and tax revenue.

Johnson is expected to shuffle his Cabinet in the New Year, with major changes to come under the guidance of chief adviser Dominic Cummings.

In the meantime, the PM has made much of focusing on healing the nation. On the day the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill passed its second reading in the Commons, he said: This is the time when we move on and discard the old labels of Leave and Remain.

In fact, the very words seem tired to me as defunct as Big-enders and Little-enders, or Montagues and Capulets at the end of the play.

Now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one United Kingdom, filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny and determined at last to take advantage of the opportunities that lie before us.

But Ken Rotenberg, professor in psychology at Keele University, said the healing of the nation is likely to be a difficult process.

The concern we have is that in a recent very brief poll Boris Johnson was not regarded as trustworthy and there has been an entire array of all the allegations of misconduct through the course of this election, he said.

The people in the poll rated Johnson less trustworthy than they did Corbyn so that leaves us with a potential predicament, where we might have a government which is not particularly trusted but which is in power, and power perhaps for more popular reasons.

Any resolution of this is going to take a substantial amount of time, if only because if people are distrusting, it is extremely difficult to change that perception.

It is a difficult process to renew or re-establish trust once it has been broken. I am not sure how the Government is going to mend it.

It is going to take a considerable amount of time to heal the UK after this election.

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Boris Johnson's Britain: Experts have their say on the PM's plans - The National

In 1947, over President Harry Trumans veto, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act. In doing so, it put an end to a long-since-forgotten era of labor unrest and paved the way to the prosperous 1950s.

Taft-Hartley curbed some of the worst excesses of Depression-era law that govern labor unions even to this day. Its greatest contribution to our modern governance was the state right-to-work law. States could forbid the pernicious practice of forcing workers to pay a union as a condition of their employment. Unfortunately, Democrats in Congress, out of obedience to the Big Labor bosses who underwrite their campaigns, are threatening to repeal and ban all such laws with new legislation. Their bill is inaptly referred to as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

Of course, the right to organize is not really under threat, but workers desire to band together in unions is vanishing as part of the natural course of events. Wherever workers have been legally freed from mandatory union dues or fees, they have consistently opted to stop paying. As a result, union bosses massive paychecks, expense accounts, and cash to spend on their favorite Democratic officeholders are under threat. This is what Democrats want to preserve in the face of workers' consistent choice to be free of such predatory constraints.

Unions have no relevance for most younger workers, and many states have adopted right-to-work laws in recent years to protect them from forced unionism. This has Democrats in a panic.

Unions face other problems. A big one is that the traditional employer-employee relationship is itself on the wane. The expenses and hassles that regulation, taxation, and mandates have loaded onto traditional, formal employment are prompting more and more employers to consider automation or contracting. More and more workers are going outside the formal, corporate employment structure, doing business for themselves in the gig economy. It is believed that 36% of the working population already do such jobs at least part time.

Bills that prop up moribund labor unions and create greater inefficiencies will do no good, and will actually accelerate this trend, forcing a too-fast transition that will harm many more workers than they help.

When this legislation is proposed in coming weeks, it will not pass. But it must also not go unnoticed. Democratic attacks on the right to work will only become stronger, especially if they continue their efforts to break down the rule of law. If Democrats manage to take control of the Senate and abolish the filibuster, pro-union, anti-worker policy will become a top priority.

The repeal of right-to-work laws would reimpose upon large and now prosperous areas of America the very sort of labor rules that used to hold them back, from a time no one remembers anymore. Many of todays baby boomers were not yet born when Taft-Hartley passed. In those times, the South was a backwater and the mountain West an undeveloped, provincial region. Those regions embrace of right-to-work laws was part of what helped them take the lead in our countrys economy in the modern era. It is no accident that 11 out of CNBCs top 15 states for business are right-to-work states, or that right-to-work states enjoy lower unemployment, or that personal incomes in those states grew 50% faster between 2001 and 2016.

Democratic efforts to abolish right-to-work laws should be viewed as the rejection of seven decades of sound labor policy, the economic equivalent of resurrecting the polio virus and setting it loose on unsuspecting populations. Washington has no business fouling up the healthy business climates of the nations best-run states, just as a kickback to union bosses for their partisan contributions and activism. The abolition of the right to work would be a quid pro quo for unions and a knife between the ribs of the workers whom organized labor is supposed to represent.

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Democrats aim to abolish right-to-work laws - Washington Examiner

Japan Set to Welcome More Foreign Lawyers With Revised Gaiben Law | Asian Legal Business Japan Set to Welcome More Foreign Lawyers With Revised Gaiben Law A law change that relaxes restrictions on foreign lawyers is being welcomed in Japan, as the market gradually embraces international talent. The revised Gaiben law, which expands activities allowed and decreases the period of overseas work experience required for foreign lawyers, is expected to be conrmed during this Diet session.The bill was originally advised by Japans Ministry of Justice and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations back in 2016, and although formally adopted and expected during Japans 2018 autumn Diet session, it failed to eventuate.The arrival of the law coincides with a government-led push to boost Japans international arbitration capabilities. Last year in Osaka, the Japan International Dispute Resolution Center (JIDRC) was launched, while a second JIDRC centre is expected in Tokyo next year.Lawyer Rika Beppu, who was involved in the amendments and chairs the European Business Council Legal Services Committee, says that the changes are wholeheartedly welcome.Once the changes are implemented into law, international lawyers who have started their careers in Japan and are currently in Japan pursuing their legal careers will no longer need to disrupt their careers by going overseas for two years to satisfy the current requirement, Beppu says, noting that overseas work experience will be reduced to one year.This will be benecial to Japan-based clients as well as law rms, where an international lawyers career can be more smoothly pursued due to the reduction of the two-year overseas experience rule to one year, she says. However, she says that the committee is advocating for the complete abolition of the work experience rule for foreign lawyers in Japan.Aaron Patience, who heads the Simmons & Simmons Tokyo office, believes the law change strikes a good balance, noting that the general market reaction seems to be that its a step in the right direction.The loosening of foreign lawyer restrictions also indicates a demand for foreign talent. I think there will continue to be a need for the skill-sets of international lawyers in particular sectors; like infrastructure projects and project finance, says Patience. Japanese clients tend to appreciate service providers that can bridge cultural gaps, such as by delivering messages in a particular way, whether it be in Japanese or by using English in a way that resonates with them.While Japan may be opening up to foreign lawyers, the domestic legal market is also looking outward. Theres also more of an interest in Japanese lawyers doing international work, and theres a push from the Japanese business community to get involved in cross border transactions between Japan and the rest of the world, Patience says. I think some of the roles that were potentially in the past lled by Commonwealth or U.S. lawyers are now increasingly being done by Japanese lawyers who are interested in that space. So that could inuence the opportunities for international lawyers.To contact the editorial team, please emailALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.

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Japan Set to Welcome More Foreign Lawyers With Revised Gaiben Law - Legal Business Online

The government intends to carry out the abolition of so-called no fault Section 21 evictions.

The Queens Speech announced a Renters Reform Bill, as well as a lifetime deposit which would allow tenants to swap their deposit from one property to another.

Section 21 enables landlords to evict tenants with two months notice.

David Cox, chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, said: In the absence of any meaningful plan to boost the level of social housing in this country, the announcement confirming the abolition of Section 21 in todays Queens speech is another attack against the landlords who actually house the nation.

If Section 21 is scrapped, Section 8 must be reformed and a new specialist housing tribunal created. Without this, supply will almost certainly fall which will have the consequential effect of raising rents and will further discourage new landlords from investing in the sector.

ARLA Propertymark will be engaging with the government to ensure they fully understand the consequences of any changes, and we will be scrutinising the legislation, to ensure landlords have the ability to regain their properties if needed.

But Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: The abolition of Section 21 and the removal of the no-fault eviction process has been long discussed and is understandable if we are going to respond to the longer-term requirements of tenants and particularly families with children.

Many landlords would be happy to embrace it but there must be an equal and opposite opportunity for landlords to remove tenants who are not otherwise complying with their tenancy agreement such as non payment of rent or upsetting other nearby residents.

It has to be seen to be fair and we need to see more detail of how it would work in practice. What we dont want to see is landlords leaving the sector, which will only increase upwards pressure on rents and make deposit saving for aspiring first-time buyers even more difficult.

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Government to press ahead with abolishing section 21 - Property Wire

The work of various historians, among them David Waldstreicher and Alfred W. and Ruth G. Blumrosen, supports the contention that uneasiness among slaveholders in the colonies about growing antislavery sentiment in Britain and increasing imperial regulation helped motivate the Revolution. One main episode that these and other historians refer to is the landmark 1772 decision of the British high court in Somerset v. Stewart. The case concerned a British customs agent named Charles Stewart who bought an enslaved man named Somerset and took him to England, where he briefly escaped. Stewart captured Somerset and planned to sell him and ship him to Jamaica, only for the chief justice, Lord Mansfield, to declare this unlawful, because chattel slavery was not supported by English common law.

It is true, as Professor Wilentz has noted elsewhere, that the Somerset decision did not legally threaten slavery in the colonies, but the ruling caused a sensation nonetheless. Numerous colonial newspapers covered it and warned of the tyranny it represented. Multiple historians have pointed out that in part because of the Somerset case, slavery joined other issues in helping to gradually drive apart the patriots and their colonial governments. The British often tried to undermine the patriots by mocking their hypocrisy in fighting for liberty while keeping Africans in bondage, and colonial officials repeatedly encouraged enslaved people to seek freedom by fleeing to British lines. For their part, large numbers of the enslaved came to see the struggle as one between freedom and continued subjugation. As Waldstreicher writes, The black-British alliance decisively pushed planters in these [Southern] states toward independence.

The culmination of this was the Dunmore Proclamation, issued in late 1775 by the colonial governor of Virginia, which offered freedom to any enslaved person who fled his plantation and joined the British Army. A member of South Carolinas delegation to the Continental Congress wrote that this act did more to sever the ties between Britain and its colonies than any other expedient which could possibly have been thought of. The historian Jill Lepore writes in her recent book, These Truths: A History of the United States, Not the taxes and the tea, not the shots at Lexington and Concord, not the siege of Boston; rather, it was this act, Dunmores offer of freedom to slaves, that tipped the scales in favor of American independence. And yet how many contemporary Americans have ever even heard of it? Enslaved people at the time certainly knew about it. During the Revolution, thousands sought freedom by taking refuge with British forces.

As for the question of Lincolns attitudes on black equality, the letter writers imply that Hannah-Jones was unfairly harsh toward our 16th president. Admittedly, in an essay that covered several centuries and ranged from the personal to the historical, she did not set out to explore in full his continually shifting ideas about abolition and the rights of black Americans. But she provides an important historical lesson by simply reminding the public, which tends to view Lincoln as a saint, that for much of his career, he believed that a necessary prerequisite for freedom would be a plan to encourage the four million formerly enslaved people to leave the country. To be sure, at the end of his life, Lincolns racial outlook had evolved considerably in the direction of real equality. Yet the story of abolition becomes more complicated, and more instructive, when readers understand that even the Great Emancipator was ambivalent about full black citizenship.

The letter writers also protest that Hannah-Jones, and the projects authors more broadly, ignore Lincolns admiration, which he shared with Frederick Douglass, for the commitment to liberty espoused in the Constitution. This seems to me a more general point of dispute. The writers believe that the Revolution and the Constitution provided the framework for the eventual abolition of slavery and for the equality of black Americans, and that our project insufficiently credits both the founders and 19th-century Republican leaders like Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and others for their contributions toward achieving these goals.

It may be true that under a less egalitarian system of government, slavery would have continued for longer, but the United States was still one of the last nations in the Americas to abolish the institution only Cuba and Brazil did so after us. And while our democratic system has certainly led to many progressive advances for the rights of minority groups over the past two centuries, these advances, as Hannah-Jones argues in her essay, have almost always come as a result of political and social struggles in which African-Americans have generally taken the lead, not as a working-out of the immanent logic of the Constitution.

And yet for all that, it is difficult to argue that equality has ever been truly achieved for black Americans not in 1776, not in 1865, not in 1964, not in 2008 and not today. The very premise of The 1619 Project, in fact, is that many of the inequalities that continue to afflict the nation are a direct result of the unhealed wound created by 250 years of slavery and an additional century of second-class citizenship and white-supremacist terrorism inflicted on black people (together, those two periods account for 88 percent of our history since 1619). These inequalities were the starting point of our project the facts that, to take just a few examples, black men are nearly six times as likely to wind up in prison as white men, or that black women are three times as likely to die in childbirth as white women, or that the median family wealth for white people is $171,000, compared with just $17,600 for black people. The rampant discrimination that black people continue to face across nearly every aspect of American life suggests that neither the framework of the Constitution nor the strenuous efforts of political leaders in the past and the present, both white and black, has yet been able to achieve the democratic ideals of the founding for all Americans.

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Letter to the Editor: Historians Critique The 1619 Project, and We Respond - The New York Times

Motorists are collectively saving hundreds of thousands of pounds per day on the Severn crossings as the first anniversary since the removal of tolls is marked today [17 December]. All drivers are saving around 365,000 per day, based on the charges which were in place when the tolls were abolished.

The UK Government removed tolls on the westbound M4 and M48 crossings in December 2018, making it easier to travel between Wales and south west England with the aim of boosting business, enhancing inward investment, increasing tourism and creating jobs.

Since the tolls abolition, journeys into Wales from England over the Prince of Wales Bridge have increased by 16% with an average of more than 39,000 journeys now being made each day.

Following the UK Governments abolition of the tolls, the Western Gateway partnership was launched last month to maximise the economic potential of south Wales and the south west of England.

By bringing together world-renowned universities, businesses and local authorities across a wide region either side of the Severn, the Western Gateway will mirror the successful, established work of the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine and will seek to ensure that the region is globally competitive.

Over the last year, drivers have reaped the benefits of free road travel into Wales which is paying dividends for businesses across both sides of the Severn.

We are better connected economically as a result and through the Western Gateway initiative we will harness the joint strengths of these two regions while respecting our distinct identities and traditions.

The UK Government is committed to boosting Wales transport infrastructure and connectivity which is central to ensuring we raise our game economically and boost our productivity as a result.

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Motorists saving hundreds of thousands per day since Severn tolls' abolition - GOV.UK

The two newest members of Iowa City Council took their oaths of office in the council chamber on Thursday afternoon. Laura Bergus and Janice Weiner, both elected to at-large seats in November, were sworn in by City Clerk Kellie Fruehling.

For Bergus, its a new role in a familiar setting. Her first job as a teenager was televising council meetings for the citys cable channel. While doing that, Bergus developed what she calls her nerdy passion for local government.

Bergus didnt mention her high school job on Thursday in her brief remarks after signing the oath of office, during which she thanked the dozens of people who attended the swearing-in.

I am so humbled and grateful to have the support of the city of Iowa City, my hometown, the place where Ive lived my entire life, Bergus said.

She said she was looking forward to working with Weiner and the other members of the council on behalf of the people of Iowa City.

Weiner also began her remarks by expressing gratitude to Iowa Citians.

I am really both honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve the city, she began. As I said during the campaign, I am a public servant at heart.

Like Bergus, Weiner grew up in Iowa City. After graduating from high school, she attended Princeton University and Stanford Law School, before starting a career at the U.S. State Department. Weiner returned to Iowa City after a 27-year career in the Foreign Service.

Weiner said that although she is careful not mix religion with politics, on this occasion she wanted to acknowledge how her religious beliefs informed her political and social justice passion.

We, as Jews, welcome immigrants and refugees, because we were once immigrants in a strange land, she said. I am proud to represent a city that strives to embody those values. We believe strongly in social justice.

Weiner told the audience that she attended the Union for Reform Judaisms biennial conference in Chicago last week. The conference addressed issues of social and political importance such as the abolition of private prisons, addressing the opioid crisis, and studying and developing reparations for slavery and institutional racism in the United States.

We have work to do at every level of government, Weiner said. Good work has been done here, theres more to do.

I was reminded during that conference that voices multiplied can effect change. That determined individuals can make a real difference.

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Now that Bergus and Weiner have joined the city council, five of its seven members are women. Thats the largest number of women ever to serve together on the Iowa City Council.

Editors note: An earlier verion of this story incorrectly stated that this was the first time women have made up a majorithy on the Iowa City Council. This is the first time since the council expanded to its current size of seven seats that the majority of members have been women.

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'We have work to do': Laura Bergus and Janice Weiner officially join the Iowa City Council - Little Village

A little history of the death penalty in the UK, and why capital punishment was abolished in 1965.

Since the early Anglo-Saxon times, the favoured method of execution in the UK has been hanging. However, that didnt mean a trip to a purpose-built gallows by horse and cart. The convicted could be hangedfrom said horse and cart or from some form of stepladder, with a rope slung over a convenient tree. They would die a miserable death from suffocation. Burning at the stake was popular between the 11th and 13th century for conviction of the crime of heresy in the 11th century, and treason in the 13th, and beheading was popular with Royalty.

As in most other countries of the world, life was cheap, and punishment barbaric. In the 13th century England, being convicted of treason could see you hung, drawn, and quartered. A process that saw the guilty dragged to a place of public execution, hanged by the neck until dead, then beheaded, disembowelled, and their limbs cut off. The head was often displayed on a stake.

There were many trivial misdemeanours a hapless person could commit which would often land them on a gallows. From the 1600s to the early 1800s, England had over 200 offences punishable by death. These could be as minor as poaching, cutting down a tree, petty theft, or working as a pickpocket. Although this period was known as Britains Bloody Code, they bought these statutes in as a deterrent and, on the surface at least, it seemed to work.

For several reasons, throughout the 18th century, there were fewer people executed than in the 16th and 17th centuries combined. As well as the deterrent element, by the late 1700s, early 1800s, the population was losing its appetite for needless death penalties in the UK. For instance, theft of goods above a certain value was a capital offence, so juries found ways to reduce the value of the goods, allowing the defendant to receive a custodial sentence, rather than facing the gallows.

During this same period, transportation,' rather than hanging, was used as a popular punishment for those convicted of petty theft, or less serious crimes. Convicts were transported to the Americas and then, after the American Revolution, to Australia.

In 1806, a barrister by the name of Sir Samuel Romillywas appointed Solicitor General, and during his time in office, managed to repeal the death penalty for some minor misdemeanours. In 1834, Liberal MP William Ewartalso got bills passed to reduce the number of capital offences, including abolishing the death penalty for rustling. In 1861, the death penalty in the UK was abolished for all crimes except those of high treason, piracy with violence, arson in royal dockyards, and murder. Some seven years later, public hanging ended, with the introduction of the Capital Punishment Act.

By the end of the 1800s, there was already growing concern over the validity of the evidence for several convictions for murder. Nonetheless, the majority of these unfortunate souls still found themselves on the gallows. After the Great War, further legislation reduced the use of the death penalty in the UK. In 1922 the Infanticide Act protected mothers who had killed their new-born child, from the threat of hanging, provided an unbalanced state of mind at the time could be proven. In 1931, the death penalty for pregnant women was abolished, followed in 1933 by the abolishment of the death penalty for all those under the age of 18 years.

With controversial verdicts on several murder cases continuing to hit the headlines, the number of vocal, high profile capital punishment abolitionists continued to grow. By the early 1920s the penal reform group, The Howard League, became involved, and in 1927 the Labour Party published its Manifesto on Capital Punishment. As the anti-capital punishment lobby began to gather pace, a Select Committee was set up in 1929, and published its findings the following year, recommending a trial five-year suspension of the death penalty. However, the committees suggestion was never followed up.

After the end of World War II, the new Labour government again failed to get the abolition of the death penalty included in the 1948 Criminal Justice Act, although flogging and prison with hard labour was abolished. In the 1950s, new controversial cases involving the death penalty in the UK continued to hit the headlines and fuelled continued concern over the use of capital punishment. These controversies included the hanging of at least two innocent men, Timothy Evans in 1950, and Derek Bentley in 1953. The last woman to receive the death penalty in the UK was Ruth Ellis. Although she had suffered mental and physical abuse, and everything pointed to the fact she was mentally unbalanced at the time she shot her lover, she was hanged in 1955.

Another failed attempt to abolish the death penalty was made in 1956, by Labours MP Sydney Silverman. However, in 1957, a change to the Homicide Act further reduced the types of murder that carried the death penalty. These remaining capital crimes were the murder of a police officer or murdering in the furthering of robbery. These changes reduced the number of hangings in the UK to three or four a year. On 13th August 1964, Peter Allen and Gwynne Evanswere the last people to be hanged in the UK. They were convicted of killing a taxi driver during the act of robbing him (in furtherance of theft) and consequently received a death sentence.

In 1965, the Murder Act, (the Abolition of the Death Penalty), suspended the use of capital punishment in the UK for a period of five years, before making it permanent in 1969, and replacing it with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. In 1971, the death penalty for arson in Royal dockyards was abolished, and in Northern Ireland, the death penalty was abolished in 1973. In 1998, capital punishment in the UK for acts of treason, and piracy with violence were also abolished, finally making the UK totally free of the death penalty.

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When Was The Death Penalty Abolished In The UK? - Fairplanet