The Press and Journal have today reported the arrest of campaigner Robert Green on a charge of breach of the peace. He was on his way to distribute leaflets in Aberdeen to draw attention to the plight of Hollie Greig, a 30 year old woman with Down's Syndrome. She claims she was sexually abused as a child but, despite naming several people as having been involved, no prosecution has taken place.

The P&J article can be found here: Legal aide to Hollie's family in abuse claim appears in court. There are even more shocking allegations elsewhere on the web - try Googling "Justice for Hollie" for more.

Labels: Children, criminal law, Defamation, News

You can now read my latest Yell.com blog post on Tommy Sheridan's latest day out in court.

I am particularly intrigued by the suggestion that the perjury trial could last upwards of 60 days. A hugely good use of the High Court's time, I'm sure everyone would agree.

Posted on Absolvitor: Scots Law Online.

Labels: criminal law, Defamation, Glasgow, News, Yell.com Solicitors Blog

An article in the Times Educational Supplement reports that a court in Germany has ruled that schoolchildren may rate their teachers online.

The Court rejected the case of a woman who argued that her pupils had infringed her rights by giving her poor grades on the popular site spickmich.de. The German Federal Court of Justice found that pupils had the right to offer their opinions so long as their teachers were not hindered professionally.

Similar controversy (though, to my knowledge, no litigation) has followed sites such as RateMyTeachers in the UK with teachers complaining about unfavourable comments from pupils.

To my mind (outside the ordinary laws of defamation) there is absolutely no reason why teachers should not be subject to pupil evaluation on the web. After all, pupils' views are now sought as an integral part of HMIe school inspection reports - which are reported online too.

Maybe it's time for a RateMyLawyer website? Or is that why we have Chambers and Legal 500?

Labels: Children, Defamation, Education Law, News, Privacy

A number of female pupils have been excluded from Grey Coat Hospital School in London in relation to an abusive facebook page about a teacher. The group was called "The Hate Society" and 29 girls signed up as members of the group.

They were all excluded from school for between 2 and 15 days, and the group has since been removed. The teacher concerned is said to be receiving counselling.

The Headteacher was reported as saying: "We can confirm that a number of pupils have been given fixed term exclusions for between two and 15 days after the school became aware of their involvement in a hate campaign about a member of staff using an open facebook group."

"While the offending material has been removed from the website, the school's decision to exclude these pupils temporarily was not taken lightly and has been designed to send a strong message to our whole school community that we do not tolerate such behaviour."

"The vast majority of parents who have been to see me about this incident are supportive of the school and understand why we have taken firm disciplinary action."

So, pupils who hate their teachers (an uncommon breed, I understand) would be best advised to keep their thoughts to the playground and not publish them online.

Labels: Defamation, Education Law, News

Edinburgh Law Librarian and Blogger, JennieLaw is complaining about a new facebook application which encourages people to gossip anonymously about their friends. Quite correctly, she suggests that the potential for defamatory comments being made in this way could be storing up trouble. Read the post in full, it's called Gossipy Facebook.

Quite apart from possible legal action, remember also that whatever facebook says, the goodbook says "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends." Proverbs 16:28 (NIV). So just don't.

Labels: Defamation, News