The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, once again under attack but this time by a government-funded research paper which calls for the post of Lord Chancellor to be abolished. The Economic and Social Research Council argues that Irvine's "high political profile" has exacerbated the inherent tensions between his multiple roles. The report questions the "dubious" rationale for protecting the Lord Chancellor, a member of the House of Lords, from being accountable to the "party political rough and tumble" of the Commons.
Ian Denning, a divorce lawyer convicted of stealing £130,000 from clients. Denning blew the money in one year on foreign holidays and luxury goods in a bid to win back his wife. It did not work and Denning was jailed for two years.
US hotel chain Adam's Mark, which has agreed to pay $8m (£5m) to end lawsuits after black guests claimed they were forced to wear bright orange wristbands as a security precaution, given less desirable rooms and charged more than white guests. The US justice department and the state of Florida joined the action. As well as damages, the chain agreed to pay $1.6m (£1m) to four mainly black colleges for scholarships and internships in hotel management.
Tony Baldry. The former Tory minister and practising barrister has been told to apologise to MPs for recommending that solicitor Sarosh Zaiwalla should be included in the Honours List less than two weeks after accepting a £5,000 loan from him.
The CPS, which faces judicial review proceedings in a case of alleged corporate manslaughter. The family of Simon Jones, who was crushed to death at work, claim that the CPS failed to act. If the family wins the judicial review, campaign group the Centre for Corporate Accountability plans to call for an inquiry into CPS decision-making in relation to workplace deaths along the lines of the Butler Inquiry into the CPS and deaths in police custody.
