Law Society

Question

I have a big sycamore plants and trees in my backyard and I have been informed which it is protected by the preservation order. One of the tree’s branches has been broken and it is hanging off. My question is that can I cut off the branches or do I have to take permission from the local council?

Answer

The issuing of a TPO (Tree Preservation Order) makes it an offence to top, cut down, lop, wilfully damage, destroy or uproot any protected tree without prior permission from the local council authority. But, works to the protected tree that is dying, dead or dangerous are exempt from the usual requirement for such permission.

Despite that, unless the matter is an emergency or urgent, for example a branch of the tree is about to fall through the roof of your home, you have still provide the local council authority a week’s notice before you take any quick action. This makes sure that the local council authority knows what you are doing; thus avoiding possible prosecution if the local council authority thinks the works are not really necessary.

If you uproot , damage or cut down a protected tree or if perform works such as topping or lopping that could be likely to seriously destroy or damage the tree, then there are fines on summary conviction of up to 20,000 pounds, or limitless fines on the indictment. Other offences regarding protected trees can incur fines of up to 2,500 pounds. If you are not sure whether a tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order then you have to check with the Local Land Charges Register that could be inspected at your local council offices. For more information you could contact any of the local council office in your area.

Golf is a sport that is all too expensive to be enjoyed by everyone. Here is some advice for you to obtain the best opportunity for golfing as cheaply as possible. These tips may help you to save as much as possible when you are on the links. Golf Resorts

Discount Golf:

If you are just learning the game, book tee times early or late in the season as rates are usually lower during these periods. If you book weekday, holiday and twilight tee times, the courses are usually less filled and many golf courses offer discounted rates on these days. Twilight rates are also cheap, and usually start around 5 p.m.

The Court of Appeals took the rare step Thursday of disbarring an immigration lawyer “effective immediately” for forging a letter from federal immigration officials to his clients and taking part of their fee for personal use, among other alleged misconducts.

Mina Bahgat did not appear Thursday morning for argument in his disciplinary case, the first on the top court’s docket for the day. In a hearing that lasted less than 30 seconds, Chief Judge Robert M. Bell confirmed with Assistant Bar Counsel Gail D. Kessler that she would submit on brief, then excused her and called the next case as several other judges chuckled.

By 3:00 that afternoon, the court had posted its per curiam order online.

Alvin I. Frederick, a veteran legal-malpractice lawyer unconnected to this case, said he could think of only a handful of times in more than 30 years that the court has taken such an action.

“It’s unusual but it’s comforting,” said Frederick, a supervising attorney at Eccleston & Wolf P.C. in Hanover. “You’ve got a Court of Appeals that is very sensitive to protecting the public.”

Bahgat was admitted as to practice in Maryland in 2004 and had no prior disciplinary actions, according to a fact-finding opinion filed in April by Montgomery County Circuit Judge William J. Rowan III.

The Attorney Grievance Commission’s petition stemmed from Bahgat’s representation of Raymond and Ely Rodriquez at Fairfax, Va.-based Just Law International, where Bahgat worked from September 2004 until he was fired in March 2007, according to Rowan’s opinion.

I’m not sure which piece of unpopular Irish news is being buried by which: the announcement of a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty, or the shuffling through of a law creating penalties for blasphemy, an offence that has never properly existed in the Irish state.

While there is certainly a store of resentment in the population at being asked to vote again (that is: vote properly, you morons, as the government is barely holding back from saying) on the Lisbon treaty, there is a certain sense of bafflement at the new blasphemy legislation, smuggled in under the guise of defamation law reform. Nobody wanted this law: no one can think of a single thundering priest, austere vicar, irate rabbi or miffed mullah ever calling for tougher penalties for blasphemy. Certainly there were the frequent, and frequently ignored missives from Armagh, warning the Irish not to abandon God for 4x4s and Nintendo Wiis. And there was widespread dismay when popular comic Tommy Tiernan pushed the Bible-baiting a bit too far on the Late Late Show. But never did anyone suggest we needed tough blasphemy laws. Until the justice minister, Dermot Ahern, decided we needed to fill the “void” left by our lack of one.

A major nationwide consumer rights campaign will launch later this year to highlight the benefits to both consumers and business of having a good knowledge of key consumer rights.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has joined forces with Consumer Focus, the OFT and Consumer Direct to launch the ‘Know Your Consumer Rights’ campaign.

The main campaign activity will get underway in Trading Standards’ National Consumer Week, which runs from September 14-20, and will continue until March 2010.

“The initiative follows research conducted last year which highlighted that many consumers lacked confidence when shopping online,” says the BIS. “Just 56% of consumers felt confident about returning or complaining about goods or services purchased over the internet, compared with 91% on the high street. The survey also found that there is a gulf between consumer confidence and the actual knowledge people have about their specific rights.

The campaign organisers intend to partner with high street and online retailers as well as national, regional and online media to educate consumers about their rights and raise awareness of Consumer Direct, the national consumer rights advice body. DIY retailer Wickes is the first retail partner to get on board.

The business-facing side of the campaign — ‘Know Your Consumers’ Rights’ — will aim to promote the benefits to retailers of having well-informed customers and staff. The message the campaign seeks to convey will be that consumers who know their rights and are confident enough to use them are more likely to engage with shops and services and spend their money.

BIS, OFT and other partners will also be promoting free staff training tools that will be made available to businesses at www.businesslink.gov.uk/consumersrights.

Payday loan legal issues are obviously very important issue. Although in majority of cases borrowers don’t think about these issues when they obtain payday loans. In case you rank among those individuals who have no idea of existing legal issues, you should know that there are laws which regulate payday loans. These laws differ from state to state and you should be aware of these laws before searching for payday cash loan because lack of knowledge can result in wrong choice and money loss.

Everyone knows that interest rates and fees charged for payday loans are very high and one should think twice before obtaining this type of loan. The thing is that this type of fast and easy loans is a splendid opportunity to borrow money for fulfilling urgent financial needs in the shortest possible time and ever-growing demand serves as a basis for lenders who inflate prices and scammers who aim at ill-informed borrowers. You can search for and familiarize yourself with payday loan legal issues both online and off-line, moreover you can ask the lender, you are going to deal with to show you all documents which prove that the company works in accordance with state laws and doesn’t break it.

State laws which regulate payday cash loans are designed in order to educate you and protect you against violations. If you have clear idea of these laws, you know and understand your own rights, you should use in case your lender tries to charge high rates and fees illegally. First of all, you should find out which costs are involved into fees charged and how interest rates are generated. Moreover your lender is obliged to inform you about the all consequences you will have, if you fail to pay your payday loan timely, before you sign any agreements. You should also pay proper attention to all documents, you are supposed to sign. Everything written there has to be clear to you and raise no questions. In case you don’t understand something or something seems to be wrong or you suspect that agents you deal with are not qualified enough, you are to ask questions and decide whether to proceed or not.

Online payday cash loans become more and more popular and demanded nowadays because Internet helps no only save time but also money. Although it’s safe and very convenient to obtain loans online, you should remember that you should be very intent in order not to make wrong choice and become someone’s easy money.

Bad credit business loan can be easily obtained from banks and financial institutions which offer small business loans, start up business loans and other types of business loans for people with bad credit score. The problem is that very often people think that they have no chance to obtain a business loan because of bad credit history, however it’s not so as far as the majority of lenders understand that there can be different reasons for poor credit score but mistakes which were made in past not necessarily characterize your current financial position. This is actually the fact which you also should understand when you start thinking that business loan is an aim which cannot be reached.

What you have to do is to monitor the market, which is very competitive nowadays, in order to have a clear idea of bad credit business loans and business loan rates. The more useful information you will find the easier it will be for you to find bad credit business loan at best price because it’s supposed to fit both your financial needs and your pocket. Before you begin to search to an appropriate bad credit loan, you should consult your creditor and find out how bad your credit score is. Note that lenders are always interested not only in your credit score but also in your payment history and credit reports. In case you feel that it can be very difficult for you to get approved for bad credit business loan, you should consider the following options which can help you take correct actions:

1) Business loans offered to individuals with bad credit score can be obtain both in form of secured and unsecured business loan. However, you should know that secured loan can be much beneficial to you because lenders prefer individuals who own a property, for example home or car.

2) In case your lender hesitates whether you can get approved for bad credit loan, you can find a person who will cosign on your loan. This undoubtedly will insure your lender that he/she will get his/her money back because if you fail to pay off the loan, the other person will pay for you. Frankly speaking, this option is not for everyone as far as you should find a person who trusts you and do your best to manage to pay out your loan and don’t run an important relationship.

3) Think about finding a financial investor who will help your business to start up. This can be a good alternative to bad credit business loan.

There are not that many number of previous sheet metal labourers in House of Common indeed, valuable are some who had a proper job and there would be a fewer when her or his resignation takes place in the next month.

Few of the censure for which he had been subjected when 1st had appointed the reeked of the snobbery. However this had been rendered inappropriate by the sequence of the sensational scoops regarding MPs’ expenditure and ill – treatment of their payments revealed by The Daily Telegraph.

It had been odd, giving his background, which the Speaker Martin did not understand, the anger of the public regarding the embezzlement of the millions of the pounds of the taxpayers’ finances in the midst of recession.

Politicians gluttony appears specifically horrible at the time when over two million individuals had lost their work and we have been informed that there is been no enough money to perfectly provide our confident and brave young generation in Afghanistan.

So I had been already in 2minds regarding the sad sight of a elderly man who was been chased from the office when Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman issued the statement – Michael Martin’s resignation as Speaker is an act of great generosity to the House of Commons that MPs from all parties will respect – on Tuesday.

Hold on for a moment, and then I thought, that actually who is trying to be kind to whom? The speaker’s premature retirement (when he was sixty three years old) would be liberally cushioned by fine old tax payer with the pension amount under 2.1 million pounds only.

That is how much the retirement specialized Origen tells me that the ordinary individuals should have saved to purchase an annuity or have guaranteed proceeds for life time, say about seventy one thousand pounds in a year or ½ salary of the Speaker – one hundred and forty one thousand eight hundred and sixty six pounds.

This is actual figure displayed in the official documents of last year’s April, when I got in touch with Commons in order to know the present figure, but my calls weren’t returned. I think they were too occupied with paper shredder.

As we all know for sure that the portion of Speaker’s pension which is above the retirement funds of other MP’s doesn’t need any contributions made by him.

Fine still, Speaker will be permitted to get ½ his pay as pension, in spite of how much time he had been in that post. Also by standards of House of Common, it is considered to be a generous scheme.

It’s been more than decade as I had started reporting on widespread gap between under pressure retirement finances of constituents and MP’s bullion plated pensions.

At that time, I use to get angry letters of backbenchers of both houses and after a while, they became silent.

His tremendous retirement fund makes us recall that MP’s may had been even more cautious in preserving their pensions and lower down their eager in order to tax these, so that when they are old, they could rely on this.

IP crime is classified as the unauthorised use of someone’s IP (intellectual property) which may lead to prosecution. If someone owns an intellectual property (IP) right, ie. a copyright, design, patent or trade mark, then others cannot or have no right to manufacture, use, sell or import it without prior permission from the owner.

Copyright is an automatic right which applies when the work is fixed, that is written or recorded in some way. Designs are what something looks like – from the shape of a take-away cup to the body of jet. Patents protect what makes things work – like what makes a wheel turn or the chemical formula of your favourite fizzy drink. Trade marks are symbols that distinguish goods and services in the marketplace – like logos and brand names.