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Irish Legal News: 23rd June 2021

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Solicitor – Patrick Fahy & Co Solicitors

SOLICITOR

Required

2 years PQE

Conveyancing and Probate experience desirable

Apply with CV in confidence to
law@pfahy.com

Patrick Fahy & Co. Solicitors

4 John Street Omagh
028 82 243 447

Branch Office:
1 Northland Place Dungannon

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Apprentice Solicitor – Worthingtons Solicitors

Worthingtons Solicitors intends to appoint an Apprentice Solicitor in conjunction with the apprenticeship programme.

For the purpose of this recruitment the Apprenticeship programme shall mean the solicitor training programme run in Northern Ireland by the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen’s University Belfast commencing in late 2021.

Candidates must apply by submitting a CV to be received by 12 noon on the closing date of Thursday 1 July 2021.

CVs should be returned by e-mail to kathryn@worthingtonslaw.co.uk before the deadline above.

For further information, please contact Kathryn Bedwell on 028 9043 4015.

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Send your vacancies to Irish Legal News

Get your legal job vacancies listed on Irish Legal News by contacting our advertising manager, Jeff Anderson, on jeff@irishlegal.com.

You can download the Irish Legal News media pack for £GBP or €EUR from our website.

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Events, CPD & Courses

Send your webinars/events to Irish Legal News

Get your online events listed on Irish Legal News by contacting our advertising manager, Jeff Anderson, on jeff@irishlegal.com.

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Latest News

High Court: Application to amend a case stated from the Tax Appeal Commissioner rejected

By Killian Flood BL
Killian Flood BL
Killian Flood BL

The High Court has rejected an application to amend a case stated from the Tax Appeal Commissioners on a point of law. The application sought to introduce further questions of law regarding the jurisdiction of the Commissioner and his conduct in proceedings.

Delivering judgment in the case, Ms Justice Siobhán Stack held that the court was entitled to amend the case stated if it was appropriate. However, the court said that neither question raised in the application was appropriate in the circumstances and thus refused the application.

Background

The appellant, Express Motor Assessors Limited, was a company in liquidation. The Revenue Commissioners had engaged in an audit of the company’s affairs. In a dispute before the Tax Appeals Commissioner, the appellant’s liquidator claimed that Revenue had acted unlawfully in the conduct of the audit.

In particular, it was alleged that Revenue obtained documents from and had meetings with directors after the company went into liquidation. Accordingly, the liquidator argued that the only the liquidator should have been engaged by Revenue and the audit was therefore unlawful. The liquidator relied on section 677 of the Companies Act 2014 to this effect. Further, it was claimed that Revenue had not notified the liquidator of its meetings with the company directors.

During the course of the hearing before the Commissioner, the Revenue objected to certain sworn evidence being presented in the case. Although the Commissioner ultimately overruled the Revenue’s objection, the liquidator took issue with the manner in which the objection was made.

The Commissioner ultimately issued a determination in which a point of law was referred in a case stated to the High Court. However, the Commissioner refused to refer two issues raised by the liquidator. These were 1) whether the Commissioner was correct to proceed with the hearing notwithstanding the alleged unlawful conduct of the Revenue and 2) whether it was correct to allow the Revenue to “be in a position to object to any sworn evidence before hearing or seeing the evidence.”

In refusing to refer these points, the Commissioner held that he did not have jurisdiction to determine whether the alleged conduct of the Revenue was unlawful. Further, he said that there was no point of law raised in the second issue, in circumstances where the Commissioner had actually overruled the Revenue’s objection to sworn evidence.

As such, prior to the hearing of the case stated in the High Court, Express Motor Assessors brought a notice of motion seeking to amend the case stated to include the two additional issues raised before the Commissioner.

High Court

The High Court began by assessing whether it was appropriate to amend the case stated by the Commissioner. Citing O’Sullivan v. Revenue Commissioners [2021] IEHC 118 and Untoy v. GE Capital Woodchester Finance Ltd [2015] IEHC 557, the court held that it could simply amend the case stated on motion by a party rather than remit a case stated for amendment by the Commissioner. However, this was at the discretion of the court.

The court went on to consider whether it should, in its discretion, amend the case stated as proposed by the appellant. A court had to be satisfied that there were sufficient findings of fact by the stating body to enable a court to deal with a question of law, the court said. If no such findings existed, then the matter should be remitted to allow those findings to be made.

The court agreed with Revenue’s submission that the allegations of unlawful conduct in the audit could not be determined by the Tax Appeal Commissioners because it was outside their jurisdiction. The allegations were more properly a matter for judicial review proceedings, the court said (Lee v. Revenue Commissioners [2021] IECA 18). The court held that it was implicit in the court’s discretion that a “frivolous” issue of law could be rejected in an application to amend a case stated.

Accordingly, the court declined to include this question in the case stated or remit the matter to the Commissioner for findings of fact to be made.

The court then considered the second question of whether the Revenue should have been allowed to object to sworn evidence without seeing or hearing the said evidence. The court noted that the Revenue’s objection to the evidence was, in fact, overruled by the Commissioner. The court held that “I do not see how any error of law could have arisen in merely hearing an objection which, as the Appeals Commissioner stated, was in fact overruled.”

Finally, the court considered whether the motion should have been made returnable for the actual hearing of the case stated. The court accepted that cases should be disposed of in an efficient manner, but said there should not be an absolute rule that an amendment application should be made at the hearing of a case stated.

The court said that, where the application related to the omission of evidence or necessary findings of fact, it was appropriate to bring an interlocutory motion to amend the case stated (Unkles v. Attorney General (1873) IR 7 C.L. 462; Christie v. The Guardians of the Poor of the Parish of St. Luke, Chelsea (1858) 120 E.R. 369).

The court said that minor amendments to a case stated could be dealt with later in proceedings, even at a hearing, particularly where such amendments required no additional evidence. Conversely, entirely new questions in a case stated should be advanced in an application prior to the hearing. In this case, the motion brought by the appellant was brought at the appropriate time.

Conclusion

The court dismissed the application to amend the case stated.

© Irish Legal News Ltd 2021

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NI: Tughans announces 16 promotions and appointments

Commercial law firm Tughans has announced 16 promotions and appointments across a number of sectors, including five new directors and seven new associate directors.

Finance and restructuring lawyer Sarah Sharkey, contracts and technology lawyer Paul Eastwood, dispute resolution lawyers Nadine Brennan and Ellen Forester, and real estate lawyer Amanda Byrnes have been promoted to director.

Dispute resolution lawyers Grainne Kirk and Pauline Walker, corporate lawyers Aimee Craig, Brendan Donnelly and Cassie McCormick, real estate lawyer Gavin Robinson and employment lawyer Jack Balmer have been promoted to associate director.

In the business support team, Caterina Gunn has been promoted to the role of marketing manager.

Recently qualified Tughans solicitors Aimee Crilly and Abbey Cairnduff have now taken up roles in the healthcare team and real estate departments. James Mulligan joins the real estate team as associate solicitor.

Managing partner Patrick Brown said: “We have seen significant activity across a number of sectors this year.

"These appointments reflect our ongoing investment in the best legal talent to support our continued growth and to provide specialist advice to our clients as we move through the next phase of economic recovery."

He added: "This is a significant achievement for each individual, and we are delighted to support our talent in continuing to grow, develop and progress along their career path.

"On behalf of the partners, I would like to wish everyone the greatest success in their new role."

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David Fennelly appointed chairperson of FLAC

David Fennelly
David Fennelly BL

Legal rights group FLAC has announced the appointment of David Fennelly BL as its new chairperson.

Mr Fennelly, who succeeds Peter Ward SC, is a practising barrister and assistant professor in law at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

He specialises in public law, with a particular interest in EU and international law, including in the fields of human rights and equality.

Mr Fennelly first became involved with FLAC as a student in Trinity and has served as a volunteer adviser at FLAC's legal advice clinics for many years. He joined FLAC Council in March 2019.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Fennelly said: "With colleagues on the Council, I hope to build on the great work that’s been done in FLAC in recent years and ensure that FLAC is well placed to face the challenges of the years ahead.

"The outgoing chair, Peter Ward, has made a huge contribution to FLAC over many years, leaving big shoes to fill! Most of all, I am looking forward to supporting the work of our fantastic staff, volunteers and supporters."

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Major review of equality legislation to take place

Roderic O'Gorman
Roderic O'Gorman

A major review of Ireland's equality legislation will begin within days, Equality Minister Roderic O'Gorman has announced.

Mr O'Gorman announced the review of the Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 yesterday in his closing address to a seminar series.

The Status Check: 20 Years of the Equal Status Acts seminar series was organised by legal rights group FLAC and the School of Law at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

The minister said: "It is now more than 20 years since the introduction of the Equal Status Act, and in that time Ireland has seen huge societal changes.

"I’m delighted to be announcing this review of Ireland’s equality legislation today at FLAC’s ‘Status Check: 20 Years of the Equal Status Acts’ conference.

"For decades, FLAC have been central to ensuring equal access to justice to some of Ireland’s most marginalised communities. I look forward to working with them and other interested parties as we progress this review."

He added: "The review will include the existing Programme for Government commitments on the introduction of a socio-economic ground for discrimination and the amendment of the gender ground. It would also include a review of current definitions for the other grounds, including in relation to disability."

Eilis Barry, chief executive of FLAC, said: "This announcement is not just timely, in light of the 20th anniversary of the Equal Status Acts; it is also a vital and appropriate policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic highlighted and exacerbated the inequalities in Irish society.

"Equality and non-discrimination should have been a driving force of the State’s response to the pandemic, as required by the public sector human rights and equality duty which requires public bodies to have regard to the need to promote equality when carrying out their functions and must be at the heart of our pandemic recovery."

The first phase of a public consultation process will be launched in the coming days, inviting the views of the public and interested organisations on their own experience of the legislation and where they would recommend amendments.

Further consultation will continue in the autumn. The minister will then bring legislative proposals to government in 2022.

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Smaller rural law firms encouraged to apply to traineeship grant scheme

Richard Hammond SC
Richard Hammond SC

Smaller solicitor practices in rural Ireland have been encouraged to apply for €25,000 grants to assist with the cost of employing a trainee solicitor.

Firms outside the main urban districts of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway have until 2 July 2021 to apply to the Law Society of Ireland's small practice traineeship grant scheme, now in its second year.

Five grants will be awarded of €25,000 each, which includes funding of €18,000 to the training firm over the course of the two-year training contract, and funding of €7,000 to the trainee solicitor by way of a discount on the Professional Practice Course I (PPC I) fee.

Richard Hammond SC, chair of the Law Society's education committee, said: "This can make a real difference to a rural practice’s ability to continue to provide a much-needed service and trusted expert advice to support businesses and residents in their local community.

"We are particularly encouraged by the feedback received from grant recipients in our 2020 round, the inaugural year of the scheme, with positive impacts shown for both firms and trainees."

Jason Laverty, a Donegal native and trainee solicitor at Browne and Co Solicitors in Letterkenny who received the grant in 2020, said: "The benefits of this Law Society initiative for both trainees and practices in rural communities cannot be emphasised enough."

Donna Ferry, the first-ever trainee solicitor with Phelim O’Neill Solicitors in Co Roscommon, said: "This grant gave me the opportunity to live in a small community without having to relocate to Dublin, which was always the goal. I now live in Carrick-on-Shannon, where rent prices are extremely affordable, and I am just a two-hour drive from my hometown."

Mr Hammond said: "The small practice traineeship grant scheme marks continued progress of the Law Society’s commitment to improving gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the solicitors’ profession.

"We encourage all eligible smaller firms and sole practitioners in rural communities to apply before the 2 July deadline."

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Fur Farming Bill receives governmental go-ahead for drafting

Charlie McConalogue

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has announced Government agreement to the drafting of the Animal Health and Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2021.

This Bill, for which Mr McConalogue is seeking early pre-legislative scrutiny, provides for:

  • the legislative framework to implement a prohibition on the keeping of animals primarily for their fur or skin,
  • for a scheme of compensation for the fur farming businesses currently operating,
  • introduces other miscellaneous amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

The Programme for Government 2020 includes a commitment to bring forward legislation that prohibits fur farming in the State. This draft Bill is the first step in fulfilling that strategy.

The statutory prohibition on fur farming will impact directly on three farming businesses that are currently conducting a lawful business. For this reason, the draft legislation includes a scheme of compensation for the farm businesses affected by the prohibition. The proposed compensation scheme is designed to be fair and reasonable to the fur farming operators concerned whilst also being fair to the taxpayer.

The draft legislation includes some technical amendments to the 2013 Act and a repeal of the Milk (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979 which is surplus to requirements and not being replaced.

Referring to the Bill, Mr McConalogue said: “The prohibition on fur farming in the State is in line with similar bans being implemented, or about to be implemented, in many jurisdictions across Europe and further afield.

“I realise that this is a very difficult time for the farmers and farms concerned. The farmers have always upheld the required animal welfare standards. However, the compensation package being provided is designed to mitigate losses resulting from the ban. I will continue to work with the farmers to ensure any compensation made available, is fair and reasonable.”

He added: "I welcome Government agreement to the drafting of this Bill and hope its progress through the legislative process proceeds without delay”.

Minister-of-State Pippa Hackett said: “This is an important and progressive piece of legislation which, I believe, is supported by the vast majority of the general public. It is a key component of the Programme for Government and something I have long supported as indeed have many animal welfare groups as well as the representative body for veterinary surgeons in Ireland, Veterinary Ireland.”

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ICCL repeats call for Special Criminal Court to be scrapped

Liam Herrick
Liam Herrick

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has called for the Special Criminal Court to be abolished, saying it represents "the single biggest denial of fair trial rights in our legal system".

The human rights organisation made the call as the Oireachtas votes this week to renew sections 2 to 4, 6 to 12, 14 and 17 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009.

ICCL executive director Liam Herrick said: "The right to a fair trial is the cornerstone of a just and fair society. It includes the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

"These rights are protected by our own Constitution and by international human rights law. But these rights are not respected in the Special Criminal Court."

Retired judge Mr Justice Michael Peart was appointed in February to chair a six-person group reviewing the legislation in light of criticism on human rights grounds.

The group has been asked to examine all aspects of the legislation, taking into account the current threat posed by domestic and international terrorism and organised crime, and was asked to produce an interim report within three months.

ICCL has welcomed the establishment of the review group and has said it will make "a detailed submission to that process in which we will be calling for the abolition of the Special Criminal Court".

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Maples and Calder announces two university partnerships

Nicholas Butcher
Nicholas Butcher

Maples and Calder, the Maples Group's law firm, has announced new partnerships with University College Cork (UCC) and Dublin City University (DCU).

A new scholarship programme will benefit one postgraduate student studying for the LLM in Business Law at UCC each year, with each successful student receiving a scholarship of €5,000.

Meanwhile, the firm has offered a student on the DCU Access to the Workplace Programme a place in its virtual professional internship programme this year.

Patrick Quinlan, graduate recruitment partner at the Maples Group, said: "We are really happy to work with UCC School of Law and the DCU Access to the Workplace Programme to enable promising students to reach their full potential and avail of opportunities that otherwise might not have been possible.

"At the Maples Group, we genuinely believe in nurturing talent, and want to encourage students to consider having successful and fulfilling careers in the legal sector."

Ireland managing partner Nicholas Butcher added: "We chose to support these universities as we are passionate about creating equality of access to both third level education and to the workplace as we know that diversity and inclusivity are absolutely key to the success of any business.

"In addition, we were really pleased to offer a DCU Access student a place in our virtual Professional Internship Programme this summer."

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UK: EU citizens urged to apply for settled status ahead of deadline

Tens of thousands of EU citizens in the UK are set to receive letters from the Home Office warning them that they could lose their right to healthcare and employment if they do not immediately apply for settled status.

The deadline for applying to the EU settlement scheme is next Wednesday 30 June, but those receiving letters will be told they have up to 28 days to apply before potentially opening themselves up for enforcement action.

Immigration minister Kevin Foster has rejected calls to extend the deadline in spite of a surge of late applications, The Guardian reports.

He said: "Put simply, extending the deadline is not the solution to reaching those people who have not yet applied, and we would just be in a position further down the line where we would be asked to extend again, creating more uncertainties."

The Home Office has received 5.6 million applications for settled status so far. There are around 400,000 applications which have yet to be processed.

Given the size of the backlog, those applying will be given a "certificate of application" which Mr Foster said they could "rely on as proof to access their right to work or rent" and to access the NHS.

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Legal experts define crime of ‘ecocide’

Legal experts have agreed on a definition of the crime of 'ecocide', which they hope will be adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The draft law defines the offence as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide, chaired by barrister and author Professor Philippe Sands QC together with UN jurist and former prosecutor Dior Fall Sow, was convened in late 2020, 75 years after the terms “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” were first used at Nuremberg. The project emerged in response to a request from parliamentarians in the governing parties of Sweden.

The proposed definition will now be made available for states to consider.

Jojo Mehta, chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation, which commissioned the panel, said: “This is an historic moment. This expert panel came together in direct response to a growing political appetite for real answers to the climate and ecological crisis. The moment is right – the world is waking up to the danger we are facing if we continue along our current trajectory.”

She added: “[The drafting work] was high-level, collaborative and informed by many experts as well as a public consultation comprising hundreds of legal, economic, political, youth, faith and indigenous perspectives.

"The resulting definition is well-pitched between what needs to be done concretely to protect ecosystems and what will be acceptable to states.  It's concise, it’s based on strong legal precedents and it will mesh well with existing laws. Governments will take it seriously, and it offers a workable legal tool corresponding to a real and pressing need in the world.”  

Professor Sands said: “It has been a privilege to contribute to this work, inspired by the efforts of Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael Lemkin in giving the world ‘crimes against humanity' and ‘genocide’, back in 1945.

"Ecocide is about law in the service of our planet, a means of changing consciousness and of harnessing the idea and ideals of international justice for the greater good.” 

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LEAP software keeps law firms working remotely Sponsored post

Ben Aslet, LEAP UK Marketing Manager, explains how law firms using LEAP’s cloud-based practice management solution are successfully adapting to remote working and how it’s as near as can be business as normal for law firms using LEAP. He said LEAP have talked to several law firms using the software to find out how they are managing with life away from the office.

The current health crisis means that more and more legal professionals are working from home. Many are showing resilience and agility in the face of the lockdown and those firms that are equipped and have remote-friendly software are faring much better than those have not.

Mike Leeman, BLJ Solicitors comments We now have 50 members of staff working seamlessly from home, thanks to LEAP Legal Software UK.”

We have been working hard to support our clients to acclimatise during lockdown and the feedback that we have received has been incredibly encouraging with many very grateful that they made the transition to cloud software when they did so that their business can continue functioning remotely. Eliot Hibbert of Nexa Law adds: “LEAP is helping our lawyers continue to offer a seamless service in what is a challenging and unprecedented environment.” 

Our Helpdesk and Client success teams have been touching base with our clients to ensure that they can continue to remain productive during the crisis and in many cases our clients are now beginning to understand the true value of LEAP. Paula Langley, Practice Manager, Bookers & Bolton says: “We love it! We are all happily working from home immediately and by taking our work machines home we have fully functioning desktops immediately.

We are finding that firms are benefitting from LEAP’s existing integrations with leading software providers such as LawConnect, for secure document sharing and collaboration with their client. As Stephanie Richardson, Office Manager, Evolve Family Law Ltd puts it: “We are able to create correspondence with all the enclosures without printing a single piece of paper, building bundles and briefs virtually with a click of a button and sharing securely via LawConnect.”

Many LEAP firms are using RapidPay which lets your clients pay you quickly and conveniently online. Ms. Bushra Ali, Director and Head of Practice of Bushra Ali Solicitors and Immediate Past President of the Leicestershire Law Society says: “We can claim fees from clients much quicker and more efficiently. LEAP made it possible for us to shift all our staff to work from home and to be able to operate the entire firm remotely.”

We also hope that our clients will appreciate our continued development of the software to help law firms to work from home during this difficult time. Since the beginning of lockdown LEAP have launched some additional exciting new features that will benefit law firms when working from home.  Via the LEAP Mobile App, iPhone and iPad users can now make FaceTime video and audio calls to clients and other parties, time record these calls and can invite clients to prearranged FaceTime meetings.

LEAP now integrates with Microsoft Teams, meaning law firms can work across multiple locations and staff can share and collaborate on documents and matters, conduct audio or video calls across the team and schedule client call backs directly from LEAP using Microsoft Teams' instant messaging service.

At LEAP we are committed to making our software ever easier to use and more versatile so that our law firms can get on with doing what they do best – practising law. We were one of the first legal software vendors to utilise cloud technology and the fact that our clients are able to function remotely so well is a validation of the work our research and development teams have been undertaking for many years. Stay safe everybody, and keep your clients happy!

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Stewart Title Business Continuity Programme Sponsored post

As concern regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to evolve, Stewart Title is closely monitoring developments including the recommendations made by healthcare authorities and the UK government, in order to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees while ensuring our continued ability to serve our clients.

We also wanted to assure you that Stewart Title’s Business Continuity Programme was designed to address these types of events and ensure our organisation is prepared to maintain the delivery of products and services with minimal disruption on service levels.

Accordingly, we wanted to inform you that the regular means of accessing our services remain unchanged and that there are tools and policies available that may be of assistance:

  • Online ordering via Stewart Solution from where you can continue to order cover for over 150 title indemnity risks. Our online ordering site is available at anytime and can be accessed on your tablet or mobile. If you’re currently not a user, but wish to sign up, you can register on the site at stewartsolution.com.
  • Our Underwriting Team is available for more complex matters or where you need to discuss your transaction. Enquiries can be sent by email to quotes@stewart.com or by phone on 02070107820 or 02070107821. Should you choose to contact us by email, please include your name, contact information, Stewart file number (ST/**********) and a brief description of your enquiry. One of our team members will get back to you in a timely manner.
  • No Search and Search Validation Policies are available to help your client’s transaction to proceed if you are unable to obtain the results of the normal pre-contract searches from public bodies, as a result of changes to working hours or closures due to COVID-19.

We hope that by providing you with the above information, we have been able to alleviate some of your concerns during this challenging time.

We wish you, your family and your associates continued health and resilience. We will continue to be in touch as the situation develops.

elizabethbirrell@stewart.com 07940513681

johnlogan@stewart.com 01698 833308

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Global Language Services Ltd Sponsored post

Technology in the 21st Century is providing us with the means to communicate our thoughts and ideas across the planet in a way that would have been unthinkable, even 10 years ago.

However good the technology is, it cannot pick up the subtleties of a language, the culture that underpins it, or even the humour that oils many of our conversations.

For this reason there has always been a need for skilled interpreters and translators and probably always will. That’s where Global Language Services Ltd can help you.

Not only do we have the language service talent that you are likely to need, we also have a track record that spans Government, health, justice, commercial and private sector contracts.

So, whatever you want to achieve in a different language, we’re on your side from the word ‘go’.

We go out of our way to help with any translation and interpreting requirements and you can test that simply by picking up the phone and getting in touch. Calls are answered by trained operators with no call centres – just real people determined to help you achieve your language service requirements as quickly as possible.

If you’ve been searching for Professional Translation or reliable Interpreting Services at competitive prices, we like to think that Global will be your long-term partner after your first project with us.

With offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen we are committed to finding local interpreters and translators wherever possible. Our reach, however, goes much further than Scotland and we are happy to take translation projects from across the world.

Call Today on +44 (0) 141 429 3429 to discuss your Project

or email mail@globallanguageservices.co.uk

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Quote of the day

The Earth is not a clock that can be wound up and stopped at will. A living system, the planet will surely rebalance itself. It will do so, however, without any regard for humans.

John Gray

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And finally... of mice and men

An unexpected plague of mice has forced hundreds of prisoners and prison staff to evacuate.

The population of mice in New South Wales, Australia, has boomed in the last year due to an extremely good grain harvest.

Mice invading the Wellington Correctional Centre have caused extensive damage to internal wiring and ceiling panels.

More than 400 prisoners and 200 staff have been moved to other facilities while the matter is dealt with, the BBC reports.

Prisons chief Peter Severin said: "Mice have invaded the centre and the damage is to such an extent that we're much better off evacuating the centre for a period of time."

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