New Libyan Government to Pay Compensation for Old Regime Terrorism [8th Sep 2011]
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced this week that he will press the new Libyan government to compensate the victims of IRA terrorism which was sponsored by the previous administration. Mr Cameron made the announcement in the commons on Wednesday and said he will pursue the Libyans for a compensation package. It is thought that a package of £400m will be in place for IRA victims plus billions more for investment in UK based projects. Cameron went on to say that it is a vitally important issue as the Libyan sponsorship of the IRA was hugely damaging to the UK and is still to this day. He says it is high on his list of priorities once the new government is settled. The victims group FAIR and the DUP have also been praised for their work to ensure the campaigns success. A victim of child abuse has said that he feels he may die before compensation is paid to him. Robert Maxwell suffered abuse at an East Yorkshire Catholic children's home in the 1960's and has now been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer after suffering several heart attacks. Maxwell's case is part of 170 complaints made against the children's home and although the Roman Catholic Diocese has been held accountable, they have appealed which is holding up any compensation payments. The Supreme Court have said they will rule on the case in 2012, however Mr Maxwell is unlikely to be alive then. He has said that he will continue to fight until he passes away, but he has pointed out that four other victims have already died without even an apology. Other victims have committed suicide. The former principal of the home has been jailed for 14 years for abuse, but the claim for compensation is still underway. 17 banks have been sued by a US government agency this week and it is claiming billions in compensation for the way mortgage bonds were sold during the run up to the credit crisis. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has said that the RBS, Barclays and HSBC were among other banks who failed to run proper security checks and missed evidence which suggested borrowers were telling lies about their incomes. It is thought that RBS was one of the biggest players in the mortgage bonds market and sold securities backed by sub prime mortgages. This why it had to be bailed out by the UK government. The value of mortgage securities collapsed when borrowers were unable to pay. This led to the FHFA losing billions. Sir Leigh Lewis, the head of the Commission on the UK Bill of Rights has said this week that the number of trivial cases being sent to the European Court of Human Rights needs to be cut. The commission has said that the ECHR should be limited to dealing with important cases which raise questions about serious breaches of human rights such as torture and fundamental rights, not issues where people think they are entitled to compensation over small issues. Sir Leigh has suggested that the government needs to pursue the need for urgent reform. He suggests a screening system should be brought into place. Recent cases such as one which said that prisoners should be allowed to vote have proved controversial. There are currently around 10,000 cases waiting to go to the ECHR and Sir Leigh has suggested that many of these are there simply to get compensation. |
Search for Solicitors Near You :
- Solicitors in the UK
- Solicitors in Scotland
- Solicitors in England
- Solicitors in Greater London
- Solicitors in Wales
- Solicitors in Northern Ireland
Get Updates Via Facebook
LATEST NEWS
19 JUN
17 JUN
15 JAN
Popular News Stories:
Personal injury claims exposures could lead to insurer ratings downgrades - www.insuranceage.co.uk
Barclays PPI bill grows by £300 million - www.which.co.uk
Twisting suspects arm considered police torture? - www.dailymail.co.uk
Barclays PPI bill grows by £300 million - www.which.co.uk
Twisting suspects arm considered police torture? - www.dailymail.co.uk