‘Token’ bereavement damages are not enough, APIL tells parliamentary group |  | Scottish law on bereavement damages should be mirrored throughout the UK, members of an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) were told this week.
The APPG on Bereavement Support heard that bereavement damages in England and Wales, currently set at £15,120, are considered to be a token of grief and sorrow after a wrongful death. “But that token is not enough, and the way the law is applied to bereaved families is grossly unfair,” said Lorraine Gwinnutt, APIL’s head of campaigns and communications.
“Why should it be cheaper to kill someone negligently in Manchester, Birmingham, and London than it is in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and West Lothian?
“The law in England and Wales does not recognise the potential family closeness of brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces,” she said. “The law does not even recognise the closeness of an unmarried father to his children.
“But the law in Scotland recognises [for example] that love for a child does not end when the child turns 18. It recognises that modern family life is incredibly diverse.”
Group members were told that there should be an end to the postcode lottery in terms of bereavement damages. This was part of APIL’s long-running and ongoing drive to change the law on bereavement damages in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland which will continue to spearhead the ‘justice for victims of negligence’ campaign during this General Election year.
| | Chance to learn new skills by joining APIL’s executive committee |  | Joining APIL’s executive committee (EC) is an opportunity to learn new skills which will benefit you and your firm.
Current EC member and immediate past president John McQuater said: “You acquire skills that are really useful for you individually, which you also take back to your firm.”
John joins current president Jonathan Scarsbrook in urging members interested in standing for the EC to find out more about the roles. They have both recorded video messages about what being on the EC has meant to them. The videos can be viewed here: https://apil.org.uk/election
Nominations are currently open for the roles of president, two vice-president positions and a secretary. All nominations should be submitted on or before 5pm on Tuesday 6 February. Nominations received after this time will be invalid.
For more information on the roles and to submit your nomination, visit: https://www.mi-nomination.com/apil.
Nominations for additional officer roles will open later this year, on 12 March.
Those eligible for election* who have not received an email from APIL’s election hosts Mi-Voice, should use their email search function to locate emails from [email protected]. This will ensure the email has not been caught in a spam/junk/other folder. If this is not successful, please contact Jenni Scothern, APIL’s corporate governance manager, by emailing [email protected]
*Members who are eligible for election: Nominees must be legal practitioners, honorary life members or academic associates as defined in APIL's articles of association, article 30.1.1 and clause 4.5 of the APIL membership policy.
| | A date for your diaries |  | APIL is looking ahead to Injury Awareness Week 2024, which will start on Monday 24 June.
Injury Awareness Week is a whole week of activities shining a light on the prevalence of injuries and the impact they have on victims of negligence. Each year the staff team at APIL is astounded by the effort put in by members who get involved by writing blogs, posting on social media, and sharing their own injury awareness messages.
Members are encouraged to mark their calendars and share the date with their firms’ public relations departments and social media co-ordinators.
Keep reading Weekly News for updates.
| | Scientist and obstetrician join experts list |  | New experts have joined APIL’s expert witness database, including a consultant obstetrician, and an engineer and scientist.
The expert witnesses and services directory is designed to speed up the litigation process by providing APIL members with qualified experts to assist with cases.
Joining the database are:
- Mr Chris Botham, Hawkins & Associates, Manchester, engineer.
- Dr Christabel Evans, Hawkins & Associates, East Kilbride, associate engineer and scientist.
- Richard Giles-Carlsson, Hawkins & Associates, Manchester, senior associate civil engineer.
- James Kingham, Shirley, mechanical engineer associate.
- Paul Moody, Hawkins & Associates, East Kilbride, associate engineer.
- Miss Kenga Sivarajah, Kings College Hospital, London, consultant obstetrician.
| | Online conversations this week |  | | |
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