Surge in cases at small claims court over faulty phones

FAULTY smartphones have emerged as a major cause of complaints by disgruntled consumers in the small claims courts.

The new generation of mobile phones, along with other electrical products, account for a large and growing number of consumer cases in the courts.
  The small claims court provides unhappy consumers with an inexpensive and relatively fast way to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor.
  There have been big increases in recent years in complaints relating to cars, furniture and doors/roofs.
  The holiday sector has far fewer complaints than five years ago, although there was a significant increase in such complaints last year.
  Figures show there was a total of 3,947 complaints received in the small claims court in 2010, compared with 3,633 in 2009, up 23%. Trends for the main sources of complaints in recent years show:
  * 416 complaints in relation to cars, compared with 359 in 2009. This number has risen steadily in recent years: from 251 in 2007 and 207 in 2006.
  * 391 complaints on electrical goods, compared with 361 in 2009. This number has increased  from 341 in 2007 and 219 in 2005.
  * 376 cases regarding furniture, compared with 343 in 2009. This figures has risen from 311 in 2007, 207 in 2005 and 133 in 2003.
  * 226 cases relating to mobile phones, compared with 185 in 2009. Before 2009, mobiles phones didn’t feature as a separate category, reflecting the low number of related complaints.
  * 218 complaints about audio/computer equipment, compared with 192 in 2009, 172 in 2007 and 153 in 2005.
  * 151 cases regarding doors and roofs, compared with 135 in 2009, 82 in 2007 and 60 in 2995
  There was an increase in the number of holiday-related complaints: 183 last year, compared with 142 in 2009.
  However, the number has dropped dramatically from 403 in 2008, 393 in 2006 and 360 in 2004.
  There were the same number of cases in relation to dry cleaners in the last two years (97) — a significant drop from 2008 (220), but more in line with the previous two years (107).
  Applications that were referred to the district court rose from 584 in 2009 to 731 in 2010.
  The registrars at small claims courts settled 32% of cases in 2010 — 1,251 cases, compared to 1,200 in 2009.
  Decrees by default, which are granted where the person against whom the claim is made does not respond, increased by 23%, from 281 to 345.
  Decrees were granted in 322 (44%) of the 731 cases referred to the district court in 2010. Some 77 cases (11%) were dismissed and the remaining 322 (45%) were struck out or withdrawn.
  * For more, see http://www.citizensinformation.ie or  http://www.courts.ie

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http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/icrime/surge-in-cases-at-small-claims-court-over-faulty-phones-162857.html

 

Forty years later, Gay Switchboard Ireland is still needed

GAY SWITCHBOARD IRELAND is now in its 4oth year of operation and a new website has been launched to mark the anniversary.

The phoneline, which began as Tel-A-Friend in 1974, offers support and a listening ear to members of the LGBT community.

Gay Switchboard Ireland say that LGBT people regularly face stigma and isolation and point to a 2013 study by the Royal College of Surgeons which said that they are more than seven times more likely to have experienced suicidal ideation.

They also say that a recent UK report showed that over 40 per cent of young gay people have considered suicide.

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbittee will tomorrow visit the Outhouse LGBT Community Centre on Capel Street in Dublin to launch the new website.

Read more:

http://www.thejournal.ie/gay-switchboard-ireland-1277923-Jan2014/

Column: Building a bigger Cork prison with doubled-up cells is completely senseless

THE BUILDING OF a new prison to replace the current Cork Prison, which is completely unfit for purpose, is long overdue. Since 1993, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) CPT’s description of conditions at the prison in 2010, makes for stark reading:

“The poor conditions were exacerbated by the lack of in-cell sanitation. The situation was particularly bad in those cells being used to hold two or three prisoners on protection, as they could spend up to 23 hours locked up together in the cell. The air in a number of these cells was rank and humid. In one cell in C Block, three prisoners on protection who were accommodated together did not possess a chamber pot and had to share a bottle for the purpose of urinating; if necessary, they defecated into a plastic bag. In the CPT’s view, apart from representing a health hazard, such treatment is degrading.”

It’s worth remembering that prisoners also eat all their meals in these squalid conditions. In this context, action on Cork Prison is urgent, welcome, and should not be delayed any longer.

However, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) is dismayed that the opportunity to align with best practice and plan for single occupancy of cells has been missed. Coming at a time when crime rates are decreasing and the numbers in prison are being reduced, IPRT strongly believes that the decision to build a larger prison, with doubling-up planned for most of the cells, is misguided.

Read more:

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/building-a-bigger-cork-prison-with-doubled-up-cells-makes-no-sense-1279381-Jan2014/

Generation gap narrows as over-55s make fastest switch to smartphones

OLDER people are switching to smartphones faster than anyone else, a senior technology forecaster has said.

Deloitte‘s head of technology research, Paul Lee, told the Irish Independent that the over-55s were now the fastest growing segment of the smartphone market, with one in two older people expected to have a smartphone by the end of the year.

“It’s a natural progression and one that we’re seeing now as older people start to replace their phones,” said Mr Lee.

“Ownership isn’t as high as in younger age categories but it will still make up half of over-55s by year-end – a 25pc increase from 2013.”

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/generation-gap-narrows-as-over55s-make-fastest-switch-to-smartphones-29954814.html

It worked for NYC but could ‘community courts’ tackle small-time crime in Dublin?

IN 1993, THE first community court was set up in midtown Manhattan to deal with some of the crimes on the lower end of the spectrum like vandalism, drug taking and theft.

More than ten years on, this has been hailed as a success in helping to make the streets of New York safe to walk down again and business groups here are now calling for the government to set up a similar system in Dublin.

This week the Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) is hosing a seminar to discuss how these courts could work in Dublin and why they are so desperately needed here. Along with experts on the topic, they will also appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, having pushed for this initiative for the last ten years.

Read more:

http://www.thejournal.ie/community-courts-1285370-Jan2014/

Ireland’s compliance with EU law-2012 report

Ireland’s compliance with EU law-2012 report

22/10/2013 18:36:57 There were 39 infringement cases open against Ireland at the end of 2012, Ireland’s performance was tenth best in the EU 27 (with Slovenia). The Commission launched 14 new infringement cases against Ireland in 2012 by sending a letter of formal notice. Of the 39 infringement cases, 11 were in environment, 8 were in taxation, 6 were in energy and there were 14 in other policy areas. The 30th Annual Report on monitoring the application of EU law shows how Member States are performing in applying EU law.   Ireland is third in the EU for transposing Directives, with only 8 late transposition cases at the end of 2012. There were 110 complaints about Ireland made to the European Commission in 2012, the eleventh lowest in the EU. The areas in which most complaints were received were environment, justice, and the internal market. Among the key infringement proceedings taken against Ireland by the European Commission in 2012 were: Lack of transparency of conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks Alleged failure to protect peat bogs Restrictions on foreign travel agencies irrespective of their country of establishment Separation of accounts of railway undertakings and railway infrastructure managers Restrictive exit tax for companies when they cease to be tax residents Discriminatory tax exemption of termination payments Reduced VAT rate on race horses and greyhounds Ireland’s performance was below average in its reference group: Lithuania had 22 open infringement cases, Denmark had 27, Slovakia 30. However, it was better than Finland’s (43). Ireland ended the year with fewer infringement cases than in 2010 (58) and 2011 (42). The following chart shows the policy areas in which Ireland was most frequently subject to infringement procedures: The Commission brought one case against Ireland before the Court in 2012 (there were two referrals in 2011), because the conditions for accessing the natural gas transmission networks were not transparent enough and because Ireland failed to take effective remedial action. In Ireland’s reference group, there were no referrals against Lithuania and Denmark. There was one referral against Slovakia and six against Finland. The Commission referred Ireland to the Court with a request for financial sanctions under Article 260(2) TFEU because it failed to remedy its non-compliance with EU rules on assessing various projects’ environmental effects.   TRANSPOSITION OF DIRECTIVES The Commission opened eight infringement procedures against Ireland for late transposition of various directives in 2012 (there were 28 in 2011), which shows significant improvement in this area. Ireland’s performance was the very good in its reference group: better than that of Lithuania, Denmark and Finland (10, 17 and 21 new late transposition cases, respectively), only Slovakia performed better (7). With 8 open late transposition cases by the end of 2012, Ireland ranked 3rd in the EU-27. The policy area in which Ireland faced challenges in transposing EU directives was health and consumers (three late transposition cases).   COMPLAINTS The Commission received 110 complaints against Ireland in 2012, the eleventh-lowest figure in the EU 27. The areas in which most complaints were received were: environment (43 complaints, mainly on environmental impact assessment, waste water treatment, nature protection – Natura 2000); justice (28, especially on free movement of people); and internal market (11, many on public procurement, regulated professions). Other complaints concerned amongst others, the principle of free movement of goods (use of label of origin) and direct taxation (termination of payments). EARLY RESOLUTION OF INFRINGEMENTS The Commission and the Irish authorities were working on 43 open files in EU Pilot at the end of 2012, a much lower number than at the end of 2011 (118 open files). The Commission opened 40 new files on Irish issues in 2012. Ireland’s average EU Pilot response time (78 days) did not meet the 10-week target (75 days in 2011). Ireland introduced several measures to ensure compliance with EU law in 2012. For example, it put in place measures to ensure that the National Development Plan conforms to the relevant environmental legislation; it implemented the First Railway Package; and it brought its direct taxation legislation in line with EU law by eliminating the discriminatory aspects of agricultural tax relief. Accordingly, these case were closed.   IMPORTANT JUDGMENTS The Court imposed financial penalties on Ireland for failure to comply with two judgments on environmental laws. The first judgment concerned projects that were likely to have an impact on the environment, but which were not subject to any prior environmental assessment. In its other judgment, the Court found that Ireland had failed to fully adopt the measures necessary to implement the previous judgment on the incorrect transposition of waste legislation. The Court took into account the economic situation and in particular the recent trends in inflation and the GDP at the time of the Court’s examination of the facts when it calculated Ireland’s penalty.   Further Information: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-984_en.htm From 23 October, the full Annual Report will be available here.

Last update: 23/10/2013 

Link to the official Journal of the Community all EU legislation logged here

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en

Official Press Release on EU Decision in relation to Microsoft

European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 6 March 2013

Antitrust: Commission fines Microsoft for non-compliance with browser choice commitments

The European Commission has imposed a €561 million fine on Microsoft for failing to comply with its commitments to offer users a browser choice screen enabling them to easily choose their preferred web browser. In 2009, the Commission had made these commitments legally binding on Microsoft until 2014 (see IP/09/1941). In today’s decision, the Commission finds that Microsoft failed to roll out the browser choice screen with its Windows 7 Service Pack 1 from May 2011 until July 2012. 15 million Windows users in the EU therefore did not see the choice screen during this period. Microsoft has acknowledged that the choice screen was not displayed during that time.

Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: “In 2009, we closed our investigation about a suspected abuse of dominant position by Microsoft due to the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows by accepting commitments offered by the company. Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems. Of course, such decisions require strict compliance. A failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly.”

In December 2009, the Commission had made legally binding on Microsoft commitments offered by the US software company to address competition concerns related to the tying of Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer, to its dominant client PC operating system Windows (see IP/09/1941, MEMO/09/558 and MEMO/09/559). Specifically, Microsoft committed to make available for five years (i.e. until 2014) in the European Economic Area a “choice screen” enabling users of the Windows operating system to choose in an informed and unbiased manner which web browser(s) they wanted to install in addition to, or instead of, Microsoft’s web browser.

The choice screen was provided as of March 2010 to European Windows users who have Internet Explorer set as their default web browser. While it was implemented, the choice screen was very successful with users: for example, until November 2010, 84 million browsers were downloaded through it. When the failure to comply was detected and documented in July 2012, the Commission opened an investigation (see IP/12/800) and before taking a decision notified to Microsoft its formal objections in October 2012 (see IP/12/1149).

This is the first time that the Commission has had to fine a company for non-compliance with a commitments decision. In the calculation of the fine the Commission took into account the gravity and duration of the infringement, the need to ensure a deterrent effect of the fine and, as a mitigating circumstance, the fact that Microsoft has cooperated with the Commission and provided information which helped the Commission to investigate the matter efficiently.

Background

When the Commission finds an infringement of EU antitrust rules such as an abuse of a dominant market position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), it may take a decision under Article 7 of the EU’s Antitrust Regulation (1/2003) prohibiting such behaviour and imposing sanctions. The Commission may impose a fine up to 10% of the undertaking’s total turnover in the preceding business year.

However, under Article 9 of the Regulation, the Commission may also conclude an antitrust investigation by making legally binding the commitments offered by the companies concerned. Such an Article 9 decision does not conclude that there is an infringement of EU antitrust rules and does not impose a sanction. However, it legally binds the companies concerned to comply with the commitments. Since the entry into force of the Regulation in 2003, the Commission has taken 29 decisions under Article 9, including the decision on Internet Explorer (IP/09/1941).

If a company breaks such commitments, Article 23 (2) of the Antitrust Regulation empowers the Commission to impose fines of up to 10% of its total turnover in the preceding business year.

The Commission’s investigation into the tying of Windows and Internet Explorer was distinct from the antitrust case involving Microsoft which concluded in 2004 with a Decision finding that Microsoft had abused its dominant position and imposing fines. This case focused on interoperability between Windows and work group servers and on the tying of Windows Media Player to Windows (IP/04/382).

Gender Equality EU Law

Women at work

Gender equality is a fundamental part of EU law.  European legislation on equality in the workplace has ensured that Irish men and women are entitled to equal pay for doing the same job, receive equal and fair treatment at work and that women are entitled to maternity leave.   The EU has had a real impact on Irish women. Important advances include the increase of females as a percentage of the total workforce – up from 34% in 1973 to 56% in 2011 – and the narrowing of the gender pay gap.  A woman earned 47% of a man’s earnings in 1973, but now earns 86%, above the EU average. There is further to go, but Ireland has moved a long way in the right direction.   

 

– See more at: http://www.eu2013.ie/ireland-and-the-presidency/abouttheeu/theeuandyou/irelandharnessingthepotentialofeumembership/#sthash.f9oHXSUb.dpuf

Shatter: ‘Legal clarity for surrogate and LGBT parents by year end’

SPEAKING AT THE Marriage Equality’s LGBT Parenting in Ireland conference, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said proposals for the reform of family law in areas such as “non-traditional” families will shortly be considered by Cabinet.

Addressing the conference, he said his job was to legislate and that he understands that “the process of change will be difficult”.

He added: “There will be controversies on the road ahead. Not everyone will agree with all aspects of the Draft Bill. We may not always agree.”

Read more:

http://www.thejournal.ie/shatter-legislation-parental-rights-surrogacy-lgbt-1275403-Jan2014/