‘On 5 June 2026 the government published a Consultation Document titled ‘A Fairer End to Relationships’. This consultation will close on 14 August 2026. In this article, we explore exactly what is being proposed.’
Financial Remedies Journal, 10th August 2026
Source: financialremediesjournal.com
‘Part 2 of the Ministry of Justice’s consultation paper, A Fairer End to Relationships (“the CP”), proposes a financial remedies scheme for cohabitants on separation. It casts the net far too wide. If legislation goes through as proposed, an unfair regime will be foisted on millions of couples. Childless cohabitants, specifically, should not automatically become a financial unit in the eyes of the law just because they have lived together for 3 years. The CP does not acknowledge this but instead says that in an effort to protect women, children, and victim-survivors of domestic abuse, they will throw the baby out with the bathwater and introduce reform for a whole host of extra people too.’
Financial Remedies Journal, 12th August 2026
Source: financialremediesjournal.com
‘Reform of this scale invites comparison. At a recent roundtable, family law specialists from Hugh James and Brodies brought together practitioners from Wales and Scotland to test where each jurisdiction might learn from the other.’
Financial Remedies Journal, 12th August 2026
Source: financialremediesjournal.com
‘The representative body for family lawyers has rejected claims that cohabitation reforms amount to ‘state forced marriage’ and would overwhelm the courts.’
Law Society Gazette, 12th August 2026
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Proposed new rights for unmarried couples would amount to ‘state forced marriage’, a former Bar Standards Board chair said as the government’s consultation on new financial rights and obligations approaches its closing date.’
Law Society Gazette, 12th August 2026
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has allowed the appeal of a taxi driver in a landmark employment case involving the rights of part-time workers.’
Law Society Gazette, 12th August 2026
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Reforms of cohabitation rights could generate around 10,000 additional Financial Remedies Court cases annually, a senior family judge has said.’
Law Society Gazette, 11th August 2026
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has continued to emphasise the strictness of the approach which should be applied by courts and tribunals when determining whether individuals challenging immigration decisions can properly demonstrate an existence of family life engaging Article 8 ECHR protection. The case is Entry Clearance Officer v FA [2026] EWCA Civ 1014 (30 July 2026).’
Administrative Court Blog, 11th August 2026
‘Many road traffic collision victims are not told about potential compensation and the need to instruct a solicitor to obtain it, a report by the Victims’ Commissioner reveals today.’
Law Society Gazette, 13th August 2026
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales found that many of the thousands afflicted each year by criminal driving felt that “the harm they had suffered mattered less” than that from other serious crimes.’
The Guardian, 13th August 2026
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A man has been jailed for more than 14 years after he admitted raping, strangling and stalking as well as other offences.’
BBC News, 12th August 2026
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The decision in Jethiga Sateeshkumar v Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council [2026] considers when Japanese knotweed encroachment amounts to a private nuisance, and whether treatment costs are recoverable where knotweed has already encroached before the defendant came under a duty to act. ‘
Local Government Lawyer, 12th August 2026
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Appeal judges have upheld the conviction and sentence imposed on the man who hired an ex-Royal Marine to plant fake bombs outside the chambers of two barristers who had acted in proceedings against his wife.’
Legal Futures, 12th August 2026
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Everyone’s talking about agentic AI.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is actively exploring the benefits and challenges of embedding it in legal services, but the Law Society’s April 2026 foresight report made the somewhat awkward finding that there is currently no evidence that agentic AI is actually being used in legal practice.’
Legal Futures, 12th August 2026
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A leaked Ministry of Defence (MoD) report, obtained by the BBC, has highlighted serious failings in a new military command set up to investigate the most severe crimes, including rape and sexual assault.’
BBC News, 12th August 2026
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The tribunal said its job was not to “conduct a public inquiry into alleged bullying or misogyny within the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge” but concluded it was “satisfied that the claimant genuinely believed that there was a problem within the institute about the way female administrators were being treated”.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2026
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Courts in England and Wales have joined a number of restaurants, theatres and pubs in banning Meta glasses, amid a mounting backlash against what has been described as “spyware”.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2026
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Proposed legal reforms on relationships risk inadvertently drawing cohabiting couples into marriage-style commitments without their knowledge, critics have warned.’
The Independent, 12th August 2026
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A 63-year-old man has been found guilty of harassing the Labour MP Stella Creasy after he was “abusive and aggressive” to her on a tube train.’
The Guardian, 11th August 2026
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The human rights watchdog said that their long incarceration beyond their original tariff amounts to arbitrary detention under international human rights law and they are entitled to compensation and other reparations.’
The Independent, 11th August 2026
Source: www.independent.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2026