‘The Court of Appeal has given judgment in this case concerning (i) the proper approach to applications for permission to service out of the jurisdiction and (ii) the implication of terms as to interest.’
Blackstone Chambers, 18th July 2018
Source: www.blackstonechambers.com
‘According to the Crop Protection Association one in ten cases of Knotweed infestation cost property owners more than £4,000, one in five cases see the value of the affected property fall and three in five cause property damage.’
Henderson Chambers, 27th July 2018
‘Following an investigation in relation to an audit of BHS, the FRC reached a settlement with the auditors whereby they admitted misconduct and accepted the imposition of fines and other sanctions. The FRC and the auditors entered into a settlement agreement which included a 38-page “Particulars of Fact and Acts of Misconduct” setting out the “facts” as agreed between these parties.’
Blackstone Chambers, 29th June 2018
Source: www.blackstonechambers.com
‘Those who act for private sector landlords in residential possession proceedings will be familiar with the decision of the Supreme Court in McDonald v McDonald [2017] AC 273, which was argued successfully by Stephen Jourdan QC and Ciara Fairly of Falcon Chambers. In McDonald, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a tenant in summary possession proceedings could require the court to consider the proportionality of making a possession order, having regards to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): the well-known right to respect for private and family life. In particular, the court was required to decide whether a private landlord’s mandatory right to possession of her property under section 21 of the Housing Act 1998 could be curtailed or defeated entirely by invoking Article 8.’
Falcon Chambers, May 2018
Source: www.falcon-chambers.com
‘The rise of websites such as Airbnb has seen an increase in short term holiday style letting of traditionally long-term residential properties. In 2015 London’s housing legislation was amended specifically in response to the rise of Airbnb and other websites: a homeowner is able to let out their house, flat or spare rooms for up to three months a year. In London, unlike other cities such as Berlin or Barcelona, there are no city-wide regulations (or restrictions) regarding the use of Airbnb. This case emphasises that it falls to construction of the terms of the lease between the freeholder and leaseholder to ascertain whether a leaseholder’s use of Airbnb is permitted.’
Henderson Chambers, 27th July 2018
‘On 26 July, Leggatt LJ, sitting with Nicol J, handed down a judgment that challenges the long-held view that suicide must be proved to the criminal standard of proof in an inquest. Leggatt LJ, considering the purpose of modern coroner’s courts and the relevant jurisprudence, held that the correct standard of proof to be applied is the normal civil standard of balance of probabilities.’
Henderson Chambers, 31st July 2018
‘As construction lawyers, most of us have had experience with claims concerning the financial loss and/or damage to property arising from a negligent survey of a house. The facts of such cases tend to follow a pattern:
– Prospective purchasers instruct a surveyor to produce a report before deciding whether to buy a particular property.
– The report concludes that the house is in sound structural condition
– The prospective purchasers rely on said report in deciding to purchase the property.
– After moving in, they discover that in fact the house suffers from damage, defects or some other risk not disclosed in the survey.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 1st August 2018
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘Common law private nuisance cases involving the invasive non-native plant, Japanese knotweed (JK), received a considerable amount of attention in the county court in 2017 and 2018. In the joined cases of Williams v Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (B20YX969) and Waistell v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2017] UK CC, Mr Recorder Grubb, sitting in Cardiff County Court, awarded damages to the claimants for loss of amenity on the basis that JK on the defendant’s land had diminished the value of the claimants’ land by reason of it rendering the claimants’ land less acceptable as security for mortgage lending, even in the event of the JK on the defendant’s land having been treated (see Article, Japanese knotweed nuisance in the light of Waistell and Smith v Line).’
Hardwicke Chambers, 6th August 2018
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘The Administrative Court has held that a person who owns, and lets out rooms in, a House in Multiple Occupation (“HMO”) provides a service for the purposes of EU Directive 2006/123/EC (the “Directive”) and the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2999 (the “Regulations”), and that the HMO licensing scheme under Part 2, Housing Act 2004 is an “authorisation scheme” for the purposes of the Directive and Regulations. The decision of the CJEU in R (Hemming t/a Simply Pleasure) v Westminster CC [2017] 3 WLR 317, therefore applies to the fees that may be charged on a Part 2 licensing application, so that where a local authority demanded payment on application of an upfront fee which covered not merely the costs of processing the application, but also the costs of administering and enforcing the scheme, the fee was unlawful.’
Arden Chambers, 31st July 2018
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘As part of the numerous reforms that the Criminal Finance Act introduced, there were two new offences created in 2017. This article will discuss where we are now; over fourteen months after the offences were brought into force. The offences were introduced as a reaction (some might say knee-jerk reaction), to the Panama papers controversy; and as such, new offences of corporate facilitation of domestic tax evasion and failure to prevent facilitation of foreign tax evasion were included in the Act. The aim is to target the facilitators and enablers of tax evasion, although this does not seem to have been put into action.’
Drystone Chambers, July 2018
Source: drystone.com
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a local authority in which they had sought to withdraw a concluded decision as to what duty was owed to a homeless person; such a decision could only be withdrawn in cases of fraud or fundamental mistake of fact, neither of which were present.’
Arden Chambers, 31st July 2018
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘The NCA now have the power to extend the moratorium period on Suspected Activity Reports (SAR) by 31 days, up to a total of 186 days. This is due to the amendment of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘the Act’), by the Criminal Finance Act 2017. It is usually clear to an interested party when this is happening, due to delay from the banks in releasing their money. The banks cannot confirm this due to the tipping off provisions.’
Drystone Chambers, July 2018
Source: drystone.com
‘Leicester City Council and the Chief Constable of Leicestershire have been ordered by the High Court to pay in all £52,000 to a claimant JW after a level 3 sex offender was housed near to the children’s home in which he lived.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th August 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has strongly criticised a Queen’s Bench Master who allowed six boxes of court documents to be removed from the High Court by a non-party without notifying the defendant.’
Litigation Futures, 9th August 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The president of the Upper Tribunal’s Lands Chamber has warned expert witnesses that it could refer them to their professional bodies if they break the rules on conditional fees.’
Litigation Futures, 8th August 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘As Coronation Street fans will know, Aidan Connor (played by Shayne Ward) tragically committed suicide earlier this year. Following his death, his family were shocked to discover that he left his share of his business, Underworld, to his friend and former business partner Alya Nazir. Aidan’s half-sister, Carla Connor, was particularly outraged by this. She had gifted her interest in the business to Aidan earlier in the year, after he had made his will but before his death. Carla and family consulted a local solicitor, Adam Barlow, who suggested that they could challenge the will on the grounds that Aidan lacked capacity due to depression.’
Family Law, 8th August 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘Produced by the Family Justice Council and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, this guide directs the reader to discipline-specific information with regards to paediatricians as expert witnesses. It is intended to be used by all stakeholders as a companion document to the generic expert witness standards set out in Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 7th August 2018
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘A High Court judge has sought once and for all to close three-year proceedings brought by a litigant in person, saying it is not fair to use court time to indulge the matter any further.’
Law Society's Gazette, 9th August 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Naomi Shelton, Associate, Mills & Reeve LLP considers the news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during July 2018.’
Family Law Week, 8th August 2018
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘Women may not report rape to police because of fears material from their phones will be used to discredit them, the victims commissioner for London has warned.’
The Independent, 8th August 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
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