High Court asks SRA to consider firm’s fitness to practise after contempt ruling – Legal Futures

“The incoming Lord Chief Justice has asked the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to consider a law firm’s continuing fitness to practise having found its senior partner in contempt of court.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 9th August 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Regina v Austin (Herbert) – WLR Daily

Regina v Austin (Herbert): [2013] EWCA Crim 1028;   [2013] WLR (D)  257

“It was the Crown’s responsibility to carry out the duties of disclosure. Judicial involvement could only properly be triggered by an application under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 by the prosecutor or by the defence. There was no provision for a trial judge to superintend the decisions of disclosure made by the prosecution on his own motion by inspecting unused material himself.”

WLR Daily, 27th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Civil courts not open to attempts to re-run criminal trials – UK Human Rights Blog

“Salahuddin Amin v Director General of MI5, Chief of MI6, the FCO, the Home Office and the Attorney General- [2013] EWHC 1579 (QB). Do not be misled by the impressive cast list of defendants in this case it means simply that the claimant was attempting to attack the integrity of his criminal conviction via the civil courts.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 27th June 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

High court throws out ‘UK complicit in torture’ damages case – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2013 in abuse of process, civil justice, intelligence services, news, torture by sally

“The high court has thrown out a damages case brought by a man convicted on terrorism charges who claimed MI5 was complicit in his alleged torture by Pakistan’s intelligence service.”

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The Guardian, 26th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v L(C) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v N(HV) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v N(TH) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v T(HD) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) – WLR Daily

Regina v L(C) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v N(HV) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v N(TH) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening); Same v T(HD) (Children’s Commissioner for England and Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening)[2013] EWCA Crim 991; [2013] WLR (D) 249

“Where the question arose as to whether a defendant who had committed an offence was a victim of trafficking the prosecution was, and remained, responsible for deciding whether to prosecute or not. The court’s role was to protect the rights of a victim of trafficking by overseeing the decision of the prosecutor and refusing to countenance any prosecution which failed to acknowledge and address the victim’s subservient situation.”

WLR Daily, 21st June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Crawford Adjusters (Cayman) Ltd and others v Sagicor General Insurance (Cayman) Ltd – WLR Daily

Crawford Adjusters (Cayman) Ltd and others v Sagicor General Insurance (Cayman) Ltd [2013] UKPC 17; [2013] WLR (D) 229

“The tort of malicious prosecution extended to civil as well as criminal proceedings.”

WLR Daily, 13th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Warning: CPS keep victim appeals in house – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

“There is a new independent Assessor (Stephen Shaw) for non-legal complaints made about the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but not for the legal ones – how very odd! It was recently reported that victims of crime will be able to ‘win the right’ to appeal against decisions by the CPS not to charge suspects and there is a consultation which is open until the 5th of September 2013. It has a mnemonic ‘VRR’ which stands for a ‘Victim’s Right to Review’.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 12th June 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Wyatt v Vince – WLR Daily

 Wyatt v Vince: [2013] EWCA Civ 495;   [2013] WLR (D)  166

“The court should not allow either party to a former marriage to be harassed by claims for financial relief which were issued many years after the divorce and had no real prospect of success. Such claims should be struck out under FPR r 4.4(1)(b) as an abuse of process.”

WLR Daily, 8th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

SAS sniper Danny Nightingale faces retrial over illegally possessing pistol – The Guardian

Posted May 2nd, 2013 in abuse of process, armed forces, firearms, news, retrials by sally

“The family of an SAS sniper say they are ‘bitterly disappointed’ after a judge ruled he would face a retrial over illegally possessing a pistol and ammunition – despite a last-minute claim that prosecutors acted improperly by consulting on the case.”

Full story

The Guardian, 1st May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Hampshire County Council – WLR Daily

Regina v Hampshire County Council [2013] WLR (D) 117

“There was no reason to stay confiscation proceedings where a trademark offence had been committed, because trademark offences were lifestyle, repeat offences, which did real damage to those entitled to the profits of a trademark and deprived the manufacturers of the legitimate fruits of the research and development of their product and it was proceeds which mattered rather than blame.”

WLR Daily, 20th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Christou and another v Haringey London Borough Council – WLR Daily

Christou and another v Haringey London Borough Council: [2013] EWCA Civ 178;   [2013] WLR (D)  97

“The doctrine of res judicata did not apply to disciplinary procedures operated by an employer, nor did the related doctrine of abuse of process apply as such, but an employment tribunal considering a claim for unfair dismissal following a second disciplinary process would have to decide whether it had been fair to institute that second process.”

WLR Daily, 12th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Rolling back the tide – Henderson v Henderson re-litigation – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 28th, 2013 in abuse of process, news, retrials by sally

“It always seems much easier in theory than in practice to have a claim struck out as an abuse of process under the well known principle against re-litigation known by its leading authority of Henderson v Henderson (1843) 3 Hare 100.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 20th February 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Foulser v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs – WLR Daily

Foulser v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2013] UKUT 038 (TCC); [2013] WLR (D) 51

“The First-tier Tribunal had jurisdiction to deal with an allegation that a fair hearing of a tax appeal before it had been made impossible, but any contention that a party had acted unlawfully in public law had to be put forward by way of an application for judicial review in the High Court or the Upper Tribunal. In a case where the FTT considered that a debarring order was justified and no lesser order would meet the justice of the case but yet, the facts of the case did not come within Rules 7 and 8 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber) Rules 2009, the FTT could produce the desired just result by using its power under Rule 5 to ‘regulate its procedure’, particularly to deal with the case fairly and justly.”

WLR Daily, 25th January 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

First use of power to strike out following Summers v Fairclough – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 8th, 2013 in abuse of process, fraud, news, personal injuries, striking out by sally

“The decision is of significance, because it is the first strike out of a fraudulent/exaggerated claim following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Summers v Fairclough Homes Limited [2012] 1 WLR 2004. Summers is authority for the proposition that under CPR 3.4(2) the court has power to strike out a statement of case on the ground that it is an abuse of process at any stage in the proceedings, including – but in very exceptional circumstances – at the end of a trial.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 31st February 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Tugendhat J allows Katie Price privacy case against Peter Andre to proceed – The Lawyer

“The High Court has refused to throw out misuse of private information claims brought by celebrity Katie Price against her ex-husband Peter Andre, ex-manager Claire Powell, and ex-friend Jamelah Asmar.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 9th January 2013

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Regina v YDG; Regina v ZSB – WLR Daily

Posted November 22nd, 2012 in abuse of process, appeals, criminal procedure, law reports, proceeds of crime by tracey

Regina v YDG: Regina v ZSB: [2012] EWCA Crim 2437;   [2012] WLR (D)  332

“Where a judge had directed, pursuant to section 29 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, that there should be a preparatory hearing, and the conditions of that section were satisfied, he had no power to revoke his direction.”

WLR, 20th November 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

High Court dismisses claim against Evening Standard as “attempt at extortion” – The Lawyer

“Mr Justice Tugendhat has slammed a claimant who attempted to sue London Evening Standard journalist Andrew Gilligan calling the case an ‘attempt at extortion’.”

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The Lawyer, 20th November 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Secretary of State for the Home Department v CC and another – WLR Daily

Secretary of State for the Home Department v CC and another [2012] EWHC 2837 (Admin); [2012] WLR (D) 283

“Where it was alleged that illegal actions of state agents constituted an abuse of the process of the court, it was not necessary to prove actual knowledge of that illegality for abuse of process to be established. There might be situations where mere recklessness or even negligent conduct could justify a stay on grounds of abuse of process.”

WLR Daily, 19th October 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Terror suspects arrested in Somaliland lose UK appeal – BBC News

“Two men accused of being part of a ‘prolific extremist network’ have lost their appeal against control orders.”

Full story

BBC News, 19th October 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Arrears, warrants and abuse of process – NearlyLegal

Posted October 1st, 2012 in abuse of process, loans, mortgages, news, repossession, warrants by sally

“A report of a County Court mortgage possession case has reached us, in which the secured lender’s behaviour resulted in a finding of abuse of process. The question was when (an if) an arrears payment had been received.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 30th September 2012

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk