‘Allegations of criminal behaviour are normally tried in the criminal courts. But where a crime is either not prosecuted, or cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt, the question may end up being tried in a civil court, even where the allegation is as serious as it could be, such as murder. This may cause difficulties where the evidence relied upon has been obtained by a third party, such as a police force whether in England or abroad, and the claimant is not in a position to give a detailed account of the allegation until that evidence is available.’
St John's Chambers, 1st February 2022
Source: www.stjohnschambers.co.uk
‘The court may order a stay of a claim pursuant to CPR 3.1(2)(f) where the claimant has previously been ordered to pay the defendant sums in satisfaction of an adjudicator’s decision and the claimant has not done so. That power is exercised, in part, with the “pay now argue later” ethos of the Construction Act 1996 in mind. The key decisions to date (which I discuss below) balance a party’s rights of access to the court against those broader policy objectives. This post looks at a case in which the TCC applied and expanded the case law in this area, RHP Merchants and Construction Ltd v Treforest Property Co Ltd.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 2nd February 2022
‘In this post, Kenny Henderson and Alex Askew of CMS comment on the Supreme Court’s decision in Lloyd v Google LLC [2021] UKSC 50, which concerned whether a representative data protection action seeking damages for loss of control of personal data could be brought on behalf of large numbers of unidentifiable class members.’
UKSC Blog, 31st January 2022
Source: ukscblog.com
‘The Civil Justice Council has published its final report on the resolution of small claims (PDF, opens in a new tab), following an interim report published in June 2021.’
Courts and tribunals Judiciary, 28th January 2022
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘There has been a growing impetus in recent years to enable individuals in the UK to come together to bring the same or similar claims against those they believe are responsible for wrongdoing. These claims are commonly known as “class actions”, a term particularly popular in US litigation, though they are also often referred to as “group actions” or “collective actions” too. However, in fact, the various terms describe a range of different procedures. In this guide, which focuses on the position in England and Wales, we use the overarching phrase “mass actions”.’
OUT-LAW.com, 7th January 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘Global 100 Ltd v Laleva (2021) EWCA Civ 1835. There is a hell of a lot packed into one appeal here, so I’ll try to be brief. This was Global 100’s appeal of a first instance appeal (our note here) in which HHJ Luba QC had held that the first instance District Judge had been wrong to decide the possession claim against property guardians and make a possession order at first hearing, as there was a defence which appeared to be substantial and required further evidence and hearing.’
Nearly Legal, 6th December 2021
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Senior judges and lawyers on a panel chaired by former Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger have called for legal reforms to curb “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (SLAPPs).’
Legal Futures, 30th November 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court’s ruling in Lloyd, blocking a multi-billion-pound claim against Google, exposes the lack of legislation providing redress in mass claims. But CPR 19.6 could offer a way forward.’
Law Society's Gazette, 15th November 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The High Court has refused permission for judicial review of changes to the rules governing applications for permission to appeal. A pharmacist struck off for improperly touching a patient’s breasts argued that changes to CPR 52.5 made in 2016, which generally requires the Court of Appeal to determine applications without an oral hearing, were unfair.’
Law Society's Gazette, 8th November 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Home Secretary wasted public money by protractedly disputing costs in a case involving unlawful detention, a Deputy Master in the High Court has said.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th November 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Claimant was employed as a labourer by the Second Defendant (‘YKS’) who, in turn, were engaged by the Appellant Fourth Defendant (‘Buttar’) as an independent brickwork contractor. The First and Third Defendants were individuals who controlled the Second and Fourth Defendants. The Claimant suffered catastrophic injuries at a building site and brought proceedings in negligence against, inter alia, YKS, as his employer; and Buttar, as the main contractor on site. The Court recognised that there was a compelling need for an interim payment to fund an appropriate rehabilitation package for the Claimant if he was able to satisfy the legal requirements for obtaining the same.’
Gatehouse Chambers, 28th October 2021
Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk
‘QOCS applies to most personal injury (“PI”) claims. It usually limits the ability of a successful defendant to recover its costs against an unsuccessful claimant.’
Lamb Chambers, October 2021
Source: www.lambchambers.co.uk
‘In Ho v Adelekun [2021] UKSC 43, the Supreme Court considered the mechanics of qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS). The claimant was injured in a road traffic accident in 2012. In 2017, she was offered £30,000 by the defendant in settlement of her claim in what was described as a “Part 36 offer letter”. In that letter, the defendant offered to pay the claimant’s costs “in accordance with Part 36 rule 13”, such costs to be subject to detailed assessment if not agreed, if the offer was accepted within 21 days. The claimant decided to accept the offer and a Tomlin order was subsequently made by consent. However, the defendant then argued that the claimant’s costs were limited to the fixed costs recoverable in accordance with the terms of Part 45 Section IIIA of the Civil Procedure Rules.’
Law Society's Gazette, 25th October 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘ The High Court has shown a rare act of mercy to lawyers who filed documents late without checking to see if their opponents would accept email service. In Citysprint UK Ltd v Barts Health NHS Trust Mr Justice Fraser stressed that the particular circumstances were unusual and that his ruling should not be interpreted as the court being “indulgent” to failures of compliance.’
Law Society's Gazette, 7th October 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has held that defendants cannot set off opposing costs orders in cases covered by qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS), in what has been hailed as a significant win for claimants.’
Legal Futures, 6th October 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Department of Health and Social Care has been publicly censured by the courts for repeatedly failing to comply with civil procedure rules on disclosure protocol in a case brought by a campaign group.’
Law Society's Gazette, 1st October 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Axnoller Events Ltd v Brake & Anor (mental health crisis moratorium) (2021) EWHC 2308 (Ch). I’m not going into any detail on the background to this judgment. It forms part of what has been by any measure truly epic litigation, which has yet to culminate in a possession trial on one property and an eviction trial on another property (with the parties’ roles reversed). If you have several days to spare, the many and varied previous judgments are worth a read, not least as offering intermittent lessons in how not to litigate. However, this is the first judgment dealing with debt moratoria and applications (or claims) to cancel a moratorium under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 so it is of considerable interest.’
Nearly Legal, 12th September 2021
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘It is no coincidence that construction cases play a prominent role in many of the leading decisions concerning limitation. It is the nature of our work that problems have a tendency to emerge some time after the work was completed and, more than occasionally, new problems come to light after proceedings have commenced.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 7th September 2021
‘Lynsey Oakdene and Kathryn Vickers highlight a recent judicial review case in which the claim form was set aside because it was served late and the court declined to exercise its case management powers.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th September 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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