A tale of two judges – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 11th, 2021 in coronavirus, county courts, judges, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

‘Solicitors often warn clients that the views of the judge can make a difference to the outcome of their case, especially at first instance. Two county court judgments on the issue of whether a commercial lease renewed under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 should contain a ‘Covid clause’ are the perfect illustration of this.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th October 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

County court order against Boris Johnson struck out – BBC News

‘Boris Johnson no longer has a county court judgement against him after his lawyers sought to strike out a claim for a £535 debt for alleged defamation.’

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BBC News, 13th May 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Who has jurisdiction and under what circumstances? – Falcon Chambers

‘This paper deals with one of life’s big questions: “why are we here?”, albeit the “here” refers to one or more of the County Court, the First Tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), and sometimes two of them at the same time.’

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Falcon Chambers, 2nd November 2020

Source: www.falcon-chambers.com

Court corrects gaffe which allowed ex-husband to stop payments – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 16th, 2020 in county courts, divorce, families, financial provision, litigants in person, news by sally

‘A court has permitted the correction of an order which accidentally allowed a husband to stop making payments to his ex-wife.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 16th November 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Courts backlog ‘tipping point’ for justice system – BBC News

Posted October 30th, 2020 in coronavirus, county courts, criminal justice, delay, news, trials by sally

‘The number of criminal cases waiting to be dealt with by Crown Courts threatens to overwhelm the justice system in England and Wales, a study suggests.’

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BBC News, 30th October 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Getting the Court to Hear Your Case During the Pandemic – 3PB

Posted May 19th, 2020 in adjournment, coronavirus, county courts, lists, news, remote hearings by sally

‘The county court has responded rapidly to the sudden and unprecedented change to its working practices. However, the move to remote hearings has brought a marked decline in the retention of existing listings. Many litigants have found their hearings adjourned by the court even when those hearings were, on the face of it, suitable for hearing remotely.’

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3PB, 12th May 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Not signed, not sealed, not delivered – Nearly Legal

‘A first instance county court judgment on a possession claim, but with a range of interesting issues. The Ratcliffes were the landlords, Ms Patterson was the tenant and Mr Porter a guarantor, who played no part in proceedings. The tenancy was an assured shorthold tenancy with the most recent fixed term beginning in June 2018. Rent arrears accrued (on which more later) and the Ratcliffes brought a claim for possession under grounds 8, 10 and 11 Schedule 2 Housing Act 1988.’

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Nearly Legal, 26th April 2020

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Court of Appeal’s judgment in the case of James v Hertsmere Borough Council: What does it mean for jurisdiction of County Court? – Garden Court Chambers

‘Today [2 April] the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in James v Hertsmere Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 489. The judgment answered a question that has been troubling homelessness lawyers for several years now: does the County Court have jurisdiction, when hearing homelessness appeals, to consider challenges to councils’ ‘contracting-out’ processes?’

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Garden Court Chambers, 2nd April 2020

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Holding and Management (Solitaire) Limited v Leslie Stafford Miller [2019] UKUT 402 (LC) – Tanfield Chambers

‘The FTT improperly purported to determine matters which it had no statutory authority to do so on the basis of the generality of the County Court’s order transferring the matter to it.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 2nd April 2020

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Is a Section 8 notice on rent arrears a demand for rent? – Nearly Legal

‘I have kindly been sent a couple of county court Circuit Judge decisions on the issue of whether section 8 notices (where the ground is rent arrears) have to comply with the requirements of section 47 Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 by the inclusion of the landlord’s name and address. They reach contradictory conclusions, leaving open an issue to be resolved by a higher court, and a further issue for first instance courts.’

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Nearly Legal, 8th March 2020

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

County Court considers costs rules in personal injury case (Khan v Aviva Insurance Ltd) – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted March 3rd, 2020 in civil procedure rules, costs, county courts, damages, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Practitioners will be familiar with cases where costs are assessed according to the principles applicable in different tracks. In such circumstances, Khan v Aviva is of practical assistance by reaffirming the court’s general discretion to award issue-based costs, despite the presence of more restrictive costs regimes. The case therefore provides a helpful route to resisting adverse costs orders.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 21st February 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Court rejects judicial review over failure to extend QOCS – Litigation Futures

‘The High Court has rejected a challenge to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) failure to extend qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the county court.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Court of Appeal rules on Equality Act breaches and homelessness appeals – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court of Appeal has held that a homeless person cannot raise alleged breaches of the Equality Act 2010 in a homelessness appeal before a county court judge.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th August 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

County court to test video hearings in year-long pilot – Legal Futures

Posted November 13th, 2018 in county courts, internet, live link evidence, news, pilot schemes by sally

‘A year-long pilot to hear applications to set aside county court default judgments by an internet-enabled video link will begin at the end of this month.’

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Legal Futures, 13th November 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Avon Ground Rents Ltd v Child [2018] UKUT 204 (LC) – Tanfield Chambers

‘The UT comprised of Holgate J and HHJ Hodge QC (also sitting as County Court judges) gave valuable guidance concerning the importance of judges maintaining jurisdictional clarity and seperation when sitting as both FTT judges and County Court judges under the Residential Property Dispute Deployment Pilot.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 5th October 2018

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Doing the same thing all over again – Nearly Legal

‘A county court appeal arising out of a set of proceedings starting with a disrepair claim by a private sector tenant, which raises issues of service and when second proceedings are an abuse of process. Our thanks to Hardwicke Chambers for making the judgment available.’

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Nearly Legal, 7th October 2018

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

First building block of Online Court goes public – Legal Futures

Posted April 6th, 2018 in county courts, electronic filing, news, pilot schemes, small claims by sally

‘The first element of the Online Court went public today, with a beta test enabling people to issue county court money claims for up to £10,000 more easily.’

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Legal Futures, 6th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Surge in work for the county courts includes rise in personal injury claims – Litigation Futures

Posted September 21st, 2017 in county courts, news, personal injuries, reports, statistics by sally

‘There was a big increase in all kinds of work at the county courts in the first quarter of this year, according to new figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).’

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Litigation Futures, 21st September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Debt fears grow as county court judgments soar by 35% – The Guardian

Posted May 16th, 2017 in consumer credit, county courts, debts, enforcement, news by sally

‘Nearly 300,000 debt judgments were filed against individuals in English and Welsh county courts in the first three months of 2017, the highest quarterly figure for more than 10 years.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Sharp rise in county court judgments against consumers – The Guardian

Posted February 7th, 2017 in consumer credit, county courts, debts, news by sally

‘The number of county court judgments (CCJs) registered against consumers has hit a record high, according to official figures that show that an increasing number of people will have problems getting a mortgage, credit card or bank account in the future.’

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The Guardian, 6th February 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk