“Gordon Exall considers the practical issues that arise from the principle that a court can draw adverse inferences from a party’s failure to adduce evidence on an issue.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 12th February 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
“The inquiry into how Tony Blair committed Britain to war in Iraq is set to challenge the official version of events when it reports later this year, The Independent understands. The team led by Sir John Chilcot, which is examining Britain’s part in the US-led invasion, will ‘challenge previous accounts of what happened’, according to senior sources in the inquiry.”
The Independent, 6th March 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The stereotypical image of judges as male and white may be so deeply entrenched that there could be an ‘unconscious bias’ against women, the United Kingdom’s most senior judge has suggested.”
The Guardian, 5th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Perry v Nursing and Midwifery Council [2013] EWCA Civ 145; [2013] WLR (D) 88
“Fairness did not require that a respondent to an allegation of unfitness to practise his profession had to be given an opportunity to give evidence as to the substance of that allegation before a tribunal considering whether to make an interim suspension order or other interim order under a legislative scheme, such as that contained in the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, since that was not what the statutory scheme envisaged or what fairness required at the interim stage. Guidance was given as to the procedure to be followed by a committee, considering whether to make an interim order pending the substantive hearing of a complaint against a member of the profession, in order to satisfy the fairness requirement.”
WLR Daily, 28th February 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“The Sun did not breach rules on subterfuge when it obtained details of a police evidence list at the scene of the Norfolk Broads deaths, the press watchdog has ruled.”
The Guardian, 27th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“When a litigator enters into settlement discussions, the general rule is that the content of those communications are protected by the Without Prejudice Rule and cannot be relied upon as evidence in court if the case doesn’t settle. This rule, however, does not constitute a blanket ban. In this note James Barnard reminds us of the Without Prejudice Rule framework, its recognised exceptions and how the Supreme Court case of Oceanbulk Shipping & Trading SA v TMT Asia Ltd [2010] UKSA 44 created another wide-ranging exception.”
Full story (PDF)
11 Stone Buildings, February 2013
Source: www.11sb.com
“Media groups will on Tuesday challenge what they describe as a ‘deeply troubling’ attempt by the government to withhold evidence from the inquest into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.”
The Guardian, 25th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Ben Boucher-Giles of Fountain Chambers considers the Supreme Court’s judgment in J (Children) and considers how it fits into the wider picture of findings as they relate to threshold.”
Family Law Week, 25th February 2013
Source: www.familylawweek.com
“The judge in the Vicky Pryce trial last week dismissed the jury for ‘fundamental deficits in understanding’. Should jurors have to sit a test?”
The Guardian, 23rd February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The former deputy editor at the now-defunct News of the World newspaper will not face any charges regarding phone hacking, the CPS has announced.”
BBC News, 22nd February 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Britain’s jury system should not be judged by the outcome of a single, complex and highly unusual case, senior lawyers have warned following the collapse of the Vicky Pryce trial.”
The Guardian, 21st February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina v Dizaei [2013] EWCA Crim 88; [2013] WLR (D) 64
“When a court was assessing the probative value of the evidence of bad character of a witness in criminal proceedings, in accordance with the provisions of section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, among the factors relevant to the admissibility judgment, the court should consider whether the admission of such evidence might make it difficult for the jury to understand the remainder of the evidence, and whether its understanding of the case as a whole might be diminished. If the conclusion was that the evidence was not of substantial probative value in establishing propensity or lack of creditworthiness of the witness, or that the evidence was not of substantial importance in the context of the case as a whole, or both, the preconditions to admissibility would not established.”
WLR Daily, 14th February 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Eddie Gilfoyle’s case is one of a relatively small number of alleged miscarriages of justice that stubbornly refuse to go away. On 4 June 1992, his wife, Paula Gilfoyle, was found, eight and a half months pregnant, hanging from a rope tied to a roof beam in the garage. For the last 20 years Mr Gilfoyle has protested his innocence, arguing that Paula’s death was a tragic suicide. The prosecution argument was that expectant mothers don’t kill themselves, especially bubbly young women with everything to live for.
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 15th February 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“A tattooist who raped a child has been jailed after his victim recorded a
conversation with him 20 years later.”
BBC News, 11th February 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A video journalist is fighting a court application by police to force him to hand over footage he shot of the English Defence League.”
The Guardian, 11th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Many children who end up in care are never interviewed by the judge who makes the decision to remove them from their families, according to a report by an influential group of MPs and child protection experts.”
The Guardian, 10th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The conviction of Robert and Lee Firkins for one of Cornwall’s most notorious
murders has been cast into doubt, the BBC has learned.”
BBC News, 5th February 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Gay asylum seekers are increasingly going to extreme lengths to meet immigration officials’ demands that they prove their sexual identity or else be returned to countries where they face persecution.”
The Guardian, 3rd February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“New rules come into force today which will mean judges can streamline proceedings in family courts by reducing the number of expert witnesses who have to give evidence.”
Judiciary of England and Wales, 31st January 2013
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“New measures have been introduced to ensure child care cases are dealt with more quickly and effectively in family courts. This is so children and families are spared unnecessary delays and the cost to taxpayers is reduced.”
Ministry of Justice, 31st January 2013
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
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