Crowdsourcing “can accurately predict court decisions 80% of time” says study – Legal Futures

Posted January 8th, 2018 in civil justice, judgments, legal aid, news by sally

‘Crowdsourcing is an accurate predictor of court judgments, at best proving accurate in over eight out of ten cases, according to a rigorous analysis.’

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Legal Futures, 8th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

10 cases that defined 2017 – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 4th, 2018 in human rights, judgments, news by sally

‘2017 has been a dramatic year in global politics and no less in the world of human rights law.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd December 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Court of Appeal upholds assignments of pre-LASPO CFAs – 4 New Square

Posted December 11th, 2017 in agreements, appeals, assignment, contracts, costs, fees, judgments, law firms, news by sally

‘Today [5 December] the Court of Appeal gave it’s eagerly awaited judgment in Budana v The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1980. Overturning the decision of DJ Besford in the County Court at Kingston-Upon-Hull, the court ruled that a pre-LASPO CFA could validly be transferred from one firm of solicitors to another, even after 1 April 2013, in such a way as to preserve the right to recover success fees and ATE premiums, provided all three parties (client and both firms) expressly so agreed.’

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4 New Square, 5th December 2017

Source: www.4newsquare.com

‘Significantly More Vulnerable’: The Court of Appeal Explains – Garden Court Chambers

‘At [53] of Hotak v Southwark LBC [2015] UKSC 30, [2016] AC 811, Lord Neuberger explained that whether or not a homeless applicant was ‘vulnerable’ within the meaning of s189(1)(c) Housing Act 1996 required consideration of whether he or she would be ‘significantly more vulnerable than ordinarily vulnerable’ as a result of being rendered homeless. In the conjoined appeals of Panayiotou and Smith, the Court of Appeal considered the meaning of the word ‘significantly’ in this context as well as a number of issues relating to the contracting out of homelessness decision making in instances where the public sector equality duty under s149 Equality Act 2010 is engaged.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 10th November 2017

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Security for costs: ATE policies – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 22nd, 2017 in civil procedure rules, costs, insolvency, insurance, judgments, news by sally

‘In a commendable judgment dated 24 October 2016 in Premier Motorauctions v Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Snowden J injected a much needed dose of realism into an issue which had, for too long, suffered from a regrettable degree of uncertainty, namely security for costs applications against parties with after the event (ATE) insurance cover. Cases this year suggest that this is now a go-to authority for applications of this sort.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 16th November 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Elsie Scully-Hicks – Family Court Judgment Released – Transparency Project

Posted November 21st, 2017 in adoption, child abuse, family courts, judgments, murder, news by sally

‘Mr Justice Moor has today [20 November] published his judgment about the death of Elsie (known to her biological family as Shayla). You can read the judgment here: The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff -v- Matthew Scully-Hicks and Others.’

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Transparency Project, 20th November 2017

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Treat Insolvency Rules as ‘a complete code’ for payment of statutory interest, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

‘The Court of Appeal has determined the extent of creditors’ entitlements to statutory interest on their debts and the correct approach for calculating their entitlement. It has ruled on the entitlement of representative creditors of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) to the surplus funds and on the calculation of the statutory interest due to them.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 10th November 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Aspects of burial law from Brady’s funeral judgment – Law & Religion UK

‘On 13 October, the High Court handed down the judgment Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council & Ors v Robin Makin & Ors [2017] EWHC Case No: HC-2017-002064 (Ch) concerning the arrangements for the disposal of the body of Ian Stewart-Brady, formerly Ian Brady (the “deceased”), one of the infamous Moors murderers. We posted some initial comments based upon the Court’s judgment and the Summary which it produced “to assist in understanding the Court’s decision”.’

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Law & Religion UK, 8th November 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Regulators can be taken to employment tribunals, Supreme Court rules – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Solicitors claiming wrongful dismissal can potentially hold the Solicitors Regulation Authority to account in the employment tribunal following a Supreme Court judgment which clarifies rules on bringing complaints against qualifications bodies. The long-running case Michalak v General Medical Council and others centred on a discrimination complaint brought against the medical regulator by Dr Ewa Michalak. The SRA intervened in support of the GMC.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 3rd November 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Covert recordings in family proceedings (Re B (A Child)) – Family Law

Posted November 3rd, 2017 in evidence, family courts, judgments, news by tracey

‘Family analysis: Farooq Ahmed, barrister at Westgate Chambers, considers the Court of Appeal’s decision in Re B (A Child) and how practitioners should consider whether to introduce covert recordings in family proceedings.’

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Family Law, 1st November 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Mediation and the judge’s letter to ‘Sam’: judges need to ‘use their imaginations’ – Family Law

Posted October 27th, 2017 in children, dispute resolution, family courts, judges, judgments, news by sally

‘In a recent article Jane Robey makes a serious point about judicial referral of parties to mediation; but she does so by criticising the judgment of Peter Jackson J (now Peter Jackson LJ) and his letter to ‘Sam’. There are lots of things wrong with the family justice system; and take up of mediation is disappointing. To use Peter Jackson J’s direct communication with the subject of the application in his court, as a means of promoting referral to mediation is surely to pick the wrong target?’

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Family Law, 26th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Ecclesiastical court judgments – September – Law & Religion UK

Posted October 5th, 2017 in ecclesiastical law, judgments, news by tracey

‘Review of the ecclesiastical court judgments during September 2017.’

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Law & Religion UK, 2nd October 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Modern slavery trial judge investigated over Traveller comments – The Guardian

Posted September 26th, 2017 in complaints, families, judges, judgments, news, trafficking in human beings, travellers by sally

‘A crown court judge is being investigated over comments he made about the Traveller community when sentencing 11 members of the same family for modern slavery offences.’

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The Guardian, 22nd September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Right-to-die cases do not need to go to court, judge rules – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 21st, 2017 in assisted suicide, Court of Protection, euthanasia, judgments, medical treatment, news by sally

‘A judge has made a landmark ruling that legal permission will no longer be required by a court before life-supporting treatment is withdrawn from patients suffering from severely debilitating illnesses, lawyers say.’

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Daily Telegraph, 21st September 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Aarhus costs cap challenge succeeds – UK Human Rights Blog

‘RSPB, Friends of the Earth & Client Earth v. Secretary of State for Justice [2017] EWHC 2309 (Admin), 15 September 2017, Dove J. In my March 2017 post here, I explained that amendments to the costs rules for public law environmental claims threatened to undo much of the certainty that those rules had achieved since 2013. Between 2013 and February 2017, if you, an individual, had an environmental judicial review, then you could pretty much guarantee that your liability to the other side’s costs would be capped at £5,000 (£10,000 for companies) if you lost, and your recovery of your own costs would be limited to £35,000 if you won. In this way, the rules sought to avoid the cost of such claims becoming prohibitively expensive and thus in breach of Art.9(4) of the Aarhus Convention.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th September 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Green groups claim ‘important victory’ in challenge to legal costs rules – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2017 in charities, costs, environmental protection, judgments, news, privacy by tracey

‘Conservation and environmental groups have claimed an “important victory” in their high court challenge to new legal costs rules which they say make it much harder to bring cases to protect the environment.’

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The Guardian, 15th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

The Importance of Unreported Judgments – The Barrister

Posted August 30th, 2017 in judgments, law reports, news, precedent, statistics by sally

‘As every barrister knows, precedents matter. To see just how much, you only have to visit the original courtrooms of the Royal Courts of Justice. Next to the bench of each High Court judge, the weighty bound volumes containing the law reports are on full display, adorning the walls, symbolically underpinning the precedents of the common law system which they faithfully record.’

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The Barrister, 29th August 2017

Source: www.barristermagazine.com

Consistory court evidence or “Call My Bluff”: Episode 1 – Law & Religion UK

Posted August 30th, 2017 in Church of England, courts, documents, ecclesiastical law, evidence, judgments, news by sally

‘In our monthly reviews of consistory court judgments, it is not uncommon to encounter assertions in the submissions of petitioners, the amenity societies, and even “experts” which are less than robust. However, in this ecclesiastical variant on “Call My Bluff“, the Chancellor/Commissary-General invariably sees through the weasel words, exaggerations &c, and the published judgments reveal how the perpetrators are diplomatically taken to task, as appropriate. However, whilst statements made on checkable facts are easy to identify, those that transcend the binary “true or bluff” question to matters of opinion or the assessment of a particular “expert” are more complex to assess. The following discussion includes a number of examples on which future petitioners might wish to ponder.’

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Law & Religion UK, 30th August 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Don’t reject legal aid application with ‘tick-box’ letter, judge says – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 25th, 2017 in documents, expert witnesses, fees, judges, judgments, legal aid, news by sally

‘A family judge has told the Legal Aid Agency not to issue a letter ‘almost akin to a tick-box form’ should it refuse to pay an expert’s fee in a case involving a three-month old boy at the centre of care proceedings.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 24th August 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Judge criticises airport security for ‘erroneously’ thinking pipe bomb was not viable and releasing passenger – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 24th, 2017 in airports, explosives, judgments, news by sally

‘A judge has criticised airport security for making the “erroneous and potentially dangerous” conclusion that a pipe bomb in a passenger’s luggage was not viable, as the would-be attacker was jailed for 18 years.’

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Daily Telegraph, 23rd August 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk