Legal aid advice network ‘decimated’ by funding cuts – BBC News
‘Cuts to legal aid have created “deserts” of provision across England and Wales, a BBC investigation found.’
BBC News, 10th December 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: litigants in person
Discrimination claims against leading firm an “abuse of process” – Legal Futures
‘An employment tribunal has ruled that claims of racial discrimination and harassment brought against national firm Shoosmiths amount to an abuse of process.’
Legal Futures, 11th December 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Litigants in Person – an inherent problem with the justice system – Family Law Week
‘Matthew Richardson, barrister at Coram chambers considers the fundamental problem with re-shaping our justice system around a huge increase in litigants in person, caused by the removal of legal aid provision from most cases.’
Family Law Week, 9th November 2018
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
LiP sanctioned for revealing ‘without prejudice’ offer in court – Litigation Futures
‘A litigant in person (LiP) who disclosed a ‘without prejudice’ offer during trial had been warned not to and the judge was right to sanction him, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 5th November 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Part 36 offer not a “trump card” to thwart court orders – Litigation Futures
‘A part 36 offer is not “some form of trump card” which overrides previous court orders, a High Court judge has made clear.’
Litigation Futures, 30th October 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Balancing the rights of domestic abuse victims and their alleged abusers in court – Family Law
‘Should a court allow a potential perpetrator of domestic abuse, when they are acting in person, to cross-examine their alleged victim? Does this run the risk of the proceedings themselves being abusive? Or will it unfairly curtail the ability of the accused to put their case? If the court does not allow direct cross-examination, how should it proceed?’
Family Law, 30th October 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
Research launched to assess whether biased advice is distorting access to justice – Family Law
‘A new research project will examine whether vulnerable people representing themselves in child court cases find themselves and their children put at risk by misinformed or biased online legal advice.’
Family Law, 18th October 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
Anonymous LiP ordered to identify himself – nine months into action – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A litigant in person who is trying to sue web giant Google in the High Court has successfully concealed his identity from court staff and the defendant – as well as the judge – for more than nine months, it has emerged.’
Law Society's Gazette, 29th August 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Procedural challenges in a fact-finding hearing in wardship proceedings – Family Law
‘The case of M v F and others [2018] EWHC 1720 (Fam) is a reminder that the main issues in the case should be identified and addressed as early as possible in proceedings. Brendan Roche, barrister, of Seven Bedford Row, highlights the procedural issues that arose because the father was a litigant in person, including whether he could cross-examine the mother.’
Family Law, 14th August 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘It’s not fair on you to continue’ – judge kills off LiP’s epic claim – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A High Court judge has sought once and for all to close three-year proceedings brought by a litigant in person, saying it is not fair to use court time to indulge the matter any further.’
Law Society's Gazette, 9th August 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Judge takes over father’s cross-examination in case involving rape allegations – and it ends up being unfair on everyone involved – Transparency Project
‘Mr Justice Hayden is a High Court Judge who has been very outspoken about the potential for the court process to be abusive of those who are already victims of domestic abuse. In a case called Re A (a minor) (fact finding; unrepresented party) [2017] EWHC 1195 (Fam), having permitted the unrepresented father to directly question the mother (albeit with special measures in place so they didn’t have to confront each other by line of sight) he memorably said ‘Never again’. Hayden J said it was ‘a stain on the reputation of our Family Justice system that a Judge can still not prevent a victim being cross examined by an alleged perpetrator’. Today he has published an appeal judgment overturning a fact-finding decision in a case where another judge tried to cross examine the mother on behalf of the father accused of rape because (Hayden J said) the process was unfair and the decision unsound. The full judgment can be read here : PS v BP [2018] EWHC 1987 (Fam) (27 July 2018), but this blog post explains it.’
Transparency Project, 30th July 2018
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
Access to justice in family courts ‘inadequate’, says outgoing head – The Guardian
‘The outgoing head of the family courts in England and Wales has raised concerns about access to family courts and said help for litigants who had to represent themselves due to cuts to legal aid was “woefully inadequate”.’
The Guardian, 27th July 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Lawyers could be forced to share notes of hearings with litigants in person – Litigation Futures
‘A new rule giving judges the power to order lawyers to share notes of hearings with litigants in person is being proposed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Another new rule would put the parties under an explicit obligation to disclose to the other side communications with the court.’
Litigation Futures, 17th July 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Good and bad news for Civil Liability Bill opponents – Legal Futures
‘There was good and bad news from Parliament yesterday for opponents of the Civil Liability Bill as its consideration by MPs was delayed but chances of it being amended receded.’
Legal Futures, 6th July 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Domestic abusers still able to cross-examine victims in court – The Guardian
‘Victims of domestic violence continue to be cross-examined by their abusers in family courts more than a year after the government promised to stop such ordeals, a report has found.’
The Guardian, 30th May 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
JY v RY: An Indictment of the Impact of Legal Aid Cuts – Family Law Week
‘Matthew Richardson, barrister, Coram Chambers explains why a case, described by the judge as “the most unsatisfactory” he has heard and in which ‘had one or both of these parents been represented … probably the outcome would have been very different’, serves as an alarming lesson in just how far our justice system has fallen.’
Family Law Week, 4th May 2018
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
