Category: news

‘The absence of clear legal powers to prevent people suffering mental health crises from leaving NHS emergency departments has forced lawyers to train healthcare professionals to break the law “in the least harmful way”. That is one conclusion of an investigation by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), which yesterday warned that a “significant legal gap” was putting patients in mental health crisis at risk – and creating an impossible choice for staff trying to keep them safe.’

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Law Society Gazette, 10th April 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘The Bar Standards Board has become the latest legal regulator to seek an above-inflation budget rise next year. In its annual business plan for 2026/27, the BSB said it expected its total running costs ‘including our share of the costs of services which we share with the Bar Council – to be nearly £24 million’. This is 12% up on this year’s total of £21.141m.’

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Law Society Gazette, 9th April 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Allianz is seeking damages of almost £300,000 for protests at its UK offices in October 2024 and March 2025, in what is believed to be the first civil case brought against people accused of involvement in direct action with the protest group.’

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The Guardian, 8th April 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘An “opportunistic” thief who stole a handbag containing an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg and watch set worth up to £2.2m from a central London pub has been jailed for more than two years.’

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BBC News, 9th April 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Nottingham is one of a small number of crown courts running “blitz” hearings, where dozens of cases are pushed through in a day, with the aim of tackling massive court backlogs.’

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BBC News, 10th April 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘You’ll often see this topic described as “stripping” or “removing” an abusive father’s parental rights but parental responsibility (PR) can’t often simply be taken away – although where the circumstances justify it, PR can be restricted or effectively suspended. There are quite a few changes in the law going through at present and the landscape can look confusing, so here is a brief guide and update.’

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The Transparency Project, 8th April 2026

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

‘In Lynch v Princess Alexandra Hospital [2026] EWHC 657 (KB) Mrs Justice Ellenbogen provided a very useful distillation of the law relating to claims for provisional damages, as well as an example of the careful application of that law in a clinical negligence context. The judgment is also a useful discussion of a range of other interesting issues pertinent to the assessment of damages, but those fall outside the scope of this article.’

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Quarterly Medical Law Review, 8th April 2026

Source: 1corqmlr.com

‘On 26 February 2026, Baroness Amos published her Interim Report as Chair of the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. The Investigation was set up in June 2025 to drive urgent improvements in patient care and safety.’

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Quarterly Medical Law Review, 8th April 2026

Source: 1corqmlr.com

‘Gary Soloman and Connor Maunder set out significant changes to the written representations procedure process for planning appeals that came into effect this month.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 9th April 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Rulings by Bar disciplinary tribunals which clear barristers of misconduct are to be published in all cases, not only where requested, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has decided.’

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Legal Futures, 9th April 2026

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘1COR’s Lizanne Gumbel KC and Matthew Leitch join Jim Duffy to talk through some of the latest judgments in the field of medical law. Among the highlights are the use of surveillance footage, “lost years”, percentage offers under Part 36 and secondary victimhood.’

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Law Pod UK, 7th April 2026

Source: audioboom.com

‘Demand on the family courts in England and Wales increased during 2025, with new figures showing a 3% rise in overall cases compared with the previous year, prompting renewed calls for greater investment in the justice system.’

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Family Law, 7th April 2026

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

‘The President of the Family Division has issued new guidance on the allocation and gatekeeping of children cases in the Family Court, aimed at improving efficiency and ensuring cases are heard at the appropriate judicial level.’

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Family Law, 7th April 2026

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

‘Buckingham Palace has finally announced that the King and Queen’s planned visit to the US will indeed go ahead at the end of April 2026. After US President Donald Trump launched a string of verbal attacks on the UK Prime Minister, there had been growing calls for Keir Starmer to cancel the King’s visit, which he is due to make to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of US independence. The Liberal Democrats, for instance, had urged the PM not to grant “yet another huge diplomatic coup” to a President “who repeatedly insults and damages our country.” However, little academic attention has been paid to the issue of whether, as a matter of constitutional law, it would have even been possible for the PM to cancel the visit in the first place. Further, what say, if any, might the King himself have had in the matter?’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 8th April 2026

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘For the present post, we asked both Copilot and to ChatGTP to provide an answer to the question: To what extent do search engines identify Law and Religion UK as a source of information (on law and religion)?. The responses were followed up by additional considerations on the future role of AI in “specialist blogs”.’

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Law & Religion UK, 8th April 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘Studies indicate that the number of people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is rising, and whilst ASC itself has been well-studied, knowledge around its origins is still limited. There are several theories behind the “cause” of autism, which are explored below.’

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Neurodiversity in Law, 7th April 2026

Source: neurodiversityinlaw.substack.com

‘A family judge dealing with domestic abuse and coercive control accusations in a case already running for 57 weeks has lamented the parallel process of criminal and family courts dealing with the same allegations. ‘

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Law Society Gazette, 7th April 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Nearly nine out of 10 legal professionals say they use AI in some capacity – but clients are usually unaware of the fact, according to a survey for a legal tech company. The research also suggests that adoption of AI is rushing ahead of adequate governance.’

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Law Society Gazette, 8th April 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Tips and tricks on using the digital court portals from a member of the stakeholder group for the profession, including how to avoid the double login, when to denote documents as confidential, and how to prompt a response from the court.’

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Financial Remedies Journal, 8th April 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘Victims and bereaved families will be given six months to challenge “unduly lenient” sentences handed to criminals, under changes announced by David Lammy.’

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The Guardian, 8th April 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com