Category: news

‘In London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Garrett [2026] EAT 77, the employer (“Respondent”) appealed against a decision of the Employment Tribunal (“ET”) which had, by majority, found that the Respondent had directly discriminated against the employee (“Claimant”) on the grounds of belief. The ET also upheld one complaint of direct race discrimination.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 29th July 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘This piece focuses on the central principles of the proposed reforms to financial remedies law: a starting point of sharing matrimonial property, with the possibility of a departure from an equal division where this is required to meet needs. There are two reasons for this narrow focus. The first is a lack of space to consider every potential issue with the proposed scheme. The second is more pragmatic. Law reform in this area is important. This is particularly true in relation to the law relating to cohabitants, where the current lack of protection is highly problematic, and to the law relating to pre-nuptial agreements where, as Sharon Thompson has convincingly argued, there is a real need for legislative safeguards.’

Full Story

Financial Remedies Journal, 28th July 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘FAZ v MAZ [2026] EWFC 131. This judgment of Poole J concerned allegations of sexual abuse in private law children proceedings. At the outset Poole J observed, expectedly, that where the court has to determine allegations of sexual abuse of a child by a parent “the stakes are high”.’

Full Story

Pump Court Chambers, 13th July 2026

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

‘A client asked me a simple question at court recently: “If the court makes a money order, does that mean they get a CCJ?”

The instinctive answer is “yes”. A County Court money judgment is, in ordinary language, a CCJ. But in possession proceedings the answer is more complicated, and rather odd.’

Full Story

Pump Court Chambers, 15th July 2026

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

‘Two complainants, similar stories, one registered professional: should fitness to practise committees consider the accounts together to rebut coincidence? High Court guidance in Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care v The General Medical Council and Dr Neill Charles Garrard [2025] EWHC 318 (Admin) (‘Garrard’) clarifies when and how fitness to practise panels may cross‑admit evidence to assess the improbability of coincidence. This post explains the coincidence approach to cross‑admissibility and highlights the importance of being live to the issue throughout the life of a case.’

Full Story

Pump Court Chambers, 27th July 2026

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

‘The former captain of a prestigious London yacht club, who led a campaign against the club’s commodore over mooring fees for his 80-foot Dutch barge, has been cleared of harassment allegations at London’s High Court.’

Full Story

The Independent, 29th July 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘A fan of TV serial killer Dexter has been found guilty of murdering two homeless men whose bodies were dismembered and hidden in woodland before he killed his cellmate while awaiting trial.’

Full Story

The Independent, 28th July 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘The campaign group Led By Donkeys has received £27,000 in compensation after a giant banner it displayed in Parliament Square saying “Yes It’s A Genocide” was seized by Greater London Authority officials and destroyed.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 28th July 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘A mother and her new boyfriend have been found guilty of murdering her two-year-old daughter, with the man also convicted of sexually abusing the girl.’

Full Story

BBC News, 28th July 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Parklane Plowden barrister Cait Sweeney and head of the Chancery team, Nicola Phillipson, are joined by Henry Straw, associate solicitor at IDR Law, to explore the legal principles, challenges and considerations when children seek financial provision from a deceased person’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.’

Full Story

Park Lane Plowden, 24th July 2026

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

‘Nicola Newbegin KC and Ben Jones, instructed by Brendan Costello of Gordons Partnership, successfully represented the Defendant in a high-profile judicial review concerning the prescription of gender affirming hormones to under 18s, in which MacDonald J refused the Claimant permission to apply for judicial review.’

Full Story

Old Square Chambers, 1st July 2026

Source: oldsquare.co.uk

‘A new initiative by the Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) will examine existing Codes of Ethical Conduct to formulate “practical, non-statutory guidance”.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 28th July 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘In HB, Re (Appointment of Personal Welfare Deputy) [2026] EWCA Civ 960 (24 July 2026), Sir Stephen Cobb, President of the Family Division and President of the Court of Protection concluded that the judge was wrong to refuse the application, finding that the appointment of a deputy would in practice enhance rather than diminish the effectiveness of decision-making for the appellants’ son, HB.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 27th July 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘The issue arose from uncertainty as to whether amendments made in 1992 had effectively equalised Normal Retirement Ages at 65. The compromise reflected a 66:34 assessment of the competing arguments and provides for an NRA of 60 for service from 17 May 1990 to 12 May 1992, 61.7 for service from 13 May 1992 to 5 April 1999, and 65 thereafter. Adam Johnson J approved the settlement as striking a fair balance between the competing positions and providing certainty as to the future administration of the Plan. The judgment contains a useful, although largely orthodox, application of the principles governing court approval of compromises in pensions proceedings.‘

Full Story

Pensions Barrister, 27th July 2026

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

‘Judge Glen’s ruling – while not strictly of precedent value, as it is a county court decision – does give district and deputy district judges in England guidance on orders permitting landlords to force access to their properties if tenants have not responded to previous access requests.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th July 2026

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

‘Re St. Margaret Halstead [2026] ECC Roc 1. The Petitioner’s mother died in 2013 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret Halstead. Because the porous stone had not aged well, the memorial stone over her grave was replaced in 2021 including a small ceramic photograph. Her father, Squadron Leader Galletly died in 2024, and permission was now sought for a new and larger headstone with two ceramic photographs, repeating the details of her late mother and adding his details and the RAF crest (for which the appropriate permission had been obtained).’

Full Story

Law & Religion UK, 28th July 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘In Re Lavender Hill Cemetery Enfield [2026] ECC Lon 1, HS died in 1996 and was buried in Lavender Hill Cemetery [‘LHC’] in consecrated ground. His wife died in 2014 and was buried with HS in a joint plot. The Petitioner, AA, supported by her brother, petitioned to exhume the remains of her parents, HS and RS, to rebury them in Noddfa Cemetery in South Wales. She told the consistory court that she had promised her father, HS, that he would be buried at Noddfa because he had told her that he wished to be buried there with his father. AA said that when HS died, however, though the family contacted Noddfa Cemetery, her mother, RS, who had been diagnosed with dementia, wanted HS buried at Lavender Hill, and AA maintained that it was because of her mother’s dementia that she did not remember her late husband’s wish.’

Full Story

Law & Religion UK, 23rd July 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘A prospective trainee solicitor who forged a client’s signature on a document sent to the Home Office and faked an email to mislead her firm has been barred from the profession.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 28th July 2026

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘Legal regulators missed opportunities over the years to “clarify and address” the issues that came to a head in the Mazur case, the Legal Services Board (LSB) said yesterday [27th July].

Full Story

Legal Futures, 28th July 2026

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘He is still disputing the will, but has now been jailed for contempt of court and ordered to pay £35,000 in costs after writing an email and a letter to the charities’ lawyers, Foot Anstey LLP, containing “vitriolic” abuse and threats to their employees.’

Full Story

The Independent, 28th July 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk