‘A First-Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) case was not conducted unfairly despite an appellant and a witness having difficulty in hearing the online proceedings, the Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber has decided.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd September 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal recently heard an appeal against an order dismissing an application by the birth mother of three children to revoke an adoption order made in respect of those children. Fran Massarella looks at the outcome.’
Local Government Lawyer, 3rd September 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Expert witnesses prefer to travel to prepare themselves for a trial in person with their legal teams even when the trial itself is to be conducted remotely, a report has found.’
Legal Futures, 18th August 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Nearly two thirds of professionals responding to the latest Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) rapid consultation feel that more needs to be done to ensure that remote hearings are fair and work smoothly.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th July 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The President of the Family Division has ruled out issuing firm guidance on how the family courts and the Court of Protection should approach their work after 19 July – dubbed “Freedom Day” – when coronavirus restrictions are lifted by the Government.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th July 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Public law children cases where a party has limited access to technology or where parties require an intermediary or a translator are instances where remote hearings may not be the best format, the Law Society has warned.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th July 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A firm of solicitors has apologised to the court and reported itself to the regulator after a recording was taken of a remote hearing without permission.’
Law Society's Gazette, 28th June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A major report on the impact of the pandemic on the tribunal service has found that almost a third of judges found it “difficult to communicate” at video hearings in the first few months.’
Litigation Futures, 8th June 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service have recently published statistics about the number of hearings conducted remotely, ie by audio, video or on paper, compared with physical in-person hearings, over the course of the coronavirus lockdown. The statistics cover civil and criminal cases as well as family law cases, but it is possible to extract from them a picture of how the family justice system, in particular, has responded.’
Transparency Project, 4th June 2021
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘Holding a trial over the validity of a will remotely may have helped a witness admit that the contents of his affidavit were not true, the High Court has suggested.’
Litigation Futures, 30th March 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The backlog of crown court cases in England and Wales has reached “crisis levels”, with the increased remand population likely to disproportionately impact children and young people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, a parliamentary committee has warned.’
The Guardian, 30th March 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Legislation this year could introduce radically simplified procedure rules for the proposed online civil court, Supreme Court justice Lord Briggs has revealed. Addressing a Cyprus conference on civil procedure rules, Lord Briggs said the online court – whether for civil, family or tribunal cases – might have only one rule: “Do what it says in the electronic form.”’
Law Society's Gazette, 17th March 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Over the next few weeks and months as the number of people who have been vaccinated against Covid increases and restrictions begin to ease across England and Wales, it will be “possible and desirable” to increase attendance in person in the courts where it is safe and in the interests of justice, the Lord Chief Justice has said.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th March 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘As anyone immersed in, or interested in, the Criminal Justice System will know, when the first lockdown was announced back in March 2020, in person attendance at court buildings almost ground to a halt. This inevitably meant that all jury trials were suspended, and serious thought had to be given as to how they could safely resume in the future. Social distancing rules and the concern of causing covid outbreaks meant that the reintroduction of jury trials was slow, but by July 2020 and through the introduction of Perspex screens in between jurors and the relaxation of some of the lockdown restrictions, they slowly started to return to barristers’ diaries across the country.’
KCH Garden Square, 18th February 2021
Source: kchgardensquare.co.uk
‘In the recent case of Bilta (UK) Ltd and others v SVS Securities Plc and others [2021] EWHC 36 (Ch) Mr Justice Smith considered an application on behalf of the Fifth Defendant, Traditional Financial Services (‘TFS’), for an adjournment 1 week before the commencement of a 5 week trial. The case was to be heard in the Rolls Building as part of the Financial List.’
St Ives Chambers, February 2021
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘Jonathan Auburn and Lucy McCann assess whether decision-making as to community treatment orders requires physical attendance.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th February 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In GL v Elysium Healthcare Upper Tribunal Judge Kate Markus has provided a helpful reminder of the importance of maintaining standards of fairness in the remote environment.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 12th January 2021
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘This post summarises the individual issues in the four appeals. Part 3 will cover the wider issues of principle and some of the themes that emerged in the course of the hearing, and will provide some materials for further reading.’
Transparency Project, 24th January 2021
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
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