New English court witness statement rules have positive early effect – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 8th, 2022 in drafting, evidence, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘Last year, important new rules were introduced governing how witness statements are drafted and used in the Business and Property Courts (BPC) of England and Wales.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 7th February 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Electronic signatures “more reliable” than live witnesses – Legal Futures

Posted February 2nd, 2022 in documents, electronic filing, Law Commission, news, witnesses by sally

‘The most sophisticated kind of electronic signatures can be “more reliable” than signatures witnessed the traditional way in an “unsupervised environment”, a government-backed industry working group has said.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd February 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Practice Direction 57AC in practice – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 28th, 2022 in evidence, local government, news, practice directions, witnesses by tracey

‘Marion Smith QC, Joe-han Ho, Ruth Keating and Philippe Kuhn examine the latest court ruling on PD 57AC.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th January 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Failure in childcare case to identify cognitive difficulties of appellant and to make appropriate participation directions “amounted to serious procedural irregularity”, Court of Appeal rules – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 20th, 2022 in care orders, children, learning difficulties, news, witnesses by tracey

‘Failure to identify an appellant’s cognitive limitations led to procedural unfairness in a case involving children, the Court of Appeal has found.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th January 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Video-witnessed wills extended until 2024 – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Legislation introduced during the pandemic allowing wills to be witnessed over Zoom and Skype will be extended until January 2024, the government announced today.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th January 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Reform or revolution? – Local Government Lawyer

Posted December 17th, 2021 in courts, local government, news, practice directions, trials, witnesses by michael

‘How is Practice Direction 57AC bedding down? Marion Smith QC, Joe-han Ho, Ruth Keating and Philippe Kuhn look at its impact.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th December 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Records vs Recollections: HTR v Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust – Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog

Posted December 14th, 2021 in birth, hospitals, negligence, news, personal injuries, witnesses by tracey

‘What approach should the court take when there is a fundamental dispute of fact between an individual’s recollection given in witness evidence and contemporaneous medical records? This was the issue in the trial of HTR v Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust [2021] EWHC 3228 (QB), heard by Cotter J between 5 and 7 October 2021. The case will be of interest to clinical negligence practitioners following the judge’s preference of the Claimant’s mother’s witness evidence about matters that occurred 17 years earlier, despite the existence of a medical note made at the time which appeared to directly contradict that evidence.’

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Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog, 7th December 2021

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Too many witness statements prepared in breach of proper professional standards, says top family judge – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 11th, 2021 in codes of practice, families, family courts, judges, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued a memorandum setting out how witness statements should be prepared for use in the Family Courts to ensure they meet proper professional standards.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th November 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judges can rely on solicitors’ emails to assess credit hire losses – Legal Futures

Posted September 30th, 2021 in accidents, electronic mail, insurance, news, road traffic, taxis, witnesses by sally

‘Taxi drivers forced to hire new cars after road traffic accidents do not need to set out their credit charges in witness statements as emails from their solicitors will suffice, a judge has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 30th September 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barrister waived privilege in document by showing it to opposing counsel – Legal Futures

Posted September 22nd, 2021 in barristers, disclosure, evidence, news, privilege, repossession, witnesses by sally

‘Counsel for a defendant in possession proceedings voluntarily disclosed a draft witness statement to her opposing number and in doing so waived privilege, the High Court has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 22nd September 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The ‘shifting’ burden and the drawing of adverse inferences – 3PB

‘The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed this appeal concerning two questions of law:
(i) whether a change in the wording of equality legislation has altered the burden of proof in employment discrimination cases, and
(ii) when a tribunal may draw adverse inferences from the absence of a potential witness.’

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3PB, 9th August 2021

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

High Court judge orders Liverpool City Council to reconsider refusal of indemnity for former elected mayor – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 4th, 2021 in bribery, costs, indemnities, intimidation, local government, news, witnesses by sally

‘A High Court judge has told Liverpool City Council to revisit whether it should grant an indemnity to its former elected mayor Joe Anderson to defend criminal allegations.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd August 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Malleable memory and the reliability of witness evidence in a digital age – Litigation Futures

Posted June 22nd, 2021 in artificial intelligence, documents, evidence, news, witnesses by sally

‘One of the topics explored by a recent panel of international experts at London International Disputes Week was the malleability (and thus fallibility) of human memory and the resultant impact on reliable witness evidence.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd June 2021

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Individuals and the court process: Proposed changes to CPR 45 in light of recent amendments to the overriding objective – St Philips Barristers

‘Benjamin Clayton discusses proposed amendments to CPR 45, in the context of the recent update pertaining to vulnerable witnesses. Such changes not only take greater account of individual differences, but also put to bed long standing arguments between claimants and defendants.’

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St Philips Barristers, 4th June 2021

Source: st-philips.com

Immigration removal and an Article 2 inquest – UK Human Rights Blog

‘R (Lawal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2021), Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), Unreported, JR/626/2020 (V).
The death of an immigration detainee, as with all prisoners, is rightly subject to legal scrutiny. This is because detainees are completely under the state’s control. Article 2 ECHR requires that the state carry out an effective investigation into all deaths in detention where there is a reasonable suspicion that the death was unnatural. A coroner is required to hold an inquest into all deaths in custody, and specifically a jury inquest where there is reason to suspect the death is violent or unnatural. In this case, a two-judge panel of the Upper Tribunal (President of the Upper Tribunal, Mr Justice Lane, and Upper Tribunal Judge Canavan) found that the respondent Home Secretary had breached her Article 2 procedural obligations in respect of deaths in immigration detention. In particular, she had failed to ensure that crucial witness evidence was secured for use at an inquest and had failed to halt the deportation of a relevant witness.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 29th April 2021

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Home Office breaching human rights law by failing to investigate detainee deaths, court rules – The Independent

‘The Home Office’s policy for investigating deaths in immigration detention has been found to breach human rights law.’

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The Independent, 15th April 2021

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Remote hearing “did not stop witness admitting he had lied” – Litigation Futures

Posted March 30th, 2021 in coronavirus, deceit, news, probate, remote hearings, wills, witnesses by tracey

‘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.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th March 2021

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Shrewsbury 24: how industrial action led to 47-year fight for justice – The Guardian

‘The industrial action that led to the convictions of union activists and a 47-year campaign to clear their names took place as Edward Heath’s Conservative government sought to weaken the economic power of trade unions.’

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The Guardian, 23rd March 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Shrewsbury 24: court of appeal overturns 1970s picketing convictions – The Guardian

‘Court of appeal judges have overturned the criminal convictions of a group of trade unionists, including the actor Ricky Tomlinson, after a campaign lasting more than four decades.’

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The Guardian, 23rd March 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

Judge allows use of documents shared by mistake – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 23rd, 2021 in disclosure, documents, evidence, news, privilege, solicitors, witnesses by sally

‘A High Court judge has granted defendants permission to use documents inadvertently shared by the claimants’ solicitors before trial.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 22nd March 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk