‘The Burnham government’s ambitious plans to reform local devolution took their first concrete step with the Budget of 28 October. The full plan for devolution will follow in the Rewiring the State Delivery Plan, due before the end of the year. But the Budget already brought significant news on the fiscal powers of English regional and local authorities, set out in the Fiscal Devolution Roadmap. This post looks at the Roadmap and at how it plugs into the legal framework created by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 5th November 2026

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘Unrepresentated parties in the family courts are being misled by ‘sycophantic’ AI advice systems, a leading expert in digital justice said this week. In a report for the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, Dr Natalie Byrom – whose 2019 report on digital justice kicked off HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s data strategy – also cautions against embedding overseas-developed proprietary software in the courts system.’

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Law Society Gazette, 5th November 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘The government has announced an overhaul of the rules protecting British design to make protection and enforcement simpler, cheaper, and prevent people copying designs or registering works that are not their own.’

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Law Society Gazette, 4th November 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘A firm can continue to act for its client after a Family Division judge dismissed a litigant in person’s application over an alleged conflict of interest.’

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Law Society Gazette, 4th November 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Building on the work of the Pensions Advisory Group and the IFoA thematic review of work by actuary PODEs, an IFoA working party has published essential new materials to further develop good practice in this area. Family lawyers should look for, and request, PODE adoption of these materials.’

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Financial Remedies Journal, 4th November 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘A senior crown prosecutor acting cited an imaginary legal precedent in an error that has sparked fresh concerns about AI hallucinations infecting the justice system.’

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The Guardian, 3rd November 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The Metropolitan police have settled a claim brought by a 68-year-old pro-Palestinian activist who accused the force of treating him “like a criminal” when he was arrested under anti-terrorism legislation.’

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The Guardian, 5th November 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘A builder who defrauded 10 victims out of more than £377,000 in a “sustained and deliberate” effort has been jailed.’

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BBC News, 4th November 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘One of the UK’s most prolific tax fraudsters has lost his appeal against a judge’s order to repay more than £90m he gained through his crimes.’

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BBC News, 5th November 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘It is well known that challenges to permanent exclusion decisions face limited success in court, and the 2024 to 2026 decisions largely affirm this. However, the reasoning applied by the courts indicates a recent overall trend towards a higher level of judicial scrutiny, culminating in the landmark judgment of R (HVF) v Lift Schools [2026] EWHC 2088 (Admin).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th November 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘In Caerphilly County Borough Council v Williamson, R (on the application of) [2026] EWCA Civ 1402, Lord Justices Miles, Nugee and Males all agreed that an argument advanced by the council regarding the definition of “deposits” under section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was not made out.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th November 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Operating within the National Listing Framework, the Scheme will support a more consistent approach to the progression of suitable domestic abuse cases across the Magistrates’ courts and Crown Court in England and Wales. It provides an expedited listing and case-management pathway designed to reduce avoidable delay, provide greater certainty for victims and defendants, and support the fair, safe and timely resolution of cases.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 2nd November 2026

Source: www.judiciary.uk

‘The Law Commission of England and Wales has launched a new project that will consider the application of the criminal law to conduct involving a dead body or human remains. There is no offence dealing specifically with mistreatment or concealment of a dead body in England and Wales, nor of disrespectful acts towards dead bodies or human remains generally. Particular concerns relate to, for example: dismemberment; image-based abuse; sexual abuse; and a killer’s refusal to provide the location of their victim’s body.’

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Law & Religion UK, 2nd November 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘The UK has strict firework laws in place, which can result in hefty fines and even imprisonment.’

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The Independent, 4th November 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘As Halloween approaches, thoughts naturally turn to ghosts and haunted houses. For housing lawyers, our concerns are usually confined to more earthly matters such as possession claims, homelessness applications and disrepair. Whilst the law is not typically associated with tales of the supernatural, there have been some published decisions over the years which contain more than a few unexpected encounters with ghosts, spirits and other unexplained phenomena.’

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Nearly Legal, 30th October 2026

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

‘Part 1 of this post explained the central problem in the Ammori litigation. We summarized why the Divisional Court ([2026] EWHC 292 (Admin) thought the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was unlawful, and why the Court of Appeal ([2026] EWCA Civ 721) reversed that decision. We also highlighted how each court approached the balance between freedom of expression and national security under the Convention. This part builds on that explanation and looks forward to the argument in the Supreme Court. It is a more technical discussion, which identifies some deeper problems with the law described in Part 1.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 4th November 2026

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘The DWP, working with tPR and the FCA, has today launched a consultation on implementing guided retirement across trust-based and contract-based workplace pensions. The proposals would require providers to offer eligible DC savers a default pension designed to simplify the transition from saving to drawing retirement income. Members would retain freedom to choose another option. Default pensions would normally include protection against outliving savings, with a proposed £10,000 threshold assessed across an individual’s relevant pots held with the same provider, after any tax-free pension commencement lump sum.‘

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Pensions Barrister, 3rd November 2026

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

‘Building on the work of the Pensions Advisory Group and the IFoA thematic review of work by actuary PODEs, an IFoA working party has published essential new materials to further develop good practice in this area. Family lawyers should look for, and request, PODE adoption of these materials.’

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Financial Remedies Journal, 4th November 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘In NG v SG (Appeal: Non-Disclosure) [2011] EWHC 3270 (Fam), [2012] 1 FLR 1211 at [1], Mostyn J stated that the greatest of the many commandments of the law on financial remedies “is the absolute bounden duty imposed on the parties to give, not merely to each other, but, first and foremost to the court full frank and clear disclosure of their present and likely future financial resources” (original emphasis).’

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Financial Remedies Journal, 4th November 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘A sexual health doctor who let out his flat to young men who wanted to watch the London 2012 Olympics so he could take explicit photographs of them has been struck off.’

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The Independent, 4th November 2026

Source: www.independent.co.uk