QOCS transitional provisions
Important questions concerning the interpretation and application of the provisions under the qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) regime (CPR 44.130-44.17) came before the Court of Appeal in Jacob Corstorphine v Liverpool City Council [2018] EWCA Civ 270 (Sir Geoffrey Vos PQBD and Hamblen LJ).
Waiving privilege and ‘cherry picking’
Legal update: professional privilege.
A changing sanctions regime
Does the UK need its own version of the Magnitsky Act?
Financial remedy work
Legal update: family law
Disclosure and litigation privilege
legal update: civil procedure.
Criminal law round-up
A round up of criminal justice elements with Anthony Edwards.
General power of competence
Nicholas Dobson says for local authorities that previously had seen their functional creativity significantly curtailed, the GPC in the Localism Act 2011 promised a brave new world.
Common law duty of care
Personal injury, BLC claims.
E-disclosure and party agreement
The disclosure of relevant documents during the litigation process has been a longstanding and distinctive feature of English civil procedure. However, standard disclosure under the Civil Procedure Rules does not give rise to ‘perfect justice’.
Hair strand testing in care proceedings
The case H (A Child: Hair Strand Testing) 2017 EWFC 64 concerned care proceedings to determine whether H, an eight-month-old removed at birth and then returned to the mother under supervision, should remain in her mother’s care, given a history of drug abuse and the presentation of a positive drug ...
Emerging law and procedure in Wales
Update on the latest legislative developments in Wales.
Applying for relief against forfeiture
Macmillan Cancer Support v Hayes [2017] EWHC 3110 (Ch)
EU treaty breaches and national courts
Undertakings investigated by the European Commission that offer commitments, while avoiding a formal finding of infringement binding on the national court, may not prevent those who consider themselves harmed by the conduct from bringing actions for damages.
Planning consent contrary to advice
What legal duty does a local planning authority have to state reasons behind a decision, against the advice of its own professional advisers, to grant a controversial development?
Future status of EU citizens and families
On 8 December 2017 the European Commission and UK government issued a Joint Report on the progress of article 50 talks to date. A week later the stage was set to proceed.
Privacy and disclosure
Two recent cases at the Court of Appeal considered the application of article 8 to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
Pre-action disclosure of insurance policies
Peel Port Shareholder Finance Company Ltd v Dornoch Ltd [2017] EWHC 876 (TCC) serves as a reminder of the court’s approach to the rules on pre-action disclosure and the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the 2010 act).
Employment: Is the gig finally up for Uber?
The ride-hailing business has been doing battle in the UK employment tribunals – and it has not fared well.
Councillor disqualification
The government is considering the disqualification criteria for councillors and mayors – and practitioner feedback is welcome
Litigation – 2017 in review
BPE Solicitors v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21, a solicitors’ negligence claim, was the Supreme Court’s first opportunity to review the 20-year-old House of Lords SAAMCO principle, which underpins the calculation of loss in professional negligence claims. The court reaffirmed the SAAMCO judgment, referred to by Lord Sumption as ‘one of ...
Criminal: General defences
In R v Riddell [2017] EWCA Crim 413 the court confirmed that self-defence can potentially be a defence to allegations of both dangerous and careless driving.
Commercial property: Restrictive covenants
There are few cases so iconic that lawyers remember the names long after university or law school. One is Tulk v Moxhay [1848], the case on the restrictive covenants which have prevented building on Leicester Square. The date of that case demonstrates that well-drafted restrictive covenants on land are an ...
Data protection: Preparing for GDPR
No excuses for confusion on day one of the new regime.
Going Dutch
The Netherlands has published draft rules for its new English language commercial court, which will seek to exploit Brexit by targeting international dispute resolution.
Assisted dying: A right to autonomy and dignity
Stage is set for the next round of assisted dying litigation.
Cards on the table for criminal solicitors
Ivey could cause a revision in the laws on dishonesty.
Personal injury: Foster carers and vicarious liability
Supreme Court reverses decision of the Court of Appeal, deciding that a local authority could be vicariously liable for torts committed by foster carers against children in local authority care.
Council vicariously liable for abuse committed by foster parents
Lawyers will need to pay close attention to local authority contracts with independent fostering agencies.
Construction: Adjudication – unilateral withdrawal
Can the referring party withdraw a dispute from adjudication and subsequently refer the same dispute to a second adjudication?
Partnership agreements: Lateral hires and restraint of trade
How far can a law firm go to protect its business from the threat of team defections?
Intellectual property: A stress on technical advantages
The US Federal Circuit’s latest struggles with the Alice decision could have a positive impact for UK patent litigators
Property: Clarity needed for process for obtaining writs of possession
Partridge has reduced the confusion surrounding rules in relation to obtaining wits, but these are small steps.
Education: Ofsted marked its own homework
Durand Academy Trust School challenged critical Ofsted report.
Family: Undertakings and variations
Birch v Birch emphasises the variation of family orders.
Emerging Welsh law and procedure
In the first of a regular update, Richard Owen reports on legislative and legal policy developments that apply solely to Wales.
Competition: Anti-competitive damages
A tale of two trials: Mastercard, death spirals and MIFs.
Local government: Scrutinising councillor conduct
Holders of public office must be publicly accountable for their decisions and actions and able to submit to scrutiny.
Arbitration: 'Non-existent' respondents
What is the position when the respondent in the arbitration is dissolved before commencement?
Competition: Certification and the class action regime
Second-class certification judgment in relation to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 handed down.
Criminal - statutory changes
The criminal law provisions of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 have been brought substantially into force and with unusual speed.
Data protection: GDPR and employee surveilance
At present all employers have to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when conducting employee surveillance, as they will be gathering and using personal data about living, identifiable individuals (location, movements, internet browsing history and so on). Part 3 of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Data Protection Employment ...
Personal injury: Untraced drivers and rights
Protections afforded to Howe must be secured.
Digital pirates – on a sinking ship?
CJEU decision could make file-sharing sites constitute as copyright infringement.
Local Government: Scope of power to prosecute
R v AB and others raises questions about the powers of local authorities.
Legal update: media law - The right of erasure
Most social media sites have no age restriction for registration and children are free to interact with the online community as they see fit. Even where they do not post information themselves, a child’s image will often feature in pictures posted by friends and family.
Post-separation accrual
Valuations for potential future accrual are becoming more complex.
‘Excessive pricing’ and pharmaceuticals
Alleged abuse of dominance through excessive pricing in the pharmaceutical sector could be curbed.
Leases and side letter concessions
Courts will intervene on one-sided landlord-biased precedent.
Barnsley in a hole
Local governments are under extreme financial pressure from pothole damage repairs
Criminal Finances Act 2017
Roger Sahota assesses a radical overhaul of the anti-money laundering and confiscation regime.
