The Post Office: Disclosure Lessons from a National Scandal – Guildhall Chambers

‘An estimated 736 people were prosecuted by the Post Office between 2000 and 2014, Horizon software having been first introduced in 1999, and responsibility for prosecutions, in all but exceptional cases, being handed over to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2014. Many of those prosecuted were imprisoned, 4 committed suicide and all faced the stigma and stress of criminal prosecution. The Court of Appeal in Hamilton v Post Office Limited [2021] EWCA Crim 577 quashed 39 convictions (of the 42 appellants) on the basis that there had been an abuse of process on two grounds: that a fair trial was impossible and that it was an affront to public conscience for the appellants to have faced prosecution. This judgment followed the Post Office Group Litigation in the High Court before Fraser J known as Bates and Others v The Post Office Limited [2019] EWHC 3408.’

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Guildhall Chambers, 11th March 2024

Source: www.guildhallchambers.co.uk

Judges reject HMRC appeal and rule firm’s marshmallows are not sweets – The Guardian

Posted April 24th, 2024 in appeals, food, HM Revenue & Customs, news, taxation, VAT by tracey

‘A food company has won a sweet-tasting victory against the UK tax authorities after a court decided that it did not have to pay VAT on its marshmallows because they were not confectionery.’

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The Guardian, 23rd April 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Universal Credit, transitional protection and temporary accommodation – Nearly Legal

‘Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v JA (2024) UKUT 52 (AAC) (UTJ Church). This important Upper Tribunal decision holds that universal credit claimants leaving supported or temporary accommodation have been unlawfully losing ‘transitional protection’ due to the discriminatory effect of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014. It also holds that affected claimants can obtain a remedy through tribunal appeals.’

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Nearly Legal, 23rd April 2024

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Does time spent on an immediate suspension order whilst awaiting appeal count towards the overall period of suspension? Nabeel Aga v The General Dental Council [2023] EWHC 3208 (Admin) – 2 Hare Court

‘The decision late last year by Ritchie J in Aga v GDC caused uproar in the regulatory and professional discipline worlds.’

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2 Hare Court, 5th April 2024

Source: www.2harecourt.com

The Supreme Court sets the tone for Section 20 Extradition Act 2003 – 5SAH

Posted April 24th, 2024 in appeals, chambers articles, extradition, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘On 6 March 2024, the Supreme Court handed down two important decisions that related to issues under section 20 Extradition Act 2003:

– Bertino v Public Prosecutor’s Office Italy [2024] UKSC 9
– Merticariu v Judecatoria Arad, Romania [2024] UKSC 10

Notably, these two cases had the same constitution of the Court, with Stephens and Burnett LJJ giving a joint judgment in both cases, with which the rest of the Court agreed.’

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5SAH, 22nd April 2024

Source: www.5sah.co.uk

Court of Appeal upholds right to damages for imminent breaches of article 3 ECHR – 3PB

‘In a judgment with potentially wide implications for damages claims for breaches of fundamental human rights, the Court of Appeal in ASY & Others v Home Office [2024] EWCA Civ 373 has held that there is a right to damages for imminent breaches of article 3 of the ECHR (the absolute prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment).’

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3PB, 18th April 2024

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Immigration Newsletter – 4KBW

March 2024 Update.

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4KBW, March 2024

Source: www.4kbw.co.uk

What is a mistake of fact? – 2 Hare Court

Posted April 24th, 2024 in appeals, chambers articles, mistake, news, sexual offences by sally

‘Inclusion on the barred list(s) may be appealed to the Upper Tribunal if there has been a mistake of law or fact. But just what constitutes a mistake of fact has proved a thorny problem. In particular, to what extent may the Upper Tribunal simply disagree with the DBS’ factual finding and substitute its own judgment?’

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2 Hare Court, 5th April 2024

Source: www.2harecourt.com

Armagh: Man’s convictions for murder of soldiers quashed – BBC News

Posted April 23rd, 2024 in appeals, armed forces, miscarriage of justice, murder, news, Northern Ireland by sally

‘A man jailed for life for the murder of four British soldiers nearly 50 years ago has had his convictions quashed by Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal.’

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BBC News, 22nd April 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Conditions on permission to appeal – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 22nd, 2024 in appeals, civil procedure rules, debts, foreign jurisdictions, news by sally

‘An order giving permission to appeal may be made subject to condition. In the recent case of Palladian Partners LP and others v The Republic of Argentina and another [2024] EWCA Civ 139, the Court of Appeal made an order granting Argentina permission to appeal the first instance judgment conditional on Argentina paying €310m to be held in escrow pending determination of the appeal. Argentina sought reconsideration of the imposition of that condition.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 19th April 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Woman resident in the UK for 39 years loses deportation battle – EIN Blog

Posted April 22nd, 2024 in appeals, criminal justice, deportation, fraud, immigration, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of Mrs Akhtar who had been resident in the UK for 39 years (since 1985). Elisabeth Laing, Phillips and Males LJJ held that the Upper Tribunal had not failed to consider all the relevant circumstances when reaching its decision under section 117C(6) of Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and they dismissed Mrs Akhtar’s appeal. Judges Mandalia and Hanson had not erroneously concluded that a foreign criminal had failed to meet the statutory exceptions in section 117C(6) when deciding her rights under article 8 of the ECHR did not outweigh the public interest in her deportation. Mrs Akhtar and her husband (“H”) were both convicted criminal offences on 21 April 2016 and they were duly sentenced, respectively, to a total of 4 years and three months’ imprisonment and to 14 years’ imprisonment (reduced to 11 on appeal) for their roles in a substantial and long-running mortgage fraud. Mrs Akhtar was convicted of the offences of cheating the public revenue between 1 January 2004 and 26 September 2012, entering into an arrangement to facilitate the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property and two counts of conspiracy to obtain a money transfer by deception. She was sentenced, respectively, to 30 months’ imprisonment, 30 months’ imprisonment, concurrent and also 21 months’ imprisonment, consecutive, and 21 months’ imprisonment, concurrent. Mrs Akhtar, who entered the UK as a fiancée in 1985, complained that the UT did not take her long residence into account in considering section 117C(6).’

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EIN Blog, 22nd April 2024

Source: www.ein.org.uk

A limitation period applies to unfair prejudice petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 (THG Plc and others v Zedra Trust Company (Jersey) Limited) – Gatehouse Chambers

‘Dispute Resolution analysis: The Court of Appeal has rejected 40 years of “received wisdom” among company law practitioners and has held that a limitation period of either twelve or six years (depending upon the relief sought) applies in respect of petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006.’

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Gatehouse Chambers, 7th March 2024

Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk

Does the Court have the power to grant newcomer injunctions? – Becket Chambers

‘Wolverhampton City Council and others v London Gypsies and Travellers and other [2023] UKSC 47 is an appeal concerning a number of conjoined cases in which injunctions had been sought by Local Authorities to prevent unauthorised encampments by Gypsies and Travellers. Such injunctions had generally been sought against ‘persons unknown’ as the members of a group of Gypsies or Travellers who might in future camp in a certain location were not known in advance. In some cases, the Defendants to the injunction sought had been described by reference to the conduct the injunction had sought to prohibit, for example ‘persons unknown forming unauthorised encampments within the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth’.’

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Becket Chambers, 2nd April 2024

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Criminal Cases Review Commission apologises to Andrew Malkinson for handling of case – The Guardian

‘The chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission has offered an “unreserved apology” to Andrew Malkinson for its handling of his case after he spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.’

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The Guardian, 18th April 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Government faces JR claim over litigation funding legislation – Legal Futures

‘The Ministry of Justice is being threatened with judicial review over the draft legislation that aims to reverse the impact of the Supreme Court’s PACCAR ruling.’

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Legal Futures, 19th April 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Pension crimes, fines and insolvency practitioners – Pensions Barrister

‘David Pollard of Wilberforce Chambers has written an article about the relevance of the recent Supreme Court decision in R (Palmer) – in which it was held that an administrator was not in the class of persons liable to prosecution under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 for alleged failure to give notice to the SoS of proposed collective redundancies – to crimes and fines under pensions legislation.’

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Pensions Barrister, 18th April 2024

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

Case Preview: Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council – UKSC Blog

Posted April 19th, 2024 in appeals, causation, damages, local government, news, nuisance, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this post, Sarah Coates-Madden, Senior Associate at CMS, and Fiona Dalling, Associate at CMS, preview the decision awaited from the Supreme Court in Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council.’

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UKSC Blog, 17th April 2024

Source: ukscblog.com

DWP warns carers they could face greater penalties if they appeal against fines – The Guardian

Posted April 18th, 2024 in appeals, benefits, carers, fines, news, penalties by sally

‘Government officials have been accused of using “threatening and cruel” tactics towards unpaid carers by saying they could face even greater financial penalties if they appeal against “vindictive” benefit fines.’

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The Guardian, 17th April 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

The Curious Case of Computer-Generated Works (CGW) in THJ Systems v Sheridan – City Law Forum

Posted April 17th, 2024 in appeals, computer programs, copyright, intellectual property, news by sally

‘In December 2023, the Court of Appeal decided THJ Systems v Sheridan [2023] EWCA Civ 1354 and in doing so, illustrated my point nicely. That case involved a software which generated visual ‘risk and pie charts’. A representative example appears below. Both Mr Mitchell (the software developer) and Mr Sheridan (the software user) claimed to own the resulting visual images under section 9(3). This argument appeared in both the re-re-re- amended particulars of the claim (para 38.2) and the re-re-amended defence (para 49). The approved list of issues for trial (question 25) also explicitly directed the courts to determine who the author of the works was under section 9(3). With that in mind, one might expect the judgments of the High Court and Court of Appeal to interpret and apply s9(3).’

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City Law Forum, 17th April 2024

Source: blogs.city.ac.uk

Supreme Court hears appeals over reporting restriction orders in withdrawal of treatment cases – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Supreme Court is this week hearing an appeal over the discharge of reporting restriction orders (RROs) protecting the identity of medical professionals involved in the care of patients in respect of whom an application to withdraw treatment had been made.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th April 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk