POCA Civil Recovery Claims Under CPR Part 8 – Judiciary of England and Wales

Posted April 20th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, news, practice directions, proceeds of crime by sally

‘Civil Recovery claims commenced under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) must be brought under CPR 8 in accordance with paragraph 4.1 of the Civil Recovery Proceedings Practice Direction.’

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Judiciary of England and Wales, 15th April 2016

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Don’t Assume you can Serve the Solicitors! – Zenith PI Blog

Posted April 19th, 2016 in appeals, civil procedure rules, news, service, solicitors by sally

‘The Defendants appealed against a master’s order that service of a claim form by the Claimants on their solicitors amounted to good service. The Claimants applied for service by an alternative method under CPR 6.15.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 19th April 2016

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Control of Documents – New Square Chamber

Posted April 14th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, disclosure, documents, news, subsidiary companies by sally

‘What happens when a party to proceedings refuses to give disclosure of documents held by its subsidiary? Can the parent company simply refuse to give disclosure on the basis that the subsidiary is a separate legal entity? CPR 31.8 provides that a party is obliged to give disclosure of documents in its “control.” In Ardila v ENRC [2015] EWHC 3761 (Comm) Males J sought to reconcile the competing first instance and appellate decisions on whether a parent company can be said to control the documents of its subsidiary.’

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New Square Chambers, 11th April 2016

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

The Future of Employment Tribunals: A Need for Change? – Littleton Chambers

‘Dodge the tumbleweed blowing down the corridors, enter any Employment Tribunal (ET) waiting room and you will almost certainly see at least one employment lawyer sitting, staring at the dregs in their polystyrene cup looking to see whether the tealeaves will reveal if and when ET litigation will rise again, or whether the end of the ET system is nigh.’

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Littleton Chambers, 24th March 2016

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Shergill and others v Khaira and others (No 2) – WLR Daily

Posted April 13th, 2016 in appeals, civil procedure rules, costs, law reports, striking out, Supreme Court by sally

Shergill and others v Khaira and others (No 2) [2016] EWHC 628 (Ch)

‘The judge dismissed the defendants’ application to strike out the claimants’ claim, a decision which was later reversed by the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court allowed the claimants’ appeal from that decision and ordered that the defendants pay the claimants’ costs in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. The costs judge subsequently refused the defendants’ application to stay the immediate detailed assessment of those costs. The defendants appealed from that decision on the ground that, by CPR r 47.1, the costs of proceedings could not be subject to detailed assessment until the proceedings were concluded, unless the appellate court had expressly ordered the costs to be assessed immediately, which it had not.’

WLR Daily, 23rd March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

An Approach to Fundamental Dishonesty in the Claimant’s Absence – Zenith PI Blog

Posted April 12th, 2016 in appeals, civil procedure rules, costs, fundamental dishonesty, news by sally

‘A notable and well-known exception to Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting (QOCS) is that a Claimant whose claim is found to be “fundamentally dishonest” loses the protection of the QOCS rules.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 11th April 2016

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Amended costs management rules come into force – Litigation Futures

‘The amended costs management rules came into force today as part of the latest CPR update, following the review carried out by a Civil Procedure Rules Committee group headed by Mr Justice Coulson.’

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Litigation Futures, 6th April 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Swindon Borough Council v Webb (trading as Protective Coatings) – WLR Daily

Swindon Borough Council v Webb (trading as Protective Coatings) [2016] EWCA Civ 152

‘Whilst hesitating to be prescriptive in a matter where the liberty of the subject is at stake, and where the circumstances are likely to be infinitely various, the procedure provided by CPR r 81.31 should be followed where a contemnor seeks his discharge before the expiry of his sentence (para 23).’

WLR Daily, 16th March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Righting wrong writs. High Court enforcement – Nearly Legal

‘This has been a bit of an epic. First, the problem of High Court Enforcement Officers using form N293A to obtain writs of possession against tenants was raised by us in November 2015, then the scale of that use became clear by January 2016, and there were updates in February. Now, the coup de grace (which, if I am entirely honest, I’ve known was coming for a while).’

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Nearly Legal, 21st March 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Defendants lose out as judges insist on strict interpretation of part 36 – Litigation Futures

Posted March 17th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, costs, interpretation, news, part 36 offers by sally

‘Defendants have failed in two separate recent attempts to persuade courts to interpret the part 36 costs rules in a way that suited them.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th March 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Gentry v Miller and another – WLR Daily

Posted March 15th, 2016 in appeals, civil procedure rules, law reports, setting aside by sally

Gentry v Miller and another [2016] EWCA Civ 141

‘When dealing with an application under CPR r 13.3 to set aside a judgment in default of acknowledgement of service entered under CPR Pt 12 or an application under CPR r 39.3(5) to set aside a judgment given where a party did not attend the trial, the court should first establish whether the express requirements of rule 13.3 or rule 39.3(5) were satisfied and, if so, apply the three-stage test laid down for the exercise of the discretion under rule 3.9 to grant relief from sanctions. The first stage of the test, as to whether there was a serious or significant breach, applies to the applicant’s default in failing to acknowledge service or to attend trial, not to any subsequent delay in applying to set the judgment aside (paras 23–25).’

WLR Daily, 9th March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Littlestone and others v Macleish – WLR Daily

Posted March 15th, 2016 in appeals, civil procedure rules, costs, law reports, part 36 offers by sally

Littlestone and others v Macleish [2016] EWCA Civ 127

‘An admitted payment on account of a claim following a Part 36 offer to settle a claim of a higher amount was, in the absence of contrary agreement, made as much on account of the Part 36 offer as on account of the full sum claimed. It would be an absurdity for a defendant to be bound to pay an aggregated total of a Part 36 offer and an admissions payment that was larger than the total sum claimed (paras 23–24).’

WLR Daily, 10th March 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Pensions litigation included in civil court procedure guide for first time – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 4th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, news, pensions by sally

‘Official guidance covering the use of the High Court’s Chancery division has been updated to include specific provision for pensions litigation for the first time. Pensions litigation claims can involve hundreds of millions of pounds and affect thousands of individuals.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd March 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Part 36 Trumps Fixed Costs (and no Donald in Sight): Broadhurst and Taylor v Tan and Smith [2016] EWCA Civ 94 – Zenith PI Blog

‘In a claim which starts under the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims (in this case the RTA Protocol), what happens when a Claimant obtains a judgment against a defendant which is at least as advantageous to them as the proposals contained in a Part 36 offer – does the Claimant recover fixed costs only, as per the regime, or does the Claimant recover costs on an indemnity basis?’

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Zenith PI Blog, 1st March 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Statements of Truth, Translation and Witnesses with Poor English – Zenith PI Blog

‘The CPR includes surprisingly demanding requirements, and draconian sanctions, in relation to Statements of Truth from witnesses whose English is so poor that they cannot read documents in English.
Here is a helpful summary of the rules, and what, in practice, you need to do to comply with them.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 1st March 2016

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Secret Evidence in Immigration Tribunal Hearings: R (on the Application of ILPA) v Tribunal Procedure Committee and Lord Chancellor – Free Movement

‘Open justice is one of the most crucial features of a free state. In weighing up individual cases, courts have sometimes decided that open justice shoud give way to other, equally necessary, ideals. For instance, national security won the day in the Court of Appeal decision in the Erol Incedal case. This was inevitably criticised by the press. In Immigration Law Practitioners Association, R (On the Application Of) v Tribunal Procedure Committee & Anor [2016] EWHC 218 (Admin), Mr Justice Blake in the High Court deals whether in appropriate circumstances information can be withheld from an appellant, or both an appellant and their representative, in immigration tribunals. Rule 13 of the 2014 Immigration Tribunal Procedure Rules purports to do just that; the Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA) brought a challenge to its legality.’

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Free Movement, 29th February 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

High Court approves first application to transfer case to shorter trials scheme – Litigation Futures

Posted February 23rd, 2016 in civil procedure rules, costs, news, trials by sally

‘The High Court has approved the first application to transfer a case started in the normal way into the shorter trials scheme (STS).’

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Litigation Futures, 23rd February 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

An Inconvenient Truth: The Danger of Using Undertakings in International Cases – Family Law Week

‘Sarah Lucy Cooper, barrister, of Thomas More Chambers considers the perils of relying on undertakings in cases with a foreign element.’

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Family Law Week, 18th February 2016

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Warning that courts can still cut “reasonable” budgets – Litigation Futures

Posted February 19th, 2016 in budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, news by sally

‘It is a mistake to think that putting forward a budget that looks acceptable overall means the court will not look at the individual phases and costs within them, litigators have been warned.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th February 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court enforcement continued – Nearly Legal

‘In what has turned into a continuing series, there are further updates on enforcement of possession orders via the High Court, obtaining writs and the scandalous conduct of many High Court Enforcement Officers.’

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Nearly Legal, 13th February 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk