‘A Family Court judge has hailed the success of allowing an autistic mother’s oral evidence in care proceedings to be given by presenting her with written questions whilst in the witness box and for the answers to be typed in real time.’
Local Government Lawyer, 25th August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Children and other vulnerable victims of crime can pre-record evidence to avoid attending court from today.’
BBC News, 24th August 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The High Court has overturned a ruling that a claimant who defeated an argument that a car accident he was involved in was bogus, but lied about his injuries, was not fundamentally dishonest.’
Litigation Futures, 11th August 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Video manipulation software, including ‘deepfake’ technology, poses problems for remote courts in verifying evidence and that litigants or witnesses are who they say they are, a report has warned.’
Legal Futures, 29th July 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Despite being a libel case, Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Another felt more like a criminal trial at the Old Bailey, or a domestic violence hearing in the family courts.’
The Guardian, 28th July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘In Sutherland v Her Majesty’s Advocate, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it was compatible with the accused person’s rights under ECHR article 8 to use evidence obtained by “paedophile hunter” (“PH”) groups in a criminal trial.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st July 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Fewer than one in 70 recorded rapes resulted in a charge last year, as tens of thousands of victims did not support demands from police and prosecutors and withdrew from the process.’
The Guardian, 17th July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘You are the witness to or the victim of a crime. The police officer says that they need you to hand over your mobile phone. The officer says it will be examined and all of the contents may be downloaded. The officer cannot say when you will get your phone back. There is a long backlog of phones waiting to be downloaded, it could be a couple of months. It’s your phone, you really rely upon it. Like most people, your average screen time has rocketed during lockdown. There is so much detailed and very personal information on that phone. You ask the officer, ‘Do you really need to take my phone?’ You are very reluctant to hand it over. The officer says, if you do not hand it over the case probably will not go any further. Discussions like this take place every day across the United Kingdom.’
Broadway House Chambers, 29th June 2020
Source: broadwayhouse.co.uk
‘The recent case of R v Smith [2020] EWCA Crim 777 highlighted just how important the Criminal Procedure Rules are, and how, despite the pressures that practitioners face, they must be complied with to deal with any disputes surrounding evidence or procedure that may arise.’
Broadway House Chambers, 29th June 2020
Source: broadwayhouse.co.uk
‘According to a report in the Nottinghamshire Law Society Civil Court User Bulletin No 5. HHJ Godsmark QC, on an application to vacate a trial on account of the Defendant’s witnesses being “furloughed”, stated that, “attending a court to give evidence for the employer is not ‘work’ and certainly not work within the meaning of the furlough scheme”.’
3PB, 3rd July 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘Johnny Depp has failed to stop his ex-wife Amber Heard from watching him give evidence in a libel case over allegations of domestic abuse.’
The Guardian, 4th July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Johnny Depp has breached an order in a libel case by failing to disclose texts that apparently show him trying to obtain drugs, the high court has ruled.’
The Guardian, 29th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Rape cases where a woman was held at knife point, a film of an attack was found on a suspect’s phone and an alleged perpetrator admitted the offence in text messages are among those dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service, documents shared with the Guardian reveal.’
The Guardian, 30th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘At 28, the Claimant had acquired a traumatic brain injury and been rendered tetraplegic in an accident caused by the negligent driving of the Defendant. The case came before Master Eastman in July 2019 for case management. At that stage, it was common ground between the experts in neurology for each party that the Claimant’s injuries had significantly reduced his life expectancy. However, they disagreed as to the extent of the reduction, Dr Liu for the Claimant estimating that his life expectancy to be 30-35% of normal; Professor Collin for the Defendant adopting a figure of 30-44% of normal. There were also differences in the experts’ approach to available statistics. Whilst the range of figures adopted by each expert were not far apart and it was likely that the Claimant’s care costs would by awarded by way of a PPO, it was nonetheless accepted that the difference between the parties translated to a 7-figure sum. At the CMC before Master Eastman in July 2019, the Defendant’s application for permission to rely on a report, from medical statisticians on the issue of the Claimant’s life expectancy, was dismissed on the basis that neither party’s neurology expert deferred to evidence from a statistician to assist them in determining the Claimant’s life-expectancy and such evidence would not add to their existing analysis of the available statistics. The Defendant did not appeal.’
No. 5 Chambers, 22nd June 2020
Source: www.no5.com
‘Civil claims increasingly raise technical and scientific issues that require evidence from experts who can assist the court in understanding the key issues. However, the parties do not have a right to adduce expert evidence and the court’s permission will be required. Rather, the court will control the use of evidence. It will do this by restricting the use of expert evidence to that which is reasonably required to resolve the proceedings (CPR 35.1).’
Law Society's Gazette, 22nd June 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Rape investigations are being systematically dropped after victims refuse to hand over their mobile phones for analysis, an investigation has found.’
The Guardian, 17th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The High Court has refused an insurer permission to rely on a new expert whose evidence reduced the estimated life expectancy of a personal injury claimant.’
Law Society's Gazette, 17th June 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The police have an important role to play at the time of a pandemic when social distancing and self-isolation are so important. However, any action they take must be proportionate, transparent and, above all, lawful. Anything else will erode public confidence in the police and make their job more difficult.’
Law Society, 15th June 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘ It is received wisdom, oft-repeated in judgments and textbooks alike, that the judicial review procedure is not an apt forum for the testing of evidence and resolution of disputed questions of fact. For example, it is commonly stated that disclosure and oral evidence will only be ordered rarely, while one would be lucky to find ‘expert evidence’ mentioned in an administrative law text. In contrast disclosure, oral evidence and expert evidence are par for the course in ‘ordinary’ civil proceedings.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 15th June 2020
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The Post Office prosecuted postmasters over missing money despite having evidence its own computer system could be to blame.’
BBC News, 8th June 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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