‘In Stewart v Kelly Blake J dealt with an application, made by a Defendant in a personal injury claim, to adduce surveillance evidence. The ex tempore judgment – currently available only in summary form – deals with the principles to be applied in relation to ambushes and surveillance.’
Zenith PI Blog, 15th November 2016
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘Today’s announcement of government plans to reform personal injury claims has predictably split the market, with claimant representatives incensed and defendants pleased.’
Legal Futures, 17th November 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A woman sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of faking her own rape says she is now fighting to clear her name.’
BBC News, 15th November 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Ashley Cukier considers two recent judgments of the High Court (Alfa Bank v Reznik [2016] EWHC B21 (Comm) and Taylor v Van Dutch Marine & Others [2016] EWHC 2201 (Ch)), which demonstrate the courts’ willingness, if the circumstances justify it, to hear committal applications in the absence of the defendant.’
Littleton Chambers, 6th October 2016
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
Regina v Sardar (Anis Abid) [2016] EWCA Crim 1616
‘The defendant was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and, as an alternative count, conspiracy to cause an explosion. It was the Crown’s case that the defendant had been directly involved in the construction and/or deployment of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one of which had caused the death of an American soldier near Baghdad in September 2007. The defendant’s case was that he had been acting in lawful and proportionate defence of Sunni communities who were under threat from Shia militia; his fingerprints had been found on two of the bombs, although not the one which had resulted in the fatal explosion. The defendant was convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder; no verdict was sought on the alternative count of conspiracy to cause an explosion. He appealed against conviction on the ground, inter alia, of fresh evidence from two anonymous witnesses (C and D) who were now available to give evidence as to the frequency and quality of attacks by the Shia militia on the Sunni communities and the need for the Sunnis to act in self-defence. C and D were prepared to disclose their identities to the court and, within a strict “confidentiality ring”, to counsel for the Crown, the Crown Prosecution Service lawyer and two senior investigating officers with undertakings that there should be no further disclosure to anyone. However, the Crown was not prepared to give such undertakings. The defendant applied for an order under section 87(3) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (which required the defendant to inform the court and the prosecutor of the identity of the witness) for anonymity measures to be put in place. It was submitted that although the “prosecutor” had to be informed, that did not necessarily envisage disclosure beyond the person of the prosecutor.’
WLR Daily, 18th October 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘A high court judgment in which the current England assistant manager, Sammy Lee, was found to have knowingly given false evidence has been upheld by the court of appeal. Lee, when manager of Bolton Wanderers for a short period in 2007 having taken over from Sam Allardyce, was found to have lied about his club’s involvement in signing the midfield player Gavin McCann, who had been poached by the agents SEM.’
The Guardian, 7th November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A doctor struck off the medical register for the evidence she gave in so-called “shaken baby” cases, has been reinstated.’
BBC News, 3rd November 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Some police forces in England and Wales risk being “overwhelmed” by the volume of digital evidence being collected, the police watchdog has warned.’
BBC News, 3rd November 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina v Norman (Robert) [2016] EWCA Crim 1564
‘The defendant was a prison officer who was paid more than £10,000 by a tabloid journalist in return for information about the prison which formed the subject matter of numerous published articles. He was charged with one count of misconduct in public office. The newspapers voluntarily disclosed evidence of the defendant’s identity and conduct. It was the prosecution case that the stories did not, save in a few cases, have any public interest and that the defendant knew that what he was doing was very wrong given the scale and scope of his activities, conducted behind his employer’s back, in return for substantial payments which were routed via his son’s bank account in order to conceal them. The defendant was convicted. He appealed against conviction the grounds that (i) the judge should have acceded to his submission to stay the proceedings as an abuse of process since the defendant’s identity and the evidence upon which the prosecution depended had been obtained by police misconduct in putting pressure upon the newspapers to give disclosure in order to avoid corporate prosecution; and (ii) the judge should have acceded to his submission of no case to answer, since the defendant’s misconduct did not meet the high threshold of seriousness required for it to be characterised as a criminal abuse of the public’s trust in him as an officer holder.’
WLR Daily, 20th October 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘An employer appealed a first instance decision in which it was held vicariously liable for the actions of employee.’
Zenith PI Blog, 26th October 2016
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘The law could be reformed to make clear that an alleged rape victim’s sexual history must not in future be used routinely as evidence in court, the attorney general has suggested.’
The Guardian, 27th October 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Many people watching the UK television drama National Treasure will have made their minds up about the guilt or innocence of the protagonist well before the end of the series. In episode one we learn that this aging celebrity has ‘slept around’ throughout his long marriage but when an allegation of non-recent sexual assault is made he strenuously denies it. His wife knows about his infidelities and chooses to believe him, but his daughter, who for years has struggled with mental ill-health, substance abuse problems and fractured relationships, seems to be troubled by memories from her childhood. As the episodes unfold, the series gives the audience chance to be judge and jury, employing whatever bits of information are available to them and, not least, their own prior assumptions about such cases.’
OUP Blog, 21st October 2016
Source: www.blog.oup.com
‘A former solicitor general has condemned the way the Ched Evans rape trial was conducted. Vera Baird told the BBC details of the woman’s sexual past should not have been heard in court and the case could discourage people who are sexually assaulted from reporting it to police.’
The Independent, 16th October 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has agreed to pay more than £100,000 in compensation to a man who spent six years in prison after being wrongly convicted of perverting the course of justice in a gangland murder investigation.’
The Guardian, 6th October 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it will not prosecute five police officers over the death in custody of Sean Rigg in 2008.’
BBC news, 15th September 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A wrongly interpreted punctuation mark meant police investigating Stephen Lawrence’s murder did not realise a crucial piece of evidence had been found close to the scene for more than 20 years, detectives have admitted.’
Daily Telegraph, 13th September 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Lawyers representing a Libyan husband and wife who were kidnapped and flown to one of Muammar Gaddafi’s prisons are seeking to overturn a decision that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute a former MI6 officer for his alleged role.’
The Guardian, 11th September 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The decision not to press charges in the abuse investigation against Sir Cliff Richard is being reviewed.’
The Guardian, 31st August 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Police say they cannot take further action over claims from the mother of a murder victim that she is being taunted online by the killer.’
BBC News, 30th August 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘There are still relatively few findings of fundamental dishonesty being made by Courts. Despite the fact that this is obviously an important exception to the QOCS regime, the fundamental dishonesty threshold is proving a difficult hurdle for Defendants to meet. This article explores a recent finding of fundamental dishonesty and the lessons that can be learned by Claimants and Defendants in such cases.’
Hardwicke Chamebrs, 17th August 2016
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
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