‘Police forces are having to ration forensic toxicology work, especially samples from suspected drug drivers, because there is not enough capacity in the system to handle the volume of work, the outgoing forensic science regulator has said.’
The Guardian, 16th February 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘On 05 February 2021, the Court of Appeal judgment in the case of A & Others [2021] EWCA Crim 128 was published. The judgment effectively dismissed arguments to stop the use of data obtained from the EncroChat communications network in legal proceedings. Put simply, judges ruled that the data obtained by French and Dutch law enforcement by hacking EncroChat servers did not constitute “interception” and therefore did not contravene the statutory provisions as set out in the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.’
Broadway House Chambers, 8th February 2021
Source: broadwayhouse.co.uk
‘A solicitor who lied to a High Court judge during the trial of a dispute with a former partner in his law firm has been struck off.’
Legal Futures, 11th February 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Taking account of the vulnerability of parties and witnesses is to be added to the overriding objective as well as the factors used to determine the proportionality of costs.’
Litigation Futures, February 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The Court of Appeal has decided that the two-stage procedure provided for by the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to determine whether a person is a victim of human trafficking, involving an initial decision on whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person is a victim, and a subsequent conclusive decision made on the balance of probabilities, complies with the requirements of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005 (ECAT), Directive 2011/36 and article 4 of the ECHR. Two appellants (MN, an Albanian national, and IXU, a Nigerian national) appealed against the dismissal of their judicial review applications of decisions made by Home Office decision-makers that they were not victims of trafficking for the purposes of the NRM. The NRM sets out a two-stage identification procedure to determine whether someone was a victim of trafficking. A “Competent Authority”, a part of the Home Office, determines whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person is a victim. Then, in light of further consideration/investigation, the Competent Authority makes a conclusive decision. Conclusively established trafficking victims are entitled to support under the NRM. Some, but not all, of that support is available also to potential victims identified at the first stage. The Competent Authority made reasonable grounds determinations in favour of both MN and IXU but made conclusive decisions against them. Farbey J (MN) and Mr Philip Mott QC (IXU) dismissed the judicial review claims at first instance.’
EIN Blog, 21st January 2021
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘Anonymous witness orders are most commonly sought by the prosecution in cases involving undercover police officers. There are outliers however, cases of complexity that call for closer attention, particularly those involving allegations or fears of witness intimidation.’
Carmelite Chambers, 11th January 2021
Source: www.carmelitechambers.co.uk
‘This paper sets out recommendations for a two stage disclosure process in an attempt to avoid the problems with disclosure of computer data/material in court proceedings, problems that have been exposed in two cases in England: the Post Office Horizon scandal, and the case of the nurses in R v Cahill, R v Pugh.’
Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review, 18 (2021), 18-25, 15 December 2020
Source: journals.sas.ac.uk
‘Police have dropped their investigation into a Conservative MP and ex-minister who was arrested after a woman accused him of rape.’
The Independent, 13th December 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Alex Verdan QC of 4PB analyses some recent important judgments in private children law.’
Family Law Week, 8th December 2020
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘On 5 August 2020, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in Shagang Shipping Company Ltd (in liquidation) v HNA Group Company Ltd [2020] UKSC 34; [2020] 1 W.L.R. 3549. Against the background of a commercial charterparty dispute, this appeal raised important questions about the admissibility of evidence potentially obtained through torture.’
UKSC Blog, 8th December 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘The court held that whereas reasonable grounds for suspecting someone has committed an offence sets a low evidential hurdle, the second requirement for an arrest to be lawful (for the Police to prove that there were reasonable grounds to believe the arrest was “necessary”) sets a comparatively high evidential hurdle and the police could not objectively evidence that the arrest was “necessary” when the GP would have been prepared to voluntarily attend the police station and the reasons given by the Police for the “necessity” of arresting the GP were baseless.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 11th November 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘In 2017 a 24-year-old woman, Louella Fletcher Michie, died at the Bestival Music Festival, having taken 2-CP, a Class A drug, supplied by her boyfriend, the appellant.’
2 Hare Court, November 2020
Source: www.2harecourt.com
‘The High Court appeal in Griffiths v TUI [2020] EWHC 2268 handed down in August 2020 has been much remarked on by personal injury lawyers, but the decision is also of interest for cases in the business and property courts, as it places a significant restriction on the role of the Court in cases of “unopposed” expert evidence.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 4th November 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘On 15 July 2020 the Supreme Court handed down its findings in Sutherland (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Advocate (Respondent) (Scotland) [2020] UKSC 32.’
2 Hare Court, 2nd November 2020
Source: www.2harecourt.com
‘In R v Andrew Turner [2020] EWCA Crim 1241 the Court of Appeal considered the issue of when a professional witness crosses the line and gives expert evidence, in the context of mobile telephone analysis. The appeal concerned a conspiracy to supply class A drugs, the prosecution relied on mobile telephone and surveillance evidence. The appellant was said to be a driving force behind the conspiracy and that various incriminating mobile telephone numbers could be attributed to him.’
St Philips Barristers, 5th November 2020
Source: st-philips.com
‘On 2nd November 2020, Nicol J handed down his eagerly awaited judgment in Depp v News Group Newspapers and anor [2020] EWHC 2911 (QB). This high-profile case has been widely reported and needs little introduction. In short, Mr Depp failed in his defamation claim concerning an article published by The Sun that alleged that he had committed acts of violence against his then-wife Amber Heard. Nicol J held that the defendants had proved it was “substantially true” that Mr Depp had committed acts of violence against Ms Heard on twelve pleaded occasions.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 6th November 2020
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘The Claimant had been employed by the respondents for 20 years as a teacher. On 30th December 2016 the Police entered his property having been granted a warrant to search for and seize computers in the possession of the Claimant. The warrant was based on intelligence that indecent images of a child or children had been downloaded to an IP address associated with the Claimant. The Claimant lived at the address with his son. One of the computers was found to have data that was of interest to the Police.’
3PB, 2nd October 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘The recent case of Hinson v Hare [2020] EWHC 2386 QB provides further clarification on the circumstances in which a court may allow one party permission to rely on a further expert report, when the conclusions reached by the single joint expert are not to their liking. Whilst the specific claim was for noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) the principles expounded can be applied generally.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 2nd October 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘The High Court has dismissed an application to overturn a judge’s refusal to allow tenants to rely on a witness statement from a council officer in eviction proceedings brought by a housing association.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th October 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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