Custody, carer, client: family lawyers identify ‘harmful’ words – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 13th, 2023 in divorce, families, family courts, legal language, news by sally

‘Custody, versus, battle, opponent, rights, parties and dispute – these are the words family law professionals consider the most harmful to family relationships, according to the Family Solutions Group. The group, set up by Mr Justice Cobb in 2020, marked the first anniversary of no-fault divorce reforms by calling for an end to “combative” language in family separation cases.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th April 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Master of rolls questions ‘impenetrable’ client documents – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 6th, 2022 in agreements, fees, legal language, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘The ability of lay clients to understand the Law Society’s model conditional fee agreement was questioned by three of the most senior judges in England and Wales yesterday in a much-awaited Court of Appeal hearing.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 5th October 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

BSB to use “marginalised by race” as way to describe minority groups – Legal Futures

Posted September 15th, 2022 in barristers, legal language, minorities, news by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is to encourage those it regulates to use terms like “racially minoritised” and “marginalised by race” if they have to use collective language to describe ethnicity.’

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Legal Futures, 15th September 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Advocates use ‘with respect’ in court as “marker of disrespect” – Legal Futures

Posted January 6th, 2022 in advocacy, barristers, brexit, legal language, news by sally

‘Advocates can use the word “respect” as “an implicit marker of disrespect” when addressing opposing counsel in court, academics have found.’

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Legal Futures, 6th January 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The power of words: project aims to change the language of family law – Legal Futures

Posted December 9th, 2021 in families, family courts, legal language, media, news by sally

‘A project seeks to make family law easier to understand and less hostile – between both parties and lawyers – has been launched by a London solicitor.’

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Legal Future, 9th December 2021

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

What is the meaning of “good will”? The Court of Appeal continue the debate – Hardwicke Chambers

‘In Primus International Holding Company & Ors v Triumph Controls – UK Ltd & Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 1228, the Court of Appeal grappled with the proper interpretation of “goodwill” in a commercial contract, considering the natural meaning of “goodwill” in the commercial context and the definition prevalent in accounting practice. The case provides a useful reminder of the approach taken by the courts when construing contracts, highlighting the need for parties to spell out clearly their intended meaning of a term in their contractual agreement if they wish to depart from its ordinary and natural meaning.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 4th November 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Thomas Fairclough: Privacy International: Constitutional Substance over Semantics in Reading Ouster Clauses – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘I have previously written on this blog and elsewhere about statutory interpretation and the rule of law. In the previous blog post I stated that the idea “that the courts will not allow the executive to escape their jurisdiction is well established as part of the rule of law” and referenced, inter alia, Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission [1969] 2 AC 147 (HL) to support this view.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 4th December 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Lawyers aim to “intimidate” clients who complain, says report – Legal Futures

Posted November 6th, 2017 in complaints, legal language, legal ombudsman, legal profession, news by tracey

‘Some clients worry being “bamboozled by legal jargon” if they complain to their lawyers, a fear that can be borne out by responses that are “seeming calculated to ‘overwhelm’ or ‘intimidate’ the customer”, according to new research.’

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Legal Futures, 6th November 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Appeal court throws out libel claim over CPS press release – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Lay readers understand the special meaning of words used by lawyers, the Court of Appeal has said, dismissing a libel claim over a Crown Prosecution Service press release.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 18th October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

What’s in a Word? Home Office Lose Torture Definition Case – RightsInfo

‘Last week, the Home Office lost a case over its controversial definition of “torture,” which the High Court ruled was unlawful.’

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RightsInfo, 16th October 2017

Source: rightsinfo.org

The Data Protection Bill: some initial observations – Panopticon

Posted September 18th, 2017 in bills, brexit, consent, data protection, EC law, internet, legal language, news, penalties by tracey

‘Parliament on Thursday 14 September. But to digest it in full, one needs time, commitment, and coffee. It is not a straightforward read. It seeks to implement the GDPR in full and in Brexit-proof fashion, to plug the gaps that the GDPR requires member states to fill, and also to apply a GDPR-like regime to areas of data processing that are not covered by the GDPR itself. The Bill is of course liable to change in the coming months, but here are some observations and highlights in the meantime.’

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Panopitcon, 18th September 2017

Source: panopticonblog.com

‘Or’, ‘Or’ or ‘Or’: Construction of alternative notice provisions in a lease – Hardwicke Chambers

‘Earlier this year in the US, a legal case revolved around the use of an Oxford comma. Not to be outdone, last month the Court of Appeal in England & Wales had to determine the meaning of the word ‘or’; in doing so, they embarked upon a semantic analysis of one of the most common words in the English language, flavoured by the Supreme Court’s most recent case on construction of contracts.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 15th June 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Issues highlighted by GB Building Ltd v SFS Fire Services Ltd – Hardwicke Chambers

‘Practical completion is a key concept in any construction project. It has a significant impact on a party’s rights and obligations, and represents a major milestone in the overall project timetable. Under the majority of construction projects, it marks the point at which the clock starts running for the overall transfer of risk from the contractor to the owner.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 30th June 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Regina (Williams) v Powys County Council – WLR Daily

Regina (Williams) v Powys County Council [2017] EWCA Civ 427

‘The defendant local planning authority granted planning permission for the erection of a wind turbine on the farm of the interested party. The wind turbine was erected on the side of a hill the other side of which, about 1·5 km from the wind turbine, was a Grade II* listed building. Several scheduled monuments were also in the surrounding area, two of which were within two km of the site. The claimant, a local resident, applied for judicial review of the council’s decision to grant planning permission. The judge dismissed the claim, determining that (i) the planning authority was not required to consult the Welsh ministers under article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 as the requirement to consult on development “likely to affect the site of a scheduled monument” in paragraph k of Schedule 4 to the Order applied only to development likely to have some direct physical effect on the monument, not also to development likely to have visual effects on the setting of the monument, and (ii) the planning authority had not erred in failing to perform the duty in section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which required it to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the setting of a listed building when deciding whether to grant planning permission for development which affected a listed building or its setting.’

WLR Daily, 9th June 2017

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Disguised Compliance – Or Undisguised Nonsense? – Family Law Week

Posted April 19th, 2017 in families, legal language, news, social services by tracey

‘Paul Hart, barrister of 15 Winckley Square, discusses a term (and its appropriateness) which has become ubiquitous in social work statements in recent years.’

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Family Law Week, 10th April 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Speech by Mr Justice Singh: Divided by a common language – American and British perspectives on constitutional law – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

‘Divided by a common language: American and British perspectives on constitutional law.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 27th February 2017

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Calls for UK laws to be made easier to understand – BBC News

Posted November 8th, 2011 in legal language, legislation, news, parliament by sally

“Peers have called on the government to look at options for making UK legislation easier to understand, including the use of digital technology to present laws in a clearer format.”

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BBC News, 7th November 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The changing face of justice – The Guardian

Posted March 24th, 2011 in courts, legal history, legal language, news by sally

“The visual vocabulary of courts – rooted in Babylonian, Egyptian, Classical, and Renaissance iconography – provides a transnational symbol of government, and courts have become obligatory facets of good governance. Consider the image of two women: one with scales, sword and blindfold; the other, Prudence, regarding herself in a mirror. Justice was once regularly shown with Prudence as well as Fortitude and Temperance, the four cardinal virtues. We know this imagery of justice because we have been taught it. Rulers regularly link themselves to the virtue Justice as they seek legitimacy for the laws that they make and enforce.”

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The Guardian, 24th March 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Related link: Representing justice

Lawyers should right-size their love of corporate jargon – The Guardian

Posted November 29th, 2010 in legal language, news by sally

“The legal profession is addicted to impenetrable language, but the fact is that phrases like ‘added value’ rarely … add any value.”

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The Guardian, 26th November 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A bit of plain speaking can go a long way – The Times

Posted July 28th, 2007 in legal language, special report by sally

“The US and the UK – so the saying goes – are ‘two countries divided by a common language’. The same could be said for lawyers and non-lawyers. Lawyers talk in a language which must seem like gobbledygook to everyone else. Take the word ‘tort’. Any law student knows that it means ‘civil wrong’. But ask a non-lawyer to give you a sentence with the word ‘tort’ in it and they might as well say: ‘I tort I tore a puddy cat!’ for all the sense it will mean to them.”

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The Times, 26th July 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk