‘The High Court has ordered the government to pay for a litigant in person to be represented at a hearing despite his lack of eligibility for legal aid.’
Full story
Law Society’s Gazette, 5th January 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The fact that an individual or a company is a litigant in person is not a reason for the “disapplication” of court orders, rules and directions, appeal judges have ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 5th January 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
The Senior Court Cost Office has handed down a decision in the above case offering additional guidance as to when and what costs of attending an inquest can be recovered in subsequent civil proceedings.
Zenith PI Blog, 17th December 2014
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘CPR r.3.9 rears its growling head again…but a more robust approach, nevertheless, should not be taken as encouragement to refuse reasonable extensions of time or to seek tactical advantage in every minor default.’
Zenith PI Blog, 17th December 2014
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘A father who was banned from his own street, cut off from his children for five months, with no opportunity to defend himself, and then arrested for text messaging his son, was treated like a character from a Kafka novel, a senior judge has admitted.’
Daily Telegraph, 15th December 2015
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘On-call, duty contracts for criminal solicitors to attend police stations and courts will be slashed from 1,600 to 527 in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.’
The Guardian, 27th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Parents facing the prospect of having their children taken away from them should have legal aid to fight their case, the Bar Council has said.’
The Bar Council, 17th November 2014
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘The government did not “think through” its legal aid cuts early enough and “does not know” whether people in need of aid are getting it, a report says. The National Audit Office said £300m a year would eventually be saved but other impacts of changes were unknown.’
BBC News, 20th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
In re D (A Child) [2014] EWFC 39 ; [2014] WLR (D) 471
‘It was the responsibility—indeed, the duty—of the judges in the Family Court and the Family Division to ensure that proceedings before them were conducted justly and in a manner compliant with the requirements of articles 6 and 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Where legal aid was unavailable in care proceedings there were, in theory, three other possible sources of public funding: (i) the local authority, as the public authority bringing the proceedings, (ii) the legal aid fund, on the basis that the child’s own interests required an end to the delay and a process which was just and Convention-compliant, or (iii) Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, on the basis that the court was a public authority required to act in a Convention-compliant manner.’
WLR Daily, 31st October 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Parents facing the prospect of having their children taken away from them should have legal aid to fight their case, the Bar Council has said.’
The Bar Council, 17th November 2014
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘Anne Smallwood, family law barrister at No5 Chambers, recently gave a talk titled ‘Section 22 Z A – Getting Paid And M.P.S’ at the Family Money Talks Seminar 2014.’
No. 5 Chambers, 16th October 2014
Source: www.no5.com
‘Our “antiquated” courts faced “severe crisis” without significant investment, the lord chief justice said yesterday. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd offered journalists a judicial perspective on the financial pressures being imposed upon the courts at his annual press conference.’
LegalVoice, 13th November 2014
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
‘One of Britain’s most senior judges has launched a withering attack on cuts to legal aid after a couple with learning disabilities was not provided with a lawyer to fight the forced adoption of their two-year-old son.’
The Independent, 31st October 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A senior family court judge has condemned the injustice of the newly pared-back legal aid system after an illiterate mother of four, with poor sight and hearing, was forced to represent herself in a court hearing over the custody of her children.’
The Guardian, 2nd November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘”My daughter started school last month and I don’t even know what school she goes to.”
These are the words of a father who has not seen his daughter, now aged four, for two years.’
BBC News, 13th October 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The High Court has given permission for a judicial review of the government’s policy on legal aid funding for inquests. Mrs Justice Andrews (pictured) last week allowed the challenge against the lord chancellor’s guidance on inquest funding.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 13th October 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Alex Verdan QC of 4 Paper Buildings considers recent judgments in private law children cases, including the President’s judgment on legal aid funding in Q v Q.’
Family Law Week, 19th September 2014
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
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