Claimant to pay indemnity costs after latest witness statement failure – Legal Futures

Posted September 21st, 2022 in costs, indemnities, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘The High Court has ordered a claimant who seriously breached the rules on witness statements to pay indemnity costs, having exacerbated the situation by dismissing the defendant’s concerns.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 21st September 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barristers accuse ministers of rushing release of pre-recorded video evidence – The Guardian

‘Barristers have accused ministers of ignoring a crisis in the criminal justice system by continuing to roll out pre-recorded video evidence for rape survivors in England and Wales amid a strike by advocates. The policy, allowing complainants of offences including modern slavery to be cross-examined before trial in front of a limited number of people, was extended to five more crown courts on Friday, taking the total to 63. Three-quarters of courts are covered and all will be by the end of the month.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 9th September 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Proving things and the perils of pro-forma – Nearly Legal

Posted August 30th, 2022 in evidence, housing, news, rent, repayment, witnesses by sally

‘Camfield & Ors v Uyiekpen & Anor (HOUSING – RENT REPAYMENT ORDER – evidence – pro forma witness statements) (2022) UKUT 234 (LC). An appeal from an FTT decision dismissing an application for a rent repayment order, which shows the importance of establishing ALL the elements of a relevant offence, while also providing a snapshot of the horror show that is “get rich quick” rent to rent set ups.’

Full Story

Nearly Legal, 28th August 2022

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Modernising lasting powers of attorney: change is coming – Legal Futures

‘In 2007, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduced Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) which for the first time allowed a donor to appoint an attorney to make decisions both about their property and financial affairs, but also about their health and welfare.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 17th August 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Some reflections on the new world order – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted August 4th, 2022 in disclosure, news, pilot schemes, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘In the Business and Property Courts (B&PCs), Practice Direction (PD) 57AC has applied to all trial witness statements signed since 6 April 2021. The commencement date of the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (under PD 51U), was 1 January 2019. However, it has been approved and will become permanent from 1 October 2022 (under PD 57AD).

I want to share a few reflections, based on recent experience, around how the rules in these two Practice Directions can interact at trial.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 3rd August 2022

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Judge condemns “trench warfare” over witness statements – Legal Futures

Posted July 25th, 2022 in costs, evidence, judges, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘The rules on witness statements should not be seen as encouragement to go through them “with a fine-tooth comb” to identify “as many instances of non-compliance as possible for use in trench warfare”, the High Court has said.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 25th July 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Courts send different messages to lawyers over witness statements – Legal Futures

Posted May 27th, 2022 in drafting, judges, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘The strengthened rules on witness statements should not be used as a “weapon with which to fillet” essentially insignificant failures to comply, a High Court judge has said.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 27th May 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Electronic signatures instead of witnesses for LPAs stay on the table – Legal Futures

‘The government has refused to rule out replacing the witnessing of lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) with electronic signatures despite widespread opposition in a consultation.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 20th May 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New protections for rape victims available at more Crown Courts – Ministry of Justice

‘More victims of rape and sexual offences will be spared the stress of being cross-examined in court under a measure rolled out to a further 14 locations today (12 May 2022).’

Full Story

Ministry of Justice, 12th May 2022

Source: www.gov.uk

New English witness evidence rules likely to influence wider best practice – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 29th, 2022 in courts, evidence, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘Businesses involved in disputes before a wide range of courts and tribunals should expect their factual witness evidence to be closely scrutinised and should be aware of best practice principles recently set out by one of the main branches of the English courts.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 28th April 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

David Fuller: Head of inquiry says investigations will be ‘thorough’ – BBC News

Posted April 12th, 2022 in families, hospitals, inquiries, murder, news, sexual offences, victims, witnesses by sally

‘The man leading the independent inquiry into David Fuller’s “awful” mortuary abuses said those who do not cooperate will be publicly named.’

Full Story

BBC News, 11th April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Credibility: A divisible concept? – Exchange Chambers

‘Alice Dobbie considers how credibility was approached by the courts in two recent cases: Cojanu v Essex Partnership University NHS Trust [2022] EWHC 197 and Palmer v Mantas and LV Insurance [2022] EWHC 90.’

Full Story

Exchange Chambers, 31st March 2022

Source: www.exchangechambers.co.uk

Police guidance on facial recognition technology ‘a hammer blow to privacy’ – The Independent

Posted March 22nd, 2022 in facial mapping, identification, news, police, privacy, victims, witnesses by sally

‘Innocent people like victims and potential witnesses could be placed on police watchlists under guidance on the use of facial recognition systems, civil liberties groups have warned.’

Full Story

The Independent, 22nd March 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Judge condemns “clearest breach” of witness statement rules – Legal Futures

Posted March 17th, 2022 in civil procedure rules, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘A High Court judge has condemned the “clearest case of failure to comply” with a new practice direction on witness statements that he had seen since it came into force last April.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 17th March 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Bid by Kazakh mining company to sue journalist is dismissed by judge – The Guardian

Posted March 3rd, 2022 in defamation, fraud, media, murder, news, witnesses by sally

‘An attempt by a Kazakh mining giant to sue a British journalist for allegedly claiming it ordered the murders of three men has been thrown out by a judge.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 2nd March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Family of shot activist Sasha Johnson vow to get justice after case collapses – The Guardian

Posted March 1st, 2022 in conspiracy, murder, news, prosecutions, witnesses by sally

‘The family of Sasha Johnson have vowed to get justice after the case against four men accused over the shooting that left her seriously injured collapsed last week.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 28th February 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

New English court witness statement rules have positive early effect – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 8th, 2022 in drafting, evidence, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘Last year, important new rules were introduced governing how witness statements are drafted and used in the Business and Property Courts (BPC) of England and Wales.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 7th February 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Electronic signatures “more reliable” than live witnesses – Legal Futures

Posted February 2nd, 2022 in documents, electronic filing, Law Commission, news, witnesses by sally

‘The most sophisticated kind of electronic signatures can be “more reliable” than signatures witnessed the traditional way in an “unsupervised environment”, a government-backed industry working group has said.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 2nd February 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Practice Direction 57AC in practice – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 28th, 2022 in evidence, local government, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘Marion Smith QC, Joe-han Ho, Ruth Keating and Philippe Kuhn examine the latest court ruling on PD 57AC.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 28th January 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Failure in childcare case to identify cognitive difficulties of appellant and to make appropriate participation directions “amounted to serious procedural irregularity”, Court of Appeal rules – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 20th, 2022 in care orders, children, learning difficulties, news, witnesses by sally

‘Failure to identify an appellant’s cognitive limitations led to procedural unfairness in a case involving children, the Court of Appeal has found.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 20th January 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk