Legal News

The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a £385,000 costs order against a father, in a case that centred on what is required to meet the threshold of ‘reprehensible or unreasonable’ behaviour

Centuries-old burial laws would be overhauled, under Law Commission proposals to address the burgeoning problem of shortage of cemetery space

The government has committed an extra £32m to women’s charities and services tackling addiction, trauma, abuse and homelessness

The Financial Ombudsman is poised for major reform to return it to a simple, impartial dispute resolution service

Thousands of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses are still waiting for compensation owed due to ‘serious structural failings’ in the Post Office Horizon scandal redress system, MPs have warned

Monisha Shah, who currently chairs the Kings Counsel Selection Panel, has been selected to lead the Legal Services Board (LSB), subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the Justice Select Committee

The Bar Council has joined the Law Society and CILEX in opposing Ministry of Justice (MoJ) proposals for a levy on interest earned on lawyers’ client accounts

A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’

Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design

Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle