Opinion

Since last April many hospitals and care homes have had the power to deprive people of their liberty.

The High Court handed down a series of judgments at the tail end of last year relating to various issues affecting the enforceability of consumer credit loans

To Jackson LJ access to justice is “the ability of a person to obtain legal advice and representation, and to secure the adjudication through the courts of their legal rights and obligations,” and that is to be achieved at proportionate cost.

The tragic case of Rom Houben, the 46-year-old Belgian man who was mistakenly and wrongly assumed to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for 23 years, raises a number of profound legal medical and ethical issues, including the accuracy of diagnosing the condition, the desirability of keeping patients alive in this “twilight” existence, and the implications of continuing to treat such patients.

No less than 12 judges were assembled in the Court of Appeal (five) and the Supreme Court (seven) to deal with the thorny questions raised in R v Horncastle [2009] UKSC 14. You do not get this array of legal talent without a reason.

As I ripped into the report it soon became clear that the man had pulled it off.

Lord Justice Jackson’s final report certainly lived up to expectations that it would be controversial.

Lord Justice Jackson’s final report on costs in civil cases was warmly welcomed last week by the master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, whose predecessor had set up the review

I vowed when I took up office as president of the Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges last March that my mission was to persuade the government to return to funding our civil courts to a realistic level and, as the recession brings more and more individuals to the county courts, to ensure that all of those who need it have access to free and efficient expert advice and assistance from a duty solicitor or CAB or other advice agency which is independent of HM Courts Service.

The Supreme Court’s decision in R (on the application of E) v Governing Body of JFS [2009] UKSC 15, [2009] All ER (D) 163 (Dec) provides a fine example of the law of unintended consequences.