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07 June 2007
Issue: 7276 / Categories: Legal News , EU , Divorce , Family , Human rights
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Big money divorce case heads to Europe

Alan Miller—who last year was ordered by the House of Lords to hand over £5m to his childless wife of three years—is taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Miller’s lawyers will argue that the level of discretion available to the courts has meant the law has become so confused and unpredictable that the payout to his ex- wife breached his right to property under Art 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, James Freeman, solicitor with Speechly Bircham, says the ECtHR may not be receptive to this argument.
“If the ECtHR is to entertain Alan Miller’s claim, one conjectures that the arguments put to it will have to be along the lines that the current English divorce law is either so swingeing or so unpredictable that it amounts in its essence to a breach of his right to peaceable enjoyment of his possessions,” he says.

He adds that the English courts have not proved receptive to such line of reasoning in

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Browne Jacobson—Vicky Tomlinson

Browne Jacobson—Vicky Tomlinson

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Switalskis—Laura Ornsby

Switalskis—Laura Ornsby

Switalskis strengthens Grimsby child care team

NEWS
The Financial Reporting Council’s revised Audit Enforcement Procedure will alter the balance of power in corporate investigations
A telecoms operator may be able to hold over under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, yet still be unable to secure a renewal: an outcome described as a legal ‘paradox’

Safety fears do not automatically justify shutting an interested person out of a statutory will application

Consumer credit law is heading for its biggest shake-up in 50 years, with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 set to yield much of its detailed statutory machinery to FCA rules
The Supreme Court has settled a long-running dispute over part-time workers: unfavourable treatment need be a significant or effective cause, not the sole cause
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