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01 November 2024 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8092 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 1 November 2024

Sexual harassment law in; Evidence from abroad; Cladding clarifications; Court lists to look odder; FPR changes; The perils of statement drafting; And going to court!

SHIFT TO PREVENTION

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force in England, Wales and Scotland on 26 October 2024 (see ‘Civil way’, 173 NLJ 8049, p17). The law on sexual harassment in the workplace is strengthened but not as far as had been intended. A duty is now on the employer to take reasonable steps to prevent it and a compensation uplift if a breach.


AROUND THE WORLD FOR WITNESSES

The Foreign Office has updated its guidance on taking and voluntarily giving video evidence from abroad in UK court and tribunal cases without losing the feed or being executed or banged up. The position in each country of which it has heard is summarised. Permission for giving evidence from France has not been forthcoming. Ditto Greece, Cambodia, Cuba and Egypt, but work is ongoing in seeking to obtain agreement

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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