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10 December 2021 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7960 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 10 December 2021

Judgment debtors hit for VAT; Success fee through back door; Divorce reform latest; Document redaction OK? Service charge battle; Mercy for Personal Reps

ENFORCEMENT PANTO

Oh yes you can. Oh no you can’t.’ As the pantomime season approaches, it is appropriate that the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/1288) should have come into force yesterday 9 December 2021. Where the judgment creditor is not VAT registered, they will entitle a sum equivalent to the VAT element on the prescribed enforcement costs and disbursements to be recovered by the enforcement agent from the judgment debtor. There has been many an argument in enforcement agent watering holes about whether creditor or the debtor should bear this element. The Ministry of Justice asserted that the subordinate legislation and common law supported their case that it was the debtor who had to pay up but still there were fights and bloodied walls over this. And so we now have clarification on the issue.


FAMILY ENJOYS SUCCESS FEE

Orders, albeit

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
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
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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