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07 April 2017
Issue: 7741 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Civil way: 7 April 2017

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Online divorce going well; child seeks inheritance advice; new debt pre-action protocol; family, insolvency & CoP rule changes; & Isleworth landlords to watch it

THE END IS NIGH

The first and cautious stage of the online divorce project which has the judicial lead of Judge Philip Waller is now being assessed. It started on 25 January 2017 at the East Midlands divorce centre in Nottingham by courtesy of FPR PD36D with petitioners who satisfy specific criteria being recruited to “have a go” by completing their applications online. The application form has been using plain English (wherever possible!) with explanations of technical terms as they appear. Early indications are that the pilot has been a success, particularly in reducing the usual rate of bounce backs of around 40%. Additional features will now be added to the pilot with a view to having full online applications available to the general public by Autumn 2017.

The project’s aim is to provide an ‘end-to-end’ system for processing undefended proceedings for divorce, partnership dissolution, nullity and judicial separation and by Spring

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

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Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

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A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
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Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
NLJ this week: AI privilege battles expose risks
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
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New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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