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Civil way: 14 February 2025

14 February 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8104 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , Intellectual property
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No hiding for claimants; leasehold qualifier gone; Ogden Obliges; the world of ETs; cloudy lemon cider.

CLAIMANTS EXPOSED

The government is to legislate to include in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, run by Registry Trust, the name —but neither the address nor the favourite knuckleduster supplier—of the claimant. One of the outcomes not considered is that claimants will be bombarded at the wrong office by registry snoopers with pleas to be told what dirt they have on the defendant, whether they know if they own a garden water feature which could be easily taken away by a bailiff, and are they going to bring bankruptcy proceedings or not.

These days, the registry catches money judgments of both the High Court and county court, excluding orders in family proceedings and judgments for arrears of mortgage instalments or rent unless and until the claimant takes a step to enforce. And—this is the big exclusion—a judgment arising out of a contested hearing (even though the defence was a pile of nonsense

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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