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18 March 2022 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7971 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 18 March 2022

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Divorce: now or next month? CPR treatment

FREEDOM FROM BLAME

If the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (see Civil way, NLJ 15 January 2021, p19, 4 February 2022, p19 and David Burrows, NLJ 4 March 2022, p13) has not been ‘commenced’ to come into force on 6 April 2022 by the time you end the next page, then I am a large bunch of deteriorating bananas. The primary legislation is now supported by the amended FPR (which will require a small drafting correction) and amended PDs and, in the pipeline, a PD covering the pilot digital system due for publication around 1 April 2022 and presidential costs guidance along with the possibility of presidential guidance on practice generally. The MoJ has produced an information pack obtainable from HMCTS.communications@justice.gov.uk and HMCTS’s service centre is opening later to deal with the knottiest divorce (and probate) queries customers can create on Tuesdays and Thursdays (8am to 8pm) and Saturdays (8am to 2pm) which runs the risk of a few relationship breakdowns for condemned

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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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
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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
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’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
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
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