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Civil way: 19 April 2024

19 April 2024 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8067 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , Fees , Employment
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Litigators to move fast; Debt relief changes; CPR PD 165 is VATable; Getting in on the Act; Master stroke

MAY DAY, MAY DAY

The threatened 10% rise in civil, family, tribunal, probate and Court of Protection fees will become reality on 1 May 2024 by dint of SI 2024/476. Well-meaning consultation has taken place. No representations by district judges, who would no doubt say that fees are not something with which they should be dirtying their hands unless the frustrated accountants among them have become costs judges, but the deputy head of civil justice and the Master of the Rolls did put in their two pennies’ worth, along with, bless them, Divorce Online and the British Parking Association. Some 172 fees are hit. The threatened divorce application hike has escaped and, for the time being, 29 other fees which require further analysis of underlying cost.

WHAT A RELIEF!

The debt relief order is the amateur debtor’s form of bankruptcy and works in a similar way. It is available

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Firm promotes London international arbitration specialist to partnership

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Firm bolsters restructuring practice with senior London hires

HFW—Guy Marrison

HFW—Guy Marrison

Global aviation disputes practice boosted by London partner hire

NEWS
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
A construction defect claim in the Court of Appeal offers a sharp lesson in pleading discipline. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains how a catastrophically drafted schedule of loss derailed otherwise viable claims. Across the areas explored in this week's column, the message is consistent: clarity, economy and proper pleading matter more than ever
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