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02 May 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8114 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 2 May 2025

Unpaid tax interest up; CPR 183rd update notched up; appeal trap you (should) know; a bit of tax avoidance; IVA protocol revised.

LAWBITES

‘Dear Child’ The Family Justice Young People’s Board has come up with a commendable toolkit for judges writing to children about the outcome of proceedings concerning them. It has been put out by the president. He recognises that ‘blank page’ inertia may have inhibited judges from communicating in this way in the past.

Interesting The HMRC interest rate on the main taxes and duties rises to 8.5%—1.50% up—as from 6 April 2025, (no) thanks to SI 2025/386. The current interest rate on what HMRC repays is 3.50%. Just saying. The official line is that the latter compares favourably with commercial practice for interest charged on loans and overdrafts and interest paid on deposits. But not compared with the late payment rate, eh? Penalties will be chargeable on top of interest after the end of 15 and 30 days from the due date. The just-made SI 2025/399 enables

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Ling Ong, London Market FOIL

NLJ Career Profile: Ling Ong, London Market FOIL

Ling Ong, partner at Weightmans and president of London Market FOIL, discusses her biggest inspirations, the challenges of AI and the importance of tackling unconscious bias

DWF—Imogen Francis

DWF—Imogen Francis

Director and head of IP team joins in Birmingham

Penningtons Manches Cooper—five promotions

Penningtons Manches Cooper—five promotions

Firm boosts partnership and costs practice with five senior promotions

NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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