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20 February 2026 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8150 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , CPR , Costs , Nuisance
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Civil way: 20 February 2026

How about a court survey?; cross on an interlocutory; mental health care shake-up; latest on cat poo; liability-only Pt 36 offers.

SURVEYING THE SITUATION

The Ministry of Justice hoped for a large-scale survey of county court users, so they commissioned Ipsos UK to conduct a study on the feasibility of such a survey. What do you know?! A pilot survey and lots of exploratory work later, Ipsos has now advised in a 137-page report that a survey is feasible. Pilot interviewees, asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with their experience of court services, were offered the choice of very satisfied, fairly satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, fairly dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. Doubtlessly with Ricky Gervais’s The Office appraisal of Keith in mind, interviewers were directed not to read out the options of ‘don’t know’ and ‘prefer not to say’. One can expect the report to be carefully scrutinised in committee.


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NEWS
Restrictions on workplace non-disclosure agreements could make settlements slower, more complex and more expensive when reforms expected in 2027 take effect
Private prosecutors face closer scrutiny under Crown Prosecution Service guidance designed to strengthen accountability and consistency when intervention is requested
Foreign states cannot necessarily claim immunity for cyber operations launched abroad against computers in Britain, following a divided Supreme Court ruling
Defendants who make unsupported complaints about their lawyers risk losing legal aid while confiscation proceedings continue without representation
Lawyers advising Russian clients face different sanctions restrictions across the UK, EU and US, despite their shared objective of increasing pressure on Russia
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