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Civil way: 31 January 2025

31 January 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8102 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Tenant fees and s 21; illegal but okay; decree absolute online searches; debt relief challenge ruling.

TENANT FEES TRAP AVOIDED

While in breach of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 (TFA 2019), a landlord may be paralysed from serving a s 21, Housing Act 1988 notice (they haven’t gone yet, folks) and any possession claim made on the strength of such a notice will be kicked out. But is there the same paralysis as a result of a payment required and made under an earlier tenancy for the premises between the same parties which was entered into before TFA 2019 came into force on 1 June 2019, but which would have been prohibited under TFA 2019? That was the issue in Switaj v McClenaghan [2024] EWCA Civ 1457, leapfrogged to the Court of Appeal because of its importance. The tenant’s primary argument was that the position was analogous with that in the much-hated Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] EWCA Civ 669 on tenancy deposits, where the terms of the

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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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