header-logo header-logo

02 February 2012
Issue: 7499 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
printer mail-detail

Civil way: 3 Feb 2012

The austerity plan from 1 April 2012 is to restrict the opening of public counters at all county courts and Family Proceedings Centres...

“KEEP OUT!”

The austerity plan from 1 April 2012 is to restrict the opening of public counters at all county courts and Family Proceedings Centres located within county courts to two hours a day between 11am and 1pm. Even then, attention will only be given to urgent applications and work which is deemed to require a face to face service. The plan is out for consultation in which the judiciary will be active, concluding on 12 March 2012, but the writer will eat the shredded pages of his occupational pension arrangement if it is not implemented albeit sometimes in varied form to cater for local needs and specialist jurisdictions. So, for example, a user wishing to issue a divorce petition will be asked to leave it in the relevant drop box and will receive paperwork in the post but administering affidavits or collecting orders following an urgent hearing will be dealt

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
back-to-top-scroll