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Civil way: 8 August 2025

08 August 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8128 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , CPR , Arbitration , Civil way
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New arbitration law in; October’s CPR treats; needs of a Sch 1 mum; CPR 187th update; covert recordings; good news for shy directors.

STATUTORY LOOK-IN FOR ARBS

The Arbitration Act 2025 was brought fully into force on 1 August 2025 by SI 2025/905 and applies to arbitration agreements whenever made, but not to arbitration proceedings and some arbitration-related court proceedings commenced before that date. It plays around with the Arbitration Act 1996 and, thanks to artificial intelligence, some more play will inevitably be required in due course. Stronger immunity for arbitrators. Unless otherwise agreed, the applicable law is to be the law of the seat of the arbitration. And here’s a skate round just some of the more interesting other measures:

‘How do we get rid of them?’ The arbitrator’s impartiality is handy, and so they are now subjected to a duty of disclosure when approached about a possible appointment and post appointment. That disclosure—to the person making the approach or the parties to proceedings—is

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Set creates new client and business development role amid growth

Kingsley Napley—Tim Lowles

Kingsley Napley—Tim Lowles

Sports disputes practice launchedwith partner appointment

mfg Solicitors—Tom Evans

mfg Solicitors—Tom Evans

Tax and succession planning offering expands with returning partner

NEWS
The rank of King’s Counsel (KC) has been awarded to 96 barristers, and no solicitors, in the latest silk round
Can a chief constable be held responsible for disobedient officers? Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth, professor of public law at De Montfort University, examines a Court of Appeal ruling that answers firmly: yes
Early determination is no longer a novelty in arbitration. In NLJ this week, Gustavo Moser, arbitration specialist lawyer at Lexis+, charts the global embrace of summary disposal powers, now embedded in the Arbitration Act 1996 and mirrored worldwide. Tribunals may swiftly dismiss claims with ‘no real prospect of succeeding’, but only if fairness is preserved
The Ministry of Justice is once again in the dock as access to justice continues to deteriorate. NLJ consultant editor David Greene warns in this week's issue that neither public legal aid nor private litigation funding looks set for a revival in 2026
Civil justice lurches onward with characteristic eccentricity. In his latest Civil Way column, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist, surveys a procedural landscape featuring 19-page bundle rules, digital possession claims, and rent laws he labels ‘bonkers’
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