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09 June 2023 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8028 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal
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Crime brief: 9 June 2023

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Nothing is ever certain in litigation: David Walbank KC assesses the Court of Appeal’s reversal of a first-instance decision on state immunity
  • Juan Carlos I, former king of Spain.
  • ‘Functional immunity’ with regard to alleged campaign of harassment.
  • Court of Appeal overturns first-instance decision.

They say that nothing is certain in litigation and doubtless the ‘Great British Public’ would be amazed by the frequency, if not quite the abandon, with which appellate courts overturn the decisions of their brother and sister judges at first instance. As a consequence, eagle-eyed legal commentators must constantly scan the law reports and the trade press for clues that any judgment about which they have written might be subject to appeal. Where necessary, the record must be corrected to reflect the appeal court’s ruling.

A striking illustration of this phenomenon occurred in Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v HM Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón [2022] EWCA Civ 1595, [2022] All ER (D) 52 (Dec), where the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, overturned the first-instance decision

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NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
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