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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
Cheshire West, which established an ‘acid test’ for deprivation of liberty safeguards, has been overturned by the Supreme Court
The Chancery Division and other segments of the High Court are to be replaced by a new Business and Property Division (BPD), in a major civil justice shakeup
Law firms that hold client money will need to file annual accountants’ reports and make a declaration, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) confirmed this week
Two district judges and a tribunal judge have been sanctioned for delays in delivering judgments and orders
Private equity (PE) investment into UK law firms halved to £250m last year, but deal volume rose, according to research by Acquira Professional Services’ Momentum private equity market tracker
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