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Crime brief: 4 November 2022

04 November 2022 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8001 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal
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Equality before the law: David Walbank KC examines a case which tested the limits of this most fundamental legal doctrine
  • Equality before the law.
  • Ex-monarch sued for harassment. 
  • Doctrine of state immunity. 

From day one of their legal studies, it is drummed into students that ‘all are equal before the law’. But does that actually mean anything? In the next two ‘Crime brief’ pieces, we will look at two very different cases, each of which demonstrates that it is very much more than a highfalutin phrase.

Harassment allegations

Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v De Borbon y Borbon [2022] EWHC 668 (QB) concerned a civil action in harassment brought by the estranged lover of an ex-king and prompted consideration of the doctrine of state immunity.

Corinna zu-Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (pictured) is a German-born Danish entrepreneur with homes in Monaco, Switzerland, London and Shropshire. In the mid-2000s, she became the mistress of Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, but five years later, their relationship ended in acrimony. When, after four decades

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

BCL Solicitors—Robert Lawrie

BCL Solicitors—Robert Lawrie

Commercial disputes team lead promoted to partner

Mourant—Tom Fothergill

Mourant—Tom Fothergill

Jersey finance and corporatepractice welcomes new partner

Shakespeare Martineau—Solicitor apprentices

Shakespeare Martineau—Solicitor apprentices

Firm launches solicitor apprenticeship programme with inaugural cohort

NEWS
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has published a statement in a bid to clear up confusion over the right to conduct litigation following Mazur and another v Charles Russell Speechleys
Homebuyers could be given an option to sign a binding contract with vendors to protect against the practice of parties pulling out of agreements after months of negotiations, under a proposed overhaul of conveyancing laws
A future Conservative government would abolish the Sentencing Council and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and sack judges who defended migrants’ rights, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has said
UK law firms have risen up an annual index of responsible business activity, while US firms have regressed amid President Trump’s diversity and equality crackdown
The right of the press to report on the criminal courts received a boost this week, following an update to the Criminal Procedure Rules
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