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03 July 2008
Issue: 7328 / Categories: Opinion
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Dear Auntie

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Agony Column

Occasional advice for the judiciary and lawyers on matters of the mind, heart and (though auntie is a bit dodgy on it) the law

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Pick of the Week

Q The Courts Service has gone crazy. Most Crown Courts and combined courts in England and Wales have had Wi-Fi facilities installed. Is the existence of the facility at the court, before which I have to appear next month to show cause why a wasted costs order should not be made against me, sufficient ground for me to refuse to appear in person? Courtney Combes, Barley Chambers Annexe, Leeds

A Absolutely. This is a most dangerous development. One of the alleged benefits of the installation is that lawyers will be able to utilise their time more effectively between cases. The truth is probably that Wi-Fi will be relied on as justification for yet further cuts in lawyers' publicly funded fees pending death from radiation. Forward the judge a few pages from www.energyfields.org and tell him that you will participate in the hearing

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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 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
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
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Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
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’
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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’ 
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