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19 March 2014 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7599 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Employment law brief: 19 March 2014

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Ian Smith investigates some rare sightings of dismissal law controversy

When spending idle hours reading the notes to the statutes in Division Q of Harvey, one of the things that can strike you is how immutable the law of unfair dismissal has been for the last 42 years. Not only has the legislation hardly changed, except for the odd politically sensitive point such as the length of the qualifying period, but much of the leading case law is now remarkably old, having laid down the principal points of interpretation at an early stage in this law’s history. Just occasionally, however, we still get the occasional controversy or necessary touch on the tiller (just as we still get cases on the meaning of “redundancy”—as Judge Clark has been known to point out, how can we expect anything else when the statutory definition has only been with us for 49 years?!). Unusually, the three cases chosen for this month’s column all concern basic concepts of dismissal law—the first is about how to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

HFW—Simon Petch

HFW—Simon Petch

Global shipping practice expands with experienced ship finance partner hire

Freeths—Richard Lockhart

Freeths—Richard Lockhart

Infrastructure specialist joins as partner in Glasgow office

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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