header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
09 July 2020 / David Burrows
Issue: 7894 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Contempt
printer mail-detail

Entering the contempt maze

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
23828
David Burrows navigates through a labyrinth of legal aid provisions & tackles the much misunderstood ‘contempt’
  • Contempt: a maze of terminology & legal aid.
  • Clarity—or not—and the procedure for contempt.

Tom Bingham (nom de plume of Lord Bingham) states his first rule of the Rule of Law (title of his 2004 lecture, and a 2011 Penguin paperback) as that all laws should be ascertainable, clear and accessible. Anyone threatened with imprisonment for ‘contempt of court’—itself a misleading title, which many judges say is inappropriate—will find that the law is anything but clear; and a defendant who wants legal aid for representation for defence (ie not to be sent to prison) will find the law is positively opaque.

On 1 May 2020 replies to a consultation concluded on ‘Proposed rule changes relating to contempt of court; redraft of CPR Part 81’ (https://bit.ly/37cbN6K); that is to amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR 1998) to modernise its terminology and to clarify some of its procedure.

I responded

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Speechlive LogoClick to know more
Browne Jacobson—Caroline Barker & Tom Walker

Browne Jacobson—Caroline Barker & Tom Walker

Browne Jacobson recruits regulatory experts Caroline Barker and Tom Walker to bolster health, government and corporates practices

Jackson Lees Group—Paul Harrison, Helen Innes & Sorcha McMullan

Jackson Lees Group—Paul Harrison, Helen Innes & Sorcha McMullan

Partner and paralegals bolster clinical negligence team at Jackson Lees Group

Stone King—Manchester

Stone King—Manchester

Stone King triples Manchester footprint with office move as law firm’s rapid growth journey continues

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Courtroom currents
Group claims, disputed costs and judicial recruitment dominate the latest courtroom round-up
NLJ this week: Privilege holds firm
Legal professional privilege has checked the SRA’s investigative powers, exposing difficult questions about tackling suspected abusive litigation
NLJ this week: Sanctions tripwires
Sanctions can derail commercial disputes long before judgment, making early planning essential
NLJ this week: Civil shifts
Landlords face fresh registration duties as procedural reforms reshape the civil courts
NLJ this week: Rules for robots
Pressure is mounting for a dedicated UK AI law, but deciding what it should achieve remains the central challenge
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll