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11 December 2019 / Mark Pawlowski
Issue: 7868 / Categories: Features
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It’s a wonderful life!

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Mark Pawlowski takes a festive look at some of the more humorous cases taken from the English & Commonwealth law reports

Contacting the spirit world

Very spooky behaviour can be found in the criminal law case of R v Young [1955] QB 324. Four members of a jury, while staying overnight in a local hotel, used a ouija board to contact the victim of a murder to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. The Court of Appeal, not surprisingly, held that this was a material irregularity and duly quashed the conviction for murder.

Unreasonable behaviour?

Most family law practitioners will be aware of O’Neill v O’Neill [1975] 3 All ER 289. This involved a wife’s petition for divorce, which was based on her husband’s unreasonable behaviour in embarking on an extensive two-year programme of renovation of the matrimonial home in order to cure dampness under the floorboards. As part of this work, the toilet door was removed for a period of eight months, causing great embarrassment to the wife and

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Excello Law—Stephen Morrall

Excello Law—Stephen Morrall

Excello welcomes Stephen Morrall to Anglo-German team

Lawfront—Peter Martin-Simon

Lawfront—Peter Martin-Simon

Lawfront appoints new Chief Executive Officer to steer the business through the next phase of growth

Eversheds Sutherland—Claire Petheram

Eversheds Sutherland—Claire Petheram

Eversheds Sutherland strengthens top-ranked pensions practice with appointment of former global head of pensions

NEWS
Lawyers have warned senior managers against complacency as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) non-financial misconduct (NFM) rules come into force
Landlords cannot rely on minor procedural defaults to defeat leaseholders’ right to manage (RTM) claims, the Supreme Court has held
Mr Justice Nicklin’s decision to order costs on an indemnity basis may be a ‘significant win’ but it’s still ‘far from game, set and match’ for Associated Newspapers, a former costs judge has said
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
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