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01 November 2024 / David Bloom
Issue: 8092 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Contempt
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Keeping schtum: embargo no-nos

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David Bloom on how to treat embargoed judgments & avoid contempt proceedings
  • In R v Counihan, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division re-emphasised the importance of embargoed draft judgments.
  • For practitioners, the judgment provides a sobering warning and steer as to the preventative measures now required.

Civil practitioners will be aware of the repeated recent judicial warnings relating to breaches of embargoed draft judgments. In Her Majesty’s Attorney General v Crosland [2021] UKSC 58, [2022] 2 All ER 401, the Supreme Court considered a particular egregious breach and confirmed that embargoes are made for protecting the administration of justice (at [58]).

In R (Counsel General for Wales) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWCA Civ 181, [2022] 4 All ER 599, after accepting ‘unreserved apologies’ for the accidental breach caused by a misunderstanding in a chambers’ marketing department that led to the release of a pre-prepared press release early, the Master of the Rolls warned: ‘In future, those who break embargoes can expect to find themselves

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NLJ this week: How sure is ‘sure’ enough?
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
NLJ this week: A deferred prosecution reprieve
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
NLJ this week: Mandelson, Epstein & the court of popular opinion
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
NLJ this week: Volunteers, promotions & perilous appeals
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
NLJ this week: When saying no to mediation pays
Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial
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