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16 June 2023
Issue: 8029 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 16 June 2023

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Contempt

Ellis v His Majesty’s Solicitor General [2023] EWCA Civ 585, [2023] All ER (D) 04 (Jun)

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant’s appeal from a decision of a judge finding the appellant in contempt of court for breach of a general civil restraint order (GCRO) and sentencing him to 12 months’ imprisonment. The appellant was an ex-solicitor. He was apparently convinced that politicians, judges, the government, and the Ministry of Justice, together with all those who worked for them, were corrupt and that their decisions were, without exception, fraudulent. The appellant had acted and continued to act upon these beliefs. His modus operandi was to recruit innocent litigants, some with grievances against the justice system, some desperate for any help no matter the source, and others just bewildered by a process that they did not understand. The court found he was in contempt to the criminal standard and that the sentence imposed was proportionate. The appellant’s culpability was high. He had known what he

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: CPR tweak closes third-party disclosure gap
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
NLJ this week: Court of Appeals wrestles with Mazur fallout
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’
NLJ this week: Appeal court reins in ‘wrong defendant’ switcheroo

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Driving test fraudsters steer towards jail
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
NLJ this week: Deepfakes demand data law muscle
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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