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11 May 2010 / David Greene
Categories: Opinion , Constitutional law
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The litigation end game

Voting fiasco may give rise to increase in election litigation

The litigation process gained a substantial airing during election night. Would-be voters locked out of polling booths cried of conspiracy and a breach of their human rights.

The papers were full of talk of actions being brought by “barred” voters to right the wrong of their exclusion. Elections usually give rise to some litigation as the parties and candidates fight over the way in which the election was conducted in an attempt to overturn the returning officers’ decisions. 

This election might give rise to a rise in election litigation, particularly where there are very small majorities and there have been instances of exclusion of voters. 

In the longer term, what does a new government promise for the civil justice system? Unfortunately, whatever the colour of the government formed, it is highly likely that civil justice will be the subject of further cuts.

The civil justice process is likely to be a victim of further cuts in public expenditure. Civil justice is the poor cousin

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NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
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