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NLJ this week: Post Office—sign of a broken system?

21 May 2021
Issue: 7933 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Legal aid focus
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The Post Office scandal has thrown institutional failings in the justice system into sharp relief—and 'demonstrates pretty clearly that we have lost the plot', writes Theo Huckle QC in this week's NLJ.

As part of the mammoth effort required to bring this David vs Goliath fight to court, the accused postmasters and postmistresses were forced to accept the help of litigation funders—a symptom, Huckle says, of ‘a system in which citizens are required to accept this or else not be able to access the court at all,’ given the catastrophic erosion of legal aid funding.

What this ‘shameful’ scandal shows is how little the enshrined right to a fair trial is adhered to in reality, with serious failings and inaccessibility in both the criminal and civil justice system leading to countless injustices—some large, but many more small.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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