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NLJ this week: Too ambitious? Damning verdict on courts modernisation programme

04 August 2023
Issue: 8036 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Profession
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What are they really saying? NLJ columnist and former director of Justice, Roger Smith translates the ‘urbane language’ of the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee in this week’s issue, as he casts a critical eye on the progress of the courts & tribunals modernisation programme.

Smith writes: ‘The programme has been beset by problems and is largely regarded as having been far too ambitious.’ Moreover, the whole project, initially intended to save the public purse, has come adrift from its original purpose.

Smith’s verdict on the programme is less than flattering: read his conclusions here.

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
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
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
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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