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Civil justice: no going back?

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Where now for the civil justice system post-COVID, asks Shirley Denyer
  • Service of documents including proceedings.
  • Remote hearings and e-documents.

As anyone involved in civil justice will know, the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a transformation of the system. With the judiciary, legal representatives and parties confined to their homes, and attendance at court rendered impossible, the court service rose to the occasion to maintain access to justice.

Changes to the system impossible to imagine in February 2020 have become the norm. Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) members recognise fully the enormous pressure the crisis placed on the court service and are very appreciative of the hard work and commitment that has been shown to keep the system in operation.

With the vaccine programme now well underway in the UK, with some hope of normality returning, attention is turning to the longer-term implications of the pandemic on court reform. In effect, COVID has been the catalyst for the biggest pilot scheme ever experienced in the court

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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