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21 January 2022 / Michael L Nash
Issue: 7963 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
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Probate, princes & privilege

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Michael L Nash explores the secretive history surrounding the sealing of royal wills

The need—or the desire—for privacy has always been an element of the actions of those in high places.

The presence of privilege also has been accepted in any hierarchical society, which most societies are. Parliament in the UK, for example, is no stranger to privileges, nor any of the other components of the establishment.

The point is this: people have become much more aware of their rights, or what they perceive as their rights. One of these is that everyone is equal and has the same rights. So, when it is known that for most people their wills fall into the public domain, and can be read by everyone, there is disquiet and questions when a few wills are sealed and kept from general view.

It is equally arguable, as was done in the recent case concerning the will of the late Prince Philip, that everyone’s wills should be sealed and kept out of the public domain. Counsel

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London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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