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22 February 2013 / Nicholas Bevan
Issue: 7549 / Categories: Features , Insurance / reinsurance , Personal injury
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On the right road (Pt IV)

In his final article on compensation for motor victims, Nicholas Bevan compares & contrasts UK & EU provisions

There is a strong case to argue that the Uninsured Drivers Agreement 1999 (the 1999 agreement) is part and parcel of our national law and thus subject to the Marleasing interpretive principle (see Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA [1990] ECR I-4135) and that the normal rules of construction that apply to private agreements produce the same purposive outcome anyway. Furthermore, as the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) is probably an emanation of state, any material departure from the minimum levels of compensatory protection prescribed by the Motor Vehicle Insurance Directives (MVIDs) is directly enforceable by the courts.  Even if direct effect does not apply, the UK government is liable for losses sustained by claimants through its failure to properly implement the MVIDs under Francovich and others [1991] ECR 1-5357.

It is arguable, following the ECJ ruling in Churchill, that the 1999 agreement is now confined to the dwindling

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NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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