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The insider: 2 & 9 January 2026

09 January 2026 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8144 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Legal services , Costs , Damages
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Dominic Regan kickstarts the new year with updates on leapfrog appeals, costs, delays & judicial manoeuvres

We know the appeal in Mazur is to be heard at the end of next month. The appellant, CILEX, is to be represented by Nick Bacon KC, together with another silk whom I understand will be versed in regulatory issues. They will lead two juniors.

What is as yet uncertain is who will be allowed to intervene. The Law Society is a certainty, as is the Bar Council. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has a fine record of constructive interventions over the years and deserves to be heard. Some may only be permitted to make paper representations.

Given the ramifications, one would hope that both the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls would hear the appeal. It would be neat if they were to do so and be joined by Lord Justice Birss—the very bench that decided Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

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NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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