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The insider: 26 January 2024

26 January 2024 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8056 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Costs , Constitutional law
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It’s all go in the world of civil litigation, writes Dominic Regan. But what happens when there’s no one at fault to foot the bill?

Nothing stands still in the world of civil litigation.

The elevation last month of Sir Peter Fraser to the Court of Appeal was well deserved and long overdue. His conduct of the notorious Bates and others v Post Office Ltd [2019] civil litigation was brilliant and I think I suggested back then that it alone warranted a place in the Court of Appeal. Fraser LJ is known to his colleagues as ‘Iron Man’ on account of his appetite for triathlons and endurance sports.

The Metropolitan Police has reported it is ‘investigating potential fraud offences’ arising out of the Post Office prosecutions in respect of ‘monies recovered from subpostmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions’. The sublime Tom Little KC of Deka Chambers has oversight of this exercise.

The new wave of King’s Counsel has been unveiled. I naively thought that elevation moved

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

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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