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05 November 2020 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7909 / Categories: Features , Profession
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The lie(s) of the land

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Dominic Regan tells tales of ‘questionable’ representations & asks if enough is being done to drive out the fibbers from the law

Earlier this year the wording of the Statement of Truth as appended to statements of case, witness statements and other materials was overhauled. A new sentence was added. It reads: ‘I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.’

The undoubted intention was to flag up the adverse consequences of making false representations but will it make a blind bit of difference? The law reports are bursting with examples of people involved in litigation talking total tosh.

Implausible

In the recent case of RE MKG Convenience Ltd [2020] EWHC 547 (Ch) liquidators were in pursuit of the goods, takings and other assets which had vanished without a trace when a small chain of convenience stores folded. In particular, where had the money

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NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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