header-logo header-logo

Thou shalt not share

03 June 2022 / Avneet Baryan
Issue: 7981 / Categories: Features , Profession , Contempt
printer mail-detail
83618
Avneet Baryan reports on the inviolability of embargoed judgments: what does this mean for practitioners?
  • In R (on the application of Counsel General for Wales) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Court of Appeal made it clear that it took breaches of the embargo on draft judgments very seriously, and that proceedings for contempt of court would be brought against those who breached it.
  • For practitioners, the judgment is a cautionary tale of the importance of respecting the rules of the embargo.

We are all aware of the rules in CPR PD 40E that embargoed judgments received in advance of hand-down must respect the embargo, and anyone who is in breach can expect to find themselves the subject of contempt proceedings. The all-too-familiar wording received from judge’s clerks when embargoed judgments are delivered is clear and provides that (emphasis added):

  • the draft is confidential to the parties and to their legal representatives;
  • neither the draft nor its substance may be disclosed to any other
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll