THIS ISSUE
Making history: Ian Smith performs a perfect loop-the-loop & serves up three significant Court of Appeal decisions
A cruel joke followed by a slap grabbed the headlines and inspired heated debate at this year’s Oscars. Some even speculated it was staged
Family lawyers have hailed the new era of fault-free divorce, which takes effect this week after decades of campaigning
In the second part of a feature on the new fault-free divorce laws, NLJ columnist and solicitor-advocate David Burrows asks: is there a right to challenge an assertion of irretrievable breakdown?
Law firm welcomes banking and finance partner
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is to revise the statutory consultation part of the recruitment process from September, sometimes referred to as ‘secret soundings’
Insurer AXA has declined to appeal the Wolseley COVID-19 business interruption judgment test case, Corbin & King Ltd and others v AXA Insurance UK plc [2022] EWHC 409 (Comm), giving the hospitality sector hope of recovering their losses
Any child who witnesses domestic abuse will also be treated as a victim, under revised Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance published for consultation this week
A legal Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine has been formed, with all member law firms and lawyers acting pro bono
Tini Owens, whose high-profile divorce went all the way to the Supreme Court, has welcomed the new ‘no-fault’ process
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva
Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice
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Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson
London labour and employment team announces partner hire
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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