THIS ISSUE
Professor Marc Weller provides a fascinating insight into the Supreme Court’s ruling that Westminster’s permission is required before a referendum on Scottish independence can go ahead. Professor Weller, of Cambridge University, examines the case, in this week’s NLJ.
‘Depicting the ECHR and HRA 1998 as alien intrusions undermining British sovereignty is historically illiterate,’ Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC writes in this week’s NLJ. Bindman asks: ‘What is behind this assault on the judiciary, the ECHR and HRA 1998?’
To what extent do the rules of the profession apply to non-solicitor employees? More than you may think. In this week’s NLJ, John Gould, senior partner at Russell-Cooke, writes: ‘Surprisingly, every employee within a firm is a regulated person whether or not they are personally engaged in reserved legal activity.’
Closed proceedings and covert medication? A recent case has created alarm. Is the Court of Protection too secretive? Are sufficient safeguards in place? In the first of a two-part series in NLJ, Dr Laura Davidson, of No5 Chambers, looks into a recent case concerning a vulnerable 20-year-old.
Falling out and making up again—what happens when a couple get divorced then reconcile? Writing in this week’s NLJ, family law solicitor-advocate and NLJ columnist, David Burrows looks at the legal implications of this rom-com scenario.
The ongoing assault on the judiciary, the European Convention on Human Rights & the Human Rights Act is authoritarian & undemocratic, says Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Getting back together? David Burrows examines the setting aside of divorce orders where a couple has reconciled
Closed proceedings & covert medication. In the first of a two-part series, Dr Laura Davidson asks if the Court of Protection has retreated to the realm of secrecy
The Supreme Court has ruled that a second referendum on Scottish independence cannot go ahead without Westminster’s permission: Marc Weller examines its judgment
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Hugh James—Jonathan Askin
London corporate and commercial team announces partner appointment
Michelman Robinson—Daniel Burbeary
Firm names partner as London office managing partner
Kingsley Napley—Jonathan Grimes
Firm appoints new head of criminal litigation team
NEWS
Personal injury lawyers have welcomed a government U-turn on a ‘substantial prejudice’ defence that risked enabling defendants in child sexual abuse civil cases to have proceedings against them dropped
Children can claim for ‘lost years’ damages in personal injury cases, the Supreme Court has held in a landmark judgment
Holiday lets may promise easy returns, but restrictive covenants can swiftly scupper plans. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Francis of Serle Court recounts how covenants limiting use to a ‘private dwelling house’ or ‘private residence’ have repeatedly defeated short-term letting schemes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already embedded in the civil courts, but regulation lags behind practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ben Roe of Baker McKenzie charts a landscape where AI assists with transcription, case management and document handling, yet raises acute concerns over evidence, advocacy and even judgment-writing
The cab-rank rule remains a bulwark of the rule of law, yet lawyers are increasingly judged by their clients’ causes. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, warns that conflating representation with endorsement is a ‘clear and present danger’
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