THIS ISSUE
Tenant fees and s 21; illegal but okay; decree absolute online searches; debt relief challenge ruling.
Is sheer panic & confusion driving the push to regulate artificial intelligence? Ian McDougall highlights the folly of legislating for something that doesn’t exist
Thomas Taylor, Commercial Director of E-Sign, explains how E-signatures are changing the legal landscape
From finding a niche to going freelance, Amanda Hamilton sets out the increasing range of career options available to paralegals
Three judges in historic care and private family law proceedings involving Sara Sharif could be named next week, after the Court of Appeal unanimously held the High Court did not have jurisdiction to prohibit the publication of their identities.
Legislation allowing costs lawyers to become judges will be laid this year, the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) has predicted.
Two thirds of people are aware that family mediation is an option to help avoid court in the event of divorce or separation, but only 30% would make a family mediator their first port of call.
History was made this week as journalists and legal bloggers were given effective access to all family courts in England and Wales.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has opened its consultation on a £20m boost for housing and immigration legal aid practitioners.
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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