Issue: Vol 176, Issue 8160

Fern Schofield & Gwyneth Everson provide a round-up of recent decisions, offering practical guidance on possession claims, statutory interpretation & evidential pitfalls

Could a Privy Council decision loosen the bonds which have tied down the tort of private nuisance for so long? Richard Buckley reports

Patients are being kept in the dark about their right to independent complaints, reports Charles Davey

A pioneering cryptoasset recovery case has exposed an arguable failure by UK law enforcement to use powers already available under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Writing in NLJ this week, Ashley Fairbrother and Rhys Evans of Edmonds Marshall McMahon recount how their client, a US citizen duped in a devastating romance fraud, lost nearly $1m after being manipulated by a fake ‘Kensington-based diplomat’

Prosecutors will speed up preparations for charging hate crimes, under Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance issued in response to the surge in antisemitic incidents

Improvements to courts, tribunals and the wider justice system in the north are being held back by a lack of national and local collaboration, according to thinktank JUSTICE North

A family judge has criticised the prison authorities for mistakenly freeing a father who abducted his own son

The Law Society has renewed its calls for compensation for legal aid firms affected by the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured a £10m penalty plus £4.8m in costs from manufacturer Ultra Electronics Holdings, under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for failure to prevent bribery