Commentary
News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform
The concept of “no fault divorce” has gained traction in recent years, but the recent case of Owens v Owens and the image it conjures up of a wife trapped in a loveless marriage has concentrated people’s minds on the issue. As the case heads towards a further appeal hearing in the Supreme Court, David… Continue reading
Continuing his series discussing the impact on family law and practice of legal developments in other areas, David Burrows considers the effect of legal professional privilege in the context of advice given by lawyers to those engaged in family law disputes and the circumstances in which the right to confidentiality of such advice may be… Continue reading
Continuing his series discussing the impact on family law and practice of legal developments in other areas, David Burrows considers the grounds on which one party in proceedings may restrict the disclosure to one or more other parties of documents and other materials before the court, and the scope and procedure for doing so. Disclosure and… Continue reading
It’s not often that Doritos, a corn-based tortilla-chip snack food, make it into the legal news, but they did so recently with quite a zing. Paul Magrath investigates. The excitable Daily Mail headline read almost like a headnote: ‘Gold digger’ in her twenties who married a school lollipop man, 76, forged his will and claimed… Continue reading
Weekly Notes, the ICLR roundup of recent legal news and commentary, is currently on holiday. We’ll resume publication in the next law term, which begins on Tuesday, 25th April. In the meantime, here’s an Easter-flavoured tale from the archives of the Business Law Reports (Bus LR). It’s all about that most festive of confections, the chocolate… Continue reading
Brexit will have a decisive effect in altering the relationship between the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or ECJ) and that of England and Wales, but it would be a mistake to assume that European case law will shortly become irrelevant. Paul Magrath comments on the forthcoming Great… Continue reading
Continuing his series discussing the impact on family law and practice of legal developments in other areas, David Burrows considers the origins of the legal aid statutory charge in an old common law remedy developed in cases by reference to which the statutory provisions should still be construed. Human Rights Act 1998 damages and legal aid It is… Continue reading
In this guest post from the Transparency Project, barrister Lucy Reed explains the doctrine of precedent and how it works in practice, correcting a mistake made by more than one newspaper recently in reporting the financial dispute arising out of a divorce. On 27 February 2017 The Telegraph reported on an ongoing appeal in the… Continue reading
David Burrows continues his series discussing the impact on family law and practice of legal developments in other areas, with the first of two articles on the common law doctrine of precedent. 1. Precedent: a search for certainty in law Certainty and the law In his Sir David Williams lecture The Rule of Law 2016 (PDF) Lord Bingham… Continue reading
Continuing his series discussing the impact on family law and practice of legal developments in other areas, David Burrows questions Sir James Munby’s recent announcement that primary legislation is required to remedy the situation in which the victim of alleged abuse can face cross-examination by their alleged abuser in the family courts in a manner… Continue reading