Commentary

English and Welsh law is made up of common law and statute law – what I shall call, together, primary law; and, of the two, statute law will always trump common law. Common law is made for the most part by judges of the High Court, Upper Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Statute… Continue reading

The open justice principle identified in Scott v Scott [1913] AC 417 remains the default position for family proceedings. Any derogation or departure must be justified as an exception. The approach of the Family Procedure Rules (in FPR r 27.10), purporting to reverse the polarity of that presumption of open justice, ought to be regarded as ultra vires (ie not within the statutory powers of the rule makers: see Courts Act 2003 ss 75 and 76) — not to mention an affront to the whole purpose of open justice and transparency, viz accountability and the disinfecting powers of sunlight, argues David Burrows in this guest post.… Continue reading

Welcome to the ICLR Criminal Law Updater for January to March 2015. Here’s our round up of the reportable criminal cases decided in the High Court, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and the UK Supreme Court over the last four weeks. Where a transcript is available on BAILII, a linked reference has been provided.… Continue reading

Guest post by David Burrows   Funding case law: ‘advantage’, applicants A fresh batch of legal aid and funding cases has appeared since mid-December last year; and of these the news is that the much publicised (by the President of the Family Division) parents in Re D (A Child) [2015] EWFC 2; [2015] CN 64, … Continue reading

Guest post by David Burrows A buttress to the right to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is the concept of ‘equality of arms’. This does not mean that where an opponent’s representation is paid for, every civil case justifies a grant of state funding; but, for example,… Continue reading

In an earlier post, The Curious Case of The Court, The Commentators, The Woman, and Her Baby, we considered the story, widely and hysterically covered in the media, and more rationally by legal bloggers, of a pregnant Italian woman who had visited the UK in the summer 2012 only to be “sectioned” under the Mental… Continue reading

The long running saga concerning attempts by legal regulators to impose a quality assurance scheme on criminal advocates in the face of widespread and determined opposition from barristers and solicitors added another chapter today when the High Court rejected a challenge to the scheme by way of judicial review. In a judgment handed down yesterday,… Continue reading

How the family courts were induced to deliver open justice by caesarean section There is a story here which is a sad one, about a woman and her baby, and how they were separated, and why. It is a story that has been subject to a good deal of comment, even outrage, not all of… Continue reading