Commentary

News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform

Woman wearing niqab

Further reflections on the niqab ruling

The recent decision by a Crown Court judge requiring a Muslim woman defendant to remove her niqaab (face-covering veil) when giving evidence in her own defence, but permitting her to keep it on during the rest of the trial, has prompted a good deal of comment in the social media. The reasons given by His Continue reading

Woman wearing niqab

Judge Murphy’s ruling in R v D (R) on wearing of niqaab in court

A Muslim woman appearing as a defendant in the Crown Court could be required to remove her niqaab when giving evidence, though she was free to wear it during other parts of the trial. To limit the restriction on her religious freedom, she would be permitted to give evidence from behind a screen, shielding her Continue reading

Nothing new under the sun: prolix pleaders then and now

In a recent Commercial case Standard Bank plc v Via Mat International Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 490 the Court of Appeal drew attention to Khader v Aziz (Note) [2010] 1 WLR 2673, reiterated its warning against the unnecessary length of skeleton arguments and reminded parties of the possibility of the sanction of adverse costs orders. Continue reading

Contumelious: the order of the day

If a party is charged with drawing up an order it is the duty of its solicitors and counsel to produce a draft that fairly reflects what they think the judge decided or directed. Thus spake Edwards-Stuart J on 14 March 2013 giving judgment in Webb Resolutions Ltd v JV Ltd (trading as Shepherd Chartered Continue reading

Marital coercion: the ruling in R v Pryce

Although it may only be of persuasive authority, the ruling on the defence of marital coercion raised in the trial of Vicky Pryce is of interest to criminal practitioners and, thanks to the invaluable Crimeline Updater, and the judge having withdrawn reporting restrictions, is now available online here. Ms Pryce was unanimously found guilty by the jury Continue reading

Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ

Heartbroken That’s presumably how the defendants must feel in the case of Henderson v All Around The World Recordings Ltd [2013] EWPCC 7 after Judge Birss QC, sitting in the Patents County Court last week, upheld a claim by the singer Jodie Aysha for a share in the royalties from her hit song of that Continue reading

An obvious observation about obviousness

The law of patents is not always patently clear, but one point is obvious. The question of obviousness is not one that admits of endless elaboration. It is, in fact, obvious. In a judgment handed down yesterday, MedImmune Ltd v Novartis Pharm… Continue reading

Court Napping

Court cases can be dramatic and riveting; but all too often they turn out to be rather dull and may prompt more than simply an idle yawn or drooping lid. Continue reading

An unseemly turf war fought in a monstrous labyrinth

After the many children in need cases reported in recent years, including the trilogy of cases in last month’s PTSR, one might have thought that the courts had drawn the legal frontiers sufficiently clearly to eliminate funding disputes between publ… Continue reading