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Sentencing – motoring offences

April 2025 | Crime

Sentencing guidelines for those convicted of motoring offences committed while driving vehicles without the owner’s consent came into effect on 1 April 2025. They replace the earlier guidelines (which only covered sentencing by magistrates). The new guidelines cover four aggravated vehicle taking offences: causing death, causing injury, dangerous driving and causing vehicle/property damage. Criminal defence …

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EAT – unfair dismissal

April 2025 | Employment

The EAT has heard an interesting case regarding unfair dismissal and maternity rights. The case summary is as follows: ‘Unfair dismissal – automatic unfair dismissal – section 99 Employment Rights Act 1996 – maternity rights – regulations 10 and 20(1)(b) Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 Practice and procedure – schedule 1 of the …

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CA – CFA

April 2025 | Professional

The CA has heard a case in which the issue was whether the Conditional Fee Agreement (‘CFA’) entered into between the respondent (the claimant in the original proceedings) and his solicitors Boyes Turner LLP (‘BT’) on 24 March 2015 had retrospective effect. Both the Costs Judge and Lavender J decided that it did. The appellants, …

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Practice – court fees

April 2025 | Family

Increased court fees came into effect on 1 April 2025 to account for changes to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Fees that have increased include the following under the Family Proceedings Fees Order 2008: application for a divorce, nullity or dissolution of CP is now £612 (up from £593); application for matrimonial or civil partnership …

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Care orders – discharge

April 2025 | Family

Discharging care orders would not be good for the welfare of the children, the family court decided. It was for the applicant to show on balance that discharging the orders would be beneficial to the child. M applied for care orders in respect of S (a teen) and P (primary school age) to be discharged …

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Financial remedies – conduct; company assets

April 2025 | Family

A party’s poor conduct, including persistent abusive communications, was not ‘exceptional’ enough to impact the final financial award. The key issue in dispute in this high-value case was the valuation of a company. The parties had been married for 19 years and had 12-year-old twins who lived with W. W had applied for financial remedies …

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Financial remedies – company assets

April 2025 | Family

Two key issues in these proceedings following a 40-year marriage were the valuation of H’s company shares, and how the consideration received by W for the sale of another company should be treated. W is British; H holds dual British and US citizenship and worked in finance. In 2012 H purchased 1,000+ Bitcoin at a …

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Children – parental alienation

April 2025 | Family

Alienating behaviours vary in intensity, and in the extent of the emotional, social and psychological impact on the children. Such behaviours include manipulation, false allegations of abuse and encouraging bad feeling towards a parent. There is not yet any formal legal definition of parental alienation, but the Family Justice Council issued valuable guidance on the …

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Commonhold – White Paper

April 2025 | Land

The government has updated its policy paper: ‘Commonhold White Paper: The proposed new commonhold model for homeownership in England and Wales‘. This is a topic which practitioners may need to become conversant with. While commonhold has been with us for 20 years, its meagre take up meant that it was largely consigned to history. However, …

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