Law in Practice

Money or property transferred pursuant to an illegal transaction is recoverable following the seminal case of Patel v Mirza. Nicholas Strauss QC examines the case and its implications in the first of a two-part feature  

Most lawyers remember, even if little else, Lord Mansfield’s dictum in 1775 ‘ex turpi causa non oritur actio... potior est conditio defendentis ’ and many are aware of the ensuing 240 years of chaotic case law resulting, as Lord Sumption has said, from the courts’ distaste for applying their own rule.  

HHJ Simon Drew QC and Lynda Gibbs explain why the pan-profession s 28 and ‘advocacy and the vulnerable’ training – being delivered to over 14,000 criminal advocates over the next two years – heralds a sea change  

Twenty-seven years ago, the Pigot Committee proposed a mechanism to allow for the whole of a young child’s evidence to take place out of court, in advance.  

The Supreme Court’s treatment of the devolution issues in Miller is troubling, argues Aidan O’Neill QC, who examines the UK’s complex multi-national constitutional history and potential impact on the devolved political constitution  

Miller reveals the malleability of the parliamentary sovereignty doctrine, argues Professor Mark Elliott in his examination of the many tensions which lie at the heart of the majority judgment  

There are few aspects of the modern British constitution that the Supreme Court’s judgment in Miller does not at least engage (R (on the application of Miller and Dos Santos) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and associated references  [2017] UKSC 5).  

Damian Hickman offers an insight into the challenges of running a busy international arbitration centre –from debugging services, extra-large entourages and last-minute visa requests  

Writing in the Global Arbitration Review in May 2016, J William Rowley QC emphasised that ‘the importance of excellent, purpose-built arbitration hearing facilities cannot be over-estimated in the choice of… seat’.  

With a disturbing rise in deaths due to poor care, abuse or neglect in hospitals and care homes, Zia Akhtar examines the impact of the new criminal offence of wilful neglect. Will it improve or undermine the safety of vulnerable patients?  

The offence of ‘wilful neglect’ is a new offence under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA 2015) under which there is criminal liability where a person has been placed under the care of a medical professional in a hospital or care home (s 20), or under private home care (s21).  

Family arbitration is hitting its stride: the IFLA scheme successfully resolving financial disputes and keeping families out of court has now been extended to children cases. Janet Bazley QC and Gavin Smith explain how it works  

Contrast two very different scenarios. In the first, you turn up at court for a family hearing to find that you are listed in front of a non-specialist judge.  

From ‘smart’ sanctions to judicial review, closed hearings to the Brexit/Trump effect, Maya Lester QC briefs readers on the varied legal issues surrounding the foreign policy tool of choice: economic sanctions  

Economic sanctions have been a foreign policy tool of choice for some time.  

As the child abuse inquiry continues to buckle under varied pressures, Pete Weatherby QC describes the practical challenges of running inquiries and other high-volume cases – being a techie geek is a bonus  

‘But can’t we just run off one copy?’ was the plaintiff cry of one of the team.  

Last year, a local issue awoke the Bar’s interest in the City of London. Gregory Jones QC urges barristers to dust off their voting rights and reclaim their voice in the City – on the doorstep of the Inns of Court  

Barrister politicians are nothing new. Lincoln’s Inn alone has produced 16 British prime ministers.