Pre-recorded evidence now an option across England and Wales
By Jemma Slingo >> (23 November 2020) Vulnerable individuals now have the option to pre-record evidence in all Crown courts across England and Wales in the latest government move to relieve pressure on victims of crime. From today, vulnerable alleged victims and witnesses such as children or people with disabilities will be able to pre-record cross-examination […]
Lockdown II: Law firm offices allowed to open and clients can visit
By John Hyde >> (6 November 2020) The government has confirmed that solicitors can meet clients in their firms if this is necessary during the second lockdown. The Law Society said it has met with officials from various government departments this week and secured agreement on interpretation of the rules that law firm offices are […]
NEWS MoJ sticking to RTA Portal start date as rules thrashed out
By John Hyde >> (16 October 2020) Significant progress has been made towards the government’s goal of opening the RTA Portal from next spring. The Gazette understands the Civil Procedure Rule Committee met earlier this month for the first time since June and discussed the potential regulations surrounding the scheme. The Ministry of Justice has since confirmed […]
Conveyancing guidance on witness-free electronic signatures imminent
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (5 October 2020) HM Land Registry has revealed it is close to publishing draft guidance on a more sophisticated form of electronic signature that will not require a witness in a conveyancing transaction. However, witnessed electronic signatures are here to stay for at least another couple of years. Land Registry began […]
HMCTS to introduce evening sessions in magistrates’ court
By Monidipa Fouzder >> (24 September 2020) HM Courts & Tribunals Service has revealed that it will introduce evening courts to bring down the backlog of cases in the magistrates’ court. In a webinar discussing HMCTS’s crime recovery plan yesterday, deputy director Jason Latham said HMCTS was in the ‘final stages’ of identifying how to […]
PRESS RELEASE
MT UK OPENS ITS NEW CITY OFFICE UNDER THE “NEW NORMAL” London: 21 September 2020 – MT UK Solicitors (MT UK) announces the opening of its new city office under the “New Normal” situation at 6 Gate Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, London, WC2A 3HP. MT UK’s city office has been formally declared open for […]
Judge blasts MoJ’s ‘systemic failure’ over Crown court backlog
By Catherine Baksi >> (9 September 2020) Crown court judge has accused the government of ‘systemic failure’ for not conducting trials in a reasonable time. Judge Keith Raynor, at Woolwich Crown Court, refused to further extend the custody time limit for a teenager who had been held in prison waiting for his trial for 321 days. […]
Don’t break quarantine to go to court – Law Society
By Jemma Slingo >> (21 August 2020) Lawyers should not be permitted to break quarantine to go to court, the Law Society warned today, saying the waiver ‘puts lives at risk’. Earlier this week the Bar Council announced that ‘after significant lobbying’ the goverment has confirmed that barristers, solicitors and other court users returning from […]
Solicitor super-exam to cost £3,980
By Jemma Slingo >> (30 July 2020) Students will pay £3,980 to sit the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam, the regulator has announced, in a drive to make entry to the profession more accessible. SQE1 – a multiple choice legal knowledge test – will cost £1,558, while SQE 2 will cost £2,422 for written and oral […]
MoJ starts compensating part-time judges denied pensions
By Gazette Reporter >> (23 December 2019) Following a 14-year legal battle, the Ministry of Justice has begun compensating judicial part-timers who lost out when they were denied pensions. Interim payments to eligible claimants are now being made pending the introduction of a statutory remedy, the department said in an update today. The longstanding O’Brien […]
