That the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland shall ...and for ever after be united into one Kingdom ....

That the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland shall upon the First day of May which shall be in the year One thousand seven hundred and seven and for ever after be united into one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain And that the Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom be such as Her Majesty shall appoint and the Crosses of St. George and St. Andrew be conjoyned in such manner as Her Majesty shall think fit and used in all Flags Banners Standards and Ensigns both at Sea and Land. 

Article 1 of the Union of Scotland Act 1706.

'For ever after', they said, and for ever after it should be.

New Judges for New Legal Year...

It's goodbye to Moses LJ, Rimer LJ, Goldring LJ and Maurice Kay LJ (VP of Civil Division)




and hello King LJ from the Fam D, Sales LJ from Ch D, and Bean and Burnett LJJ from the QBD.

and replacing them in the HIGH COURT, we welcome



commercial silk, leading pro bono champion and former COMBAR Chair from South Sq Chambers -  Robin Knowles CBE QC replacing Bean J and

Ian Dove QC replacing King J (although going to the QBD and not Fam D, which is right as he is a public law and planning specialist)




and we wait to see who will replace Sales and Burnett JJ.




plus we say goodbye to Royce J and Field J in the QBD,


Plus down the ranks: Her Honour Judge Sybil Milwyn Thomas has been appointed DFJ in Birmingham (where Katherine Tucker is also to be a new CJ), Jonathan Fuller QC to be CJ in Bournemouth, Peter Crabtree OBE is going to Southampton to be a CJ, and likewise Jessica Pemberton to Hull.

Been to Scotland - made me think....

Had a hearing in Scotland recently - one of those statutory tribunals where anybody can appear (including even an English Barrister) and which has UK wide jurisdiction (law the same in every constituent of the currently United Kingdom).  

The Tribunal hears appeals from the grant and administration of a UK wide entitlement.  

The body that hands them out is partially based in Glasgow. 

If Scotland becomes independent, who the hell is going to:

(a) pay these benefits
(b) administer them
(c) decide the appeals - according to what law?

This is just one of the many different intertwining tentacles holding Scotland firmly to the rest of the UK's breast.

How is an independent Scotland going to survive without these life lines?

& then there is the small issue of where to put all those missiles:  

https://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/201408_OP_Relocation_Relocation_Relocation.pdf

 A yes vote will merely be followed by years if not decades of negotiating, arguing and re-organising - it will probably cost billions and it is hard to see why the English, Welsh and N Irish tax payer should pay for what only a majority of the resident Scottish electorate (not of Scots, given that so many live outside of Caledonia) want.

Come on, stay in the Union, it is not that bad, but if you leave, it will be...............

Phone hacking silk appointed High Court Judge.........in place of retiring Litvinenko Inquiry Chair

The retirement of Owen J will see Andrew Edis QC appointed to the High Court bench on 1st October.  He was the prosecution lead in the phone hacking trial as well as in the Huhn and Pryce case.  Sounds like he deserves it.......

Sir Robert Owen meanwhile will spend the first part of his retirement inquiring into Litvinenko's death given the Home Secretary's recently well timed volte face and he made the following opening statement today:
https://www.litvinenkoinquest.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Suspension-of-Inquest-and-Opening-of-Public-Inquiry.pdf  

which included this which will be of interest to the Russian Govt:

Because of the sensitivity of the HMG evidence, it is inevitable that at least some of my final report

will also have to remain secret. But I make it clear now that I intend to make public my final conclusion on the issue of Russian State responsibility, together with as much as possible of my reasoning in that regard.  I should add that HM Government has made a restriction notice under section 19 of the 2005 Act, the effect of which will be to require that specified sensitive material is considered in closed session, and may make further restriction notices. I intend to make the open  parts of such notices available on the inquiry website.

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Andrew Jeremy Coulter Edis QC, to be a Justice of the High Court with effect from 1 October 2014 on the retirement of Mr. Justice Owen on 19 July.

The Lord Chief Justice will assign Mr Edis to the Queen’s Bench Division.

Notes for editors

Mr Edis, 55, was called to the Bar (M) in 1980 and took Silk in 1997. He was appointed a Recorder in 1999 and is approved to sit as a deputy High Court Judge.

Mr. Justice Owen was called to the Bar (I) in 1968 and took Silk in 1988. He was appointed a Recorder in 1987 and a judge of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in 2001.

Most successful Govt policy ever

Went to an Employment Tribunal yesterday where I have been appearing for over 15 years.  Used to queue out the door and on CMD/PHR days EJs would have multiple cases listed in front of them leading to a long wait in the Respondent's waiting room (which is where I usually find myself).  Cases took years to be listed and if you did get a listing you would be floating for days on end.....

Yesterday with fees, enforced conciliation and the unfair dismissal 2 year rule fully kicked in - there was literally nobody there.  My case was the only one listed. The Judge looked surprised that he/she had a real case to deal with; took longer than he/she needed to hearing the case and when it came to listing it for final hearing could offer any day we wanted in the next 6 months........

Turns out this BBC story is true:

There were 5,619 cases between January and March this year compared with 13,739 in the same period in 2013.
Thats a Govt policy which has worked - employment claims have been well and truly stifled.  Well Done!  Business now free to do what is wants and employees left with little access to justice.

Excellent.  Now all they need to do is starting consulting the Judges and Tribunal staff over their redundancy rights.......

Better find myself another area to specialise in..........

Once again, it is lawyers to the rescue......

Got a serious problem which you can't deal with in-house?  Don't worry civil servant, get a former/ judge/top QC in to sort it?

The Home Office is appointing Rt Hon the Baroness Butler-Sloss of March Green GBE, former President of the Fam D to lead its independent inquiry panel of experts in the law and child protection to consider whether public bodies – and other non-state institutions – have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse - but which will not have any powers of compulsion to have evidence given or delivered to it (curiously in order to avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings?) - although if that becomes an issue:  if the inquiry panel chairman deems it necessary – the government is prepared to convert it into a full public inquiry in line with the Inquiries Act. Lady Butler-Sloss was the Diana Coroner until she stepped down, is 5 years over the long stop judicial retirement age and now has a lot on her hands.  Good luck to Her Ladyship.....

Turns out she may not be the right choice after all...... http://lawyerwatch.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/a-few-thoughts-on-the-butler-sloss-controversy/

It is also appointing Richard Whittam QC, First Senior Treasury Counsel at the Central Criminal Court (HMG's top prosecutor at the Bailey) to review its own review into

where certain 114 files have gone missing.....let's hope he can find them or a convincing reason for their disappearance..........

The Mayor's and City of London Court, now renamed: the County Court sitting at Mayor’s and City of London Court

Wanted to know what had happened following the introduction of the National County Court, to the Mayor's and City Court:

Thank you for your email of 18^th April 2014, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

I note that the Crime and Courts Act 2013 repeals the following provision:

(2) For the purpose of establishing a court to exercise so much of the jurisdiction previously exercised by the Mayor's and City of London Court as is appropriate to a county court and for exercising any other jurisdiction which may hereafter be conferred on a county court, the City of London shall, by virtue of this section, become a county court district and accordingly the enactments relating to county courts shall apply in relation to the county court for the City of London as they apply in relation to a county court for any other county court district.

(3) Without prejudice to subsection (1) above, the county court for the district constituted by subsection (2) above shall be known as the Mayor's and City of London Court and the Circuit judge assigned to that district under section 20(1) of this Act shall be known as the judge of the Mayor's and City of London Court.

But curiously not this provision:

The courthouse and accommodation which up to the appointed day have been respectively known as the Central Criminal Court and the Mayor's and City of London Court shall continue to be known by those names, and it shall be the duty of the Common Council of the City of London (in this section referred to as “the Common Council”) to continue to make the said premises available for use for the sittings and business of those courts respectively.

What information do you hold about the effect which the creation of the New National County Court will have on the existence, jurisdiction and name of the Mayor's and City Court in the City of London? 

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can confirm that the department holds information that you have asked for, and I am pleased to provide this to you.

In response to your question, following the introduction of the (single) County Court on the 22 April 2014 the Mayor’s and City Court continued to exist and retained its current jurisdiction (in terms of the types of cases it can hear). The introduction of the single County Court invested the powers and jurisdiction that was conferred on the 173 individual county courts, in the County Court, with modifications.  Therefore individual county court geographical boundaries no longer exist and claimants are no longer limited to issue particular claims in the county court that had jurisdiction for a particular area.

Under the single County Court, Mayor’s and City of London Court will now be known as the County Court sitting at Mayor’s and City of London Court, as the venue has retained its name.  The County Court will continue to sit at the Mayor's and City of London Court, as it will continue to sit at the other hearing venues that were previously called county courts.