PENAL NOTICES ON ORDERS – CHANGES COMING INTO FORCE ON THE 6th APRIL 2024: A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE BY THE USE OF THE WORD “BY”
Yesterday we looked at a case where the judge held it was inappropriate for the court to add a penal notice to an existing order. The rules relating to penal notices are changing on the 6th April as a result…
ANOTHER CASE OF DISCLOSURE OF AN EMBARGOED COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT: LIABILITY FOR CONTEMPT MAY BE STRICT, BUT IN THIS CASE NEED GO NO FURTHER
In Interdigital Technology Corporation & Ors v Lenovo Group Ltd & Ors [2023] EWCA Civ 57 the Court of Appeal considered another case where the results a draft embargoed judgment was disclosed (although not the judgment itself). Liability for the…
WHEN, AND WHETHER, PERMISSION TO APPEAL IS REQUIRED IN AN APPEAL AGAINST A DECISION TO COMMIT TO PRISON
In Business Mortgage Finance 4 PLC & Ors v Hussain [2022] EWCA Civ 126 the Court of Appeal considered the scope of matters that fall within the rule that permission to appeal is not required in relation to committal hearings….
A SECOND APPEAL IN COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS WAS AN ABUSE OF PROCESS, AND DISMISSED FOR THAT REASON
In Nambiar v Solitair Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1135 the Court of Appeal held that an appeal against a committal order should be struck out as an abuse of process. Prior to sentencing the appellant had issued an earlier, identical,…
AN APPLICATION FOR COMMITTAL THAT WAS “WHOLLY FRIVOLOUS” AND “BORDERS ON VEXATIOUS”: CLAIMANT NOW REQUIRES PERMISSION TO BRING SIMILAR COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS…
For the second time today I am writing about an injunction case which failed because the claimant had failed to prove compliance with an order for service. However this particular case has more sinister overtones. The claimant attempted to bring…
COST BITES 6: GETTING A SCHEDULE OF COSTS TO COURT
The claimant’s failure to provide costs schedules, and eventual compliance, can be seen in a series of judgments by HHJ Emma Kelly in cases brought by North Warwickshire Borough Council. The cases move from non-compliance to attempted compliance and eventual…
PERSONAL SERVICE EFFECTIVE WHEN DOCUMENTS PUT THROUGH THE DOOR OF A LETTERBOX: THE FOCUS IS ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE RECIPIENT
In Field v Del Vecchio [2022] EWHC 1117 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court judge) considered whether committal proceedings had been properly served. The papers had been put through a letterbox in a flat when the defendant…
AN INJUNCTION MUST BE SERVED PERSONALLY: COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS DO NOT GET OFF THE STARTING LINE
In MBR Acres td & Ors v Maher & Anor [2022] EWHC 1123 (QB) Mr Justice Nicklin held that the obligation to serve an injunction personally had not been altered by the new CPR Part 81. Sending copies of the…
LITIGATION FRIEND GAVE FALSE EVIDENCE AND WAS IN CONTEMPT OF COURT: “GOOD DAYS” DOES NOT EXPLAIN CLAIMANT’S LEADING THEATRICAL ROLES
In Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust v Colley [2022] EWHC 854 (QB) Mr Justice Bourne sentenced a litigation friend to six months in prison (suspended for two years) for giving false evidence in support of her daughter’s claim for…
THE INDEMNITY PRINCIPLE BITES ON A SUCCESSFUL DEFENDANT BUT NOT ON A SUCCESSFUL CLAIMANT INSURER: CLAIM £438,388.95 IN COSTS, RECOVER £1,368.75.
Issues relating to the indemnity principle give rise to a number of issues in litigation about costs. The principles loom large in the judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Liverpool Victoria Insurance Co Ltd v Khan & Ors [2022] EWHC…
SHOULD A RESPONDENT RECEIVE HIS COSTS FOR BEING SENT TO PRISON? JUDGE CONSIDERS ISSUES AFTER CONTEMPT OF COURT HEARING
In Kea Investments Ltd v Watson [2022] EWHC 5 (Ch) Lord Justice Nugee considered the question of what costs order should be made after a respondent had been committed to prison for contempt. The applicant had succeeded on some, but…
ROUTE OF APPEAL FROM COMMITTAL DECISIONS IN THE DIVISIONAL COURT: GO TO THE SUPREME COURT DIRECTLY
The observations at the end of the Divisional Court judgment in National Highways Ltd v Buse & Ors [2021] EWHC 3404 (QB) are of some interest. The Court held that the appropriate route to appeal committal decisions made in the…
CLAIMANT NOT ALLOWED TO PURSUE POINTLESS COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS: “THE DISPROPORTIONATE PURSUIT OF POINTLESS LITIGATION IS AN ABUSE”
In Pharmagona Ltd v Taheri & Anor [2021] EWHC 2537 (Ch) Mr Justice Snowden refused an application by a claimant to issue an application for committal. A breach, if established, would be of the most technical kind. Further the defendants…
FUNDAMENTAL DISHONESTY: 76 YEAR OLD CLAIMANT SENTENCED TO 6 MONTHS IMMEDIATE IMPRISONMENT FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT
In One Insurance -v- Beasley (a judgment available here) a 76 year old was sentenced to six months immediate imprisonment following his dishonest pursuit of a personal injury case. “A wheelchair was hired on two occasions in order to be…
LYING IN A WITNESS STATEMENTS PASSES THE CUSTODY THRESHOLD: WHEN A PARTY ASSERTED THEY DID NOT KNOW A WITNESS
In Axa Insurance UK Plc v Reid (Rev 1) [2021] EWHC 993 (QB) Mrs Justice Eady found that telling lies in a witness statement in a personal injury case passed the custody threshold. A claimant in a personal injury, who…
EXAGGERATING AND INFLATING CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIM LED TO CLAIMANT BEING SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IMPRISONMENT: “THERE IS NO ROBIN HOOD DEFENCE HERE”
In Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust v Metcalf [2021] EWHC 611 (QB) Mr Justice Griffiths sentenced a claimant to six months imprisonment following the exaggeration of a claim for damages. “She was, by her contempt of court, effectively stealing…
WHEN A SOLICITOR SAYS “BURN IT” IN RELATION TO DOCUMENTS THIS GIVES RISE TO A PRIMA FACIE ISSUE OF CONTEMPT OF COURT: COURT OF APPEAL DECISION TODAY
In the judgment today in Ocado Group PLC & Anr v McKeeve [2021] EWCA Civ 145 the Court of Appeal overturned a decision that the court should not allow an application for contempt of court against a solicitor to proceed….
LEGAL AID AVAILABLE FOR RESPONDENT TO APPLICATION TO COMMIT UNDER THE DEBTORS ACT 1869
In Haskell v Haskell [2020] EWFC 92 Mr Justice Mostyn held than application under the Debtors Act 1869 is broadly equivalent to an application for committal and legal aid should be awarded. THE CASE The applicant made an application under…
CONTEMPT OF COURT, THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH AND THE CRIMINAL STANDARD OF PROOF: HIGH COURT DECISION FINDS CLAIMANTS IN CONTEMPT OF COURT
In Zurich Insurance Plc v Barnicoat & Anor [2020] EWHC 3127 (QB) David Lock (QC) sitting as a Judge of the High Court considered the difficulties a party seeking an order for contempt of court faces when they do not…
THE NEW COMMITTAL PROCEDURE: DOES NOT AFFECT THE COURT’S SENTENCING POWERS: DEFENDANT SENT TO PRISON
Oliver v Shaikh [2020] EWHC 2658 (QB) may be the first time the new rules as to committal proceedings have been mentioned in a judgment. However the purpose was to make it clear that the new rules do not make…