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25 May 2018
Issue: 7794 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Civil way: 25 May 2018

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  • Worthless divorces.
  • Witness chat disaster.
  • First-class appeals.
  • Happy tune for whistlers.

FAMILY WAYS

Ooops The FD President issued interim guidance on 23 April 2018 on the procedural path to be followed by judges in relation to dummy decrees. A number of cases have been brought to his attention where decrees nisi and absolute have been granted notwithstanding that divorce petitions have been presented within one year of the marriage or before the expiration of the two year separation period under s 1(2)(d) or (e) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. In the former situation, the decrees are null and void and the defect cannot be cured by petition amendment (and any financial remedy order will surely fall). A remarriage would be invalid and any children born of it would be illegitimate. In the latter case, the President suggests that the same consequences would follow except that ‘it may be possible, if the facts warrant it, to amend the petition to plead one of the grounds set out in ss 1(2)(a)

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Cripps—Radius Law

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Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
NLJ this week: Do Mandelson and Mountbatten-Windsor meet the misconduct bar?
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
NLJ this week: Supreme Court unlocks ‘lost years’ windfall for injured children
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
NLJ this week: Finality trumps freedom in arbitration showdown
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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