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02 September 2020 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7900 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 4 September 2020

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Possession stay by a majority; Possession notices upped to six months; Contempt smartened up; Revising your budget

Back to sleep—just

How could they? We got you all excited last time over the imminent expiry of the possession stay and then, three days before lift-off, the Lord Chancellor directs the rule committee to make rules to extend the stay further until 20 September 2020 (see ‘Civil way’, NLJ 14 August 2020). The committee met the next day, considered the ‘extremely unusual nature and timing’ of the direction, as the Master of the Rolls has put it, and—by a majority!—concluded that it was bound to follow the direction. The extension has been cursed—I mean, blessed—by the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 5) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020 (SI 2020/889) and CPR PD 55C has been consequentially amended (124th update). There has been no interference with the lifting of the stay on enforcement of writs and warrants of control on 23 August 2020. The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies: Protection from Eviction) (Amendment) (England) Regulations

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
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
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