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Crime brief: 4 November 2022

04 November 2022 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8001 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal
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Equality before the law: David Walbank KC examines a case which tested the limits of this most fundamental legal doctrine
  • Equality before the law.
  • Ex-monarch sued for harassment. 
  • Doctrine of state immunity. 

From day one of their legal studies, it is drummed into students that ‘all are equal before the law’. But does that actually mean anything? In the next two ‘Crime brief’ pieces, we will look at two very different cases, each of which demonstrates that it is very much more than a highfalutin phrase.

Harassment allegations

Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v De Borbon y Borbon [2022] EWHC 668 (QB) concerned a civil action in harassment brought by the estranged lover of an ex-king and prompted consideration of the doctrine of state immunity.

Corinna zu-Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (pictured) is a German-born Danish entrepreneur with homes in Monaco, Switzerland, London and Shropshire. In the mid-2000s, she became the mistress of Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, but five years later, their relationship ended in acrimony. When, after four decades

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NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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