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30 October 2008
Issue: 7343 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
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Judiciary bias

Helow v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 62, [2008] All ER (D) 222 (Oct)

Where bias is alleged, the question is whether a fair-minded and informed observer (who is neither complacent nor unduly sensitive or suspicious), having considered the relevant facts, would conclude that there existed a real possibility that the judge was biased. The question is one of law, to be answered in the light of the relevant facts, which may include a statement from the judge as to what he knew at the time; although the court is not necessarily bound to accept any such statement at face value, there can be no question of cross-examining the judge on it, and no attention will be paid to any statement by the judge as to the impact of any knowledge on him.
 

Issue: 7343 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Corporate team welcomes paralegal in Southampton

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

London firm strengthens real estate team with partner appointment

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

NEWS
Pathfinder courts—renamed ‘Child focused courts’—are to be rolled out nationally, following a successful pilot where backlogs halved and cases were resolved up to seven and a half months faster
The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a £385,000 costs order against a father, in a case that centred on what is required to meet the threshold of ‘reprehensible or unreasonable’ behaviour
Centuries-old burial laws would be overhauled, under Law Commission proposals to address the burgeoning problem of shortage of cemetery space
The government has committed an extra £32m to women’s charities and services tackling addiction, trauma, abuse and homelessness
The Financial Ombudsman is poised for major reform to return it to a simple, impartial dispute resolution service
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