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30 May 2025
Issue: 8118 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 30 May 2025

Commons

Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20

This is an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding whether s 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 confers on the public a right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons. The court analysed the wording of s 10(1) in its statutory context, including the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and the Law of Property Act 1925. The court dismissed the appeal, ruling that s 10(1), on its true construction, does confer such a right to wild camp on the Commons.


Costs

Shorts International Ltd v Google LLC [2025] EWCA Civ 653

This was an appeal to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) from a decision dismissing a claim for trade mark infringement heard in the Business and Property Courts (Intellectual Property List) concerning the determination of the claimant’s application for a costs capping order and the defendant’s application for security for costs. The court held that the proceedings

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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
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
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
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’
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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