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There may be trouble ahead

04 June 2015 / Geraldine Morris
Issue: 7655 / Categories: Features , Family
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Geraldine Morris looks at the newly elected government’s plans & the potential impact on family law

So, the new government is the old one, but without their former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. There were many policy aspects of the previous government that caused family lawyers concern, although of course there were some positive aspects too for others. The Conservative party’s second term provides them with an opportunity to follow through on policy developments started in their first term, as well as develop areas of reform they had alluded to previously such as human rights. The following is a summary of some areas of potential change.

Human rights

This is the big one. The government has said that it will seek to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and replace it with a UK Bill of Rights. Tory heavyweight, Michael Gove, has been appointed as Lord Chancellor reportedly as a man on a mission to see this through. Human rights are the lifeblood of family law; a few examples are:

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
The ex-wife of a Russian billionaire has won her bid to bring her financial relief claim in London, in a unanimous Court of Appeal decision
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