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11 October 2023
Issue: 8044 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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Welsh language matters

It is ‘a matter of fundamental principle’ that individuals can ‘readily understand what goes on in our courts and tribunals’, Lady Chief Justice Carr has said in her inaugural speech

Addressing the 2023 Legal Wales Conference in Cardiff this week, Dame Sue Carr, LCJ said ‘linguistic access to justice is quite simply inherent in the right to a fair trial’. She highlighted that any party has a right to use the Welsh language, and suggested that artificial intelligence tools could be used to promote Welsh language accessibility in court, and could be used ‘to facilitate media access in Welsh to all proceedings in our courts through, for instance, automated judgment translation’.

She said English and Welsh law was increasingly diverging on devolved matters, and funding is being provided for the training of Welsh judges on new Welsh legislation.

Dame Sue Carr also reflected on her family links with Wales. Her grandfather, Harry Carr, ‘kept the wicket for Glamorgan’, and another relative edited The Western Mail.

Issue: 8044 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

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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