Accommodation Claims – Swift v Carpenter

Swift v Carpenter [2020] EWCA Civ 1295 The Issue on the Appeal Whether an award should be made to the Claimant to fund the additional capital cost required by the Claimant to purchase suitable accommodation for her disabled needs. The trial judge (Mrs Justice Lambert) found that the Court was…

Covid-19 and Causation

One key factor that is driving the Government’s response to COVID-19 is the number of deaths. Those are deaths ‘from’ COVID-19, the number of deaths ‘with’ COVID-19, and the number of those who have died with or from COVID-19 who are ‘likely’ to have died within a certain period of…

Abortion and a Woman’s Home

R (on the application of Christian Concern) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2020] EWCA 1546 (Admin)  The High Court refused the Appellant permission to bring a judicial review against the decision of the Secretary of State to approve ‘the home of a woman’ as being a…

Fairness of a Remote Hearing

SC v University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 1445 (QB)  This article originally appeared in a Covid-19 Special Issue (July 2020). The facts  The Defendant Trust applied a week before a clinical negligence trial for its adjournment on the basis that it would be unfair to hold the…

The Civil Justice Council Rapid Review

Civil Justice Council Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Court Users Published The Review  The Civil Justice Council was requested by the Master of the Rolls (Sir Terence Etherton) to conduct a rapid review between 1 and 15 May 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on the civil…

Being BAME is a Major Risk Factor for Dying of Covid-19 – What Can Be Done About It?

Introduction  This article originally appeared in a Covid-19 Special Issue (July 2020). The Public Health England (“PHE”) review into the disparities in risks and outcomes of COVID deaths was published on 3 June 2020. It was intended to address increasing concerns, notably voiced by the British Medical Association, about the…

A Tribute to Sir John Laws

This article originally appeared in a Covid-19 Special Issue (April 2020). As we in the legal profession struggle and strive to keep pace with all the legal developments and practical guidance being issued in response to Covid-19, it is vital not to lose sight of the tragic human cost it…

PPE Provision

One of the totemic issues that has emerged over recent weeks as part of the COVID-19 pandemic is the provision of ‘appropriate’ and ‘sufficient’ Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”), above all to those providing hands-on care to patients in hospital and to residents in care homes.  Leaving aside criminal liability for…

Coronavirus – Practice Direction Updates

This article originally appeared in a Covid-19 Special Issue (April 2020). Practice Direction 51ZA – Extension of time-limits and clarification of practice direction 51Y - Coronavirus – 1 April 2020  This PD is effective from 2 April 2020 and ceases to have effect on 30 October 2020.  Paragraph 2 of…

Order Seeking Possession of a Hospital Bed During the Covid-19 Pandemic

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v MB (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 882 (QB)  The Claimant, the NHS Trust, sought possession from the Defendant, a patient called MB, of a bedroom on a ward of the hospital. The ward was intended for those requiring acute neuropsychiatry care for up…