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09 June 2023 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8028 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal
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Crime brief: 9 June 2023

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Nothing is ever certain in litigation: David Walbank KC assesses the Court of Appeal’s reversal of a first-instance decision on state immunity
  • Juan Carlos I, former king of Spain.
  • ‘Functional immunity’ with regard to alleged campaign of harassment.
  • Court of Appeal overturns first-instance decision.

They say that nothing is certain in litigation and doubtless the ‘Great British Public’ would be amazed by the frequency, if not quite the abandon, with which appellate courts overturn the decisions of their brother and sister judges at first instance. As a consequence, eagle-eyed legal commentators must constantly scan the law reports and the trade press for clues that any judgment about which they have written might be subject to appeal. Where necessary, the record must be corrected to reflect the appeal court’s ruling.

A striking illustration of this phenomenon occurred in Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v HM Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón [2022] EWCA Civ 1595, [2022] All ER (D) 52 (Dec), where the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, overturned the first-instance decision on whether Juan Carlos I (pictured), the former king

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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