header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
09 July 2020 / David Burrows
Issue: 7894 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Contempt
printer mail-detail

Entering the contempt maze

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
23828
David Burrows navigates through a labyrinth of legal aid provisions & tackles the much misunderstood ‘contempt’
  • Contempt: a maze of terminology & legal aid.
  • Clarity—or not—and the procedure for contempt.

Tom Bingham (nom de plume of Lord Bingham) states his first rule of the Rule of Law (title of his 2004 lecture, and a 2011 Penguin paperback) as that all laws should be ascertainable, clear and accessible. Anyone threatened with imprisonment for ‘contempt of court’—itself a misleading title, which many judges say is inappropriate—will find that the law is anything but clear; and a defendant who wants legal aid for representation for defence (ie not to be sent to prison) will find the law is positively opaque.

On 1 May 2020 replies to a consultation concluded on ‘Proposed rule changes relating to contempt of court; redraft of CPR Part 81’ (https://bit.ly/37cbN6K); that is to amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR 1998) to modernise its terminology and to clarify some of its procedure.

I responded to this consultation on three bases:

  • To urge the Civil
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS
Read All
Legal notice: Notice under the Trustee Act 1925

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Emergency lawyers on call as international regulatory actions soar
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
NLJ this week: Employment law’s fine margins
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
NLJ this week: Promises broken on non-molestation orders?
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
NLJ this week: Assisted dying under the legal microscope
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll