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17 October 2025
Issue: 8135 / Categories: Legal News , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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NLJ this week: Gold on Awaab’s Law & digital divorce

In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives

Family lawyers gain new online powers as FPR PD 41G now allows digital applications for service orders, while legal advisers can authorise bailiff service—a cheap but uncertain option, he quips. In pensions, a tribunal judge’s six-year wait for correction earned him £3,000 from the Ministry of Justice, but no sympathy.

The headline act, however, is ‘Awaab’s Law’: from 27 October 2025, social landlords must fix serious hazards like damp and mould within strict timeframes or face breach actions under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. Gold hails the regulations as a milestone for tenants’ rights—though a compliance nightmare for landlords.

Issue: 8135 / Categories: Legal News , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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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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