In my lifetime thus far, I have been all three. The only roles I have not been in are that of a prosecutor and judge. Who knows. The future is a strange place. As a patron of the courts I resorted to it to assert my rights under the Consumer Protection Act 1999 (‘CP99’). I wrote about my experience some time ago in The Day I Was a Litigant | Unfair Contract Terms. In summary, …
For me, the one quality that gets anyone hired, liked, nurtured, feted and even championed is indispensability. You can make a persuasive case for your hire if you cultivate this quality. Whatever your profession, employment or job. To be indispensable is to be essential, necessary, and integral to something. Being indispensable is to be part of the nucleus. It is commonly associated with salutary qualities such as reliability, sensibility, competency, credibility, loyalty, motivation and initiative. …
I asked myself that question from time to time in the first few years of practice when I ran the gamut of debt and traffic claims and defences in the lower courts for the firm. I asked myself that question during those long, dull and lonely waits. If I weren’t waiting in the subordinate court registry, I’d be waiting in court waiting for my case to be called up. In the good old days, whatever …
This is an approach to preparing an application for leave to appeal. An appeal is a request to a higher court to rehear and review the court below’s decision (‘the original decision’). An appeal can happen from the subordinate courts, comprised of the magistrates and sessions courts, to the High Court (Scenario 1) and subsequently from the High Court to the Court of Appeal (Scenario 2). It can also happen from the High Court to …
From time to time, I wonder how much a prosecution costs. Because there is a cost to it. Time, effort, skill, people, resources, and systems are drawn upon. There is an opportunity cost for all of that. All that can be spent somewhere more fruitful. Whenever I see the trial of a powerful politician, I wonder how much prosecuting them cost. Immense effort, coordination, time, expertise, planning, and preparation go into prosecuting a case against …