The debtor’s wife was personally acquainted with counsel for the petitioner in his bankruptcy examination. He sought that it be set aside.
Held: Whereas a judge had a duty to be independent of the parties, no such duty fell on counsel. A court might disqualify counsel where there was a complaint as to use, or disclosure of confidential material in his possession, or other exceptional material. CPR 1.3 requires the parties to ‘help the court to further the overriding objective’. That duty extends to the legal advisers of the parties, including advocates.
Judges:
Arden LJ, Schiemann LJ, Dyson LJ
Citations:
Times 13-Nov-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1567, [2003] 1 All ER 1, [2003] 1 WLR 912, [2003] BPIR 238
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association CA 21-Dec-2000
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself.
Held: When asking whether material . .
Appeal from – Skjevesland v Geveran Trading Company Limited ChD 2002
The registrar had decided that the debtor’s centre of main interests was situated in Switzerland.
Held: Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 1346/2000 did not displace the bankruptcy jurisdiction which (as the registrar found) the High Court would . .
Cited by:
Cited – Richard Buxton (Solicitors) v Mills-Owens and Another CA 23-Feb-2010
The solicitors felt that the instructions received from their client were to pursue points which neither they nor counsel thought were properly arguable. They withdrew from the case, and now appealed against a refusal of their costs on the basis . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions, Human Rights
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.178073