Grounds of Appeal
The Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, recently handed down a judgment in the Court of Appeal which seeks to clarify how Grounds of Appeal should be drafted:-
i) The grounds of appeal are an essential analytical tool for the court, to enable it to identify the issues which it is being asked to decide: they are not a vehicle for advocacy, which is the role of the skeleton argument.
ii) The starting point in every case must be for the appellant to think through carefully what specific errors the court below is alleged to have made. Once these errors have been identified, they need to be clearly and concisely articulated. In the unlikely event that the grounds are numerous, they must be presented in a structure which makes clear how they inter-relate.
iii) Each ground of appeal must be separately numbered, and the particular passages in which the judge appealed is said to have gone wrong must be specifically identified.
iv) The purpose of the grounds of appeal is to identify the points on which permission to appeal is sought, not to argue those points. Supporting submissions belong in the skeleton argument.
v) It follows that grounds of appeal should be short; in many cases, a few sentences will suffice. In a complex case, grounds of appeal may be longer, but clarity and concision should never be compromised.
This was a case in which exceptionally a permission to reopen a permission to appeal application under CPR 52.30 was allowed.
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The Masters of the Rolls
On the 31st July 2020 the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Her Majesty The Queen had been pleased to approve the appointment of Sir Geoffrey Vos as the Master of the Rolls from the 11th January 2021 in succession to Sir Terence Etherton.
It is interesting to note that 6 out of 7 of the most recent incumbents of this judicial office have been of the jewish faith the others being Lords Woolf, Phillips, Neuberger and Dyson.
We find that jewish solicitors are often particularly sought after because of their perceived quality traits of intelligence, shrewdness, toughness and integrity.
If you are looking to find such a solicitor please do not hesitate to call us.
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Mergers & Acquisitions – Corporate & Commercial
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The Criminal Finances Act currently forging its passage through Parliament, as a Bill, should bring some tantalising developments.
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The changes made to entrepreneur’s relief and to capital gains tax by the Budget in March have made growing businesses and start ups more attractive as investment vehicles many commercial solicitors in London are reporting. Capital gains tax was cut from 28% to 20% for top rate tax payers and from 18% to 10% for basic rate tax payers.
Long-term shareholders in unlisted companies are to receive a boon as entrepreneur’s relief is set to be extended.
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