Appeal Court issues judgment in Prest case
Last October, Nigerian-born oil tycoon Michael Prest was ordered to pay his former wife cash and assets totalling £18m to his former wife. But after months of wrangling in the courts, with the couple running up legal bills of more than £3m, judges at the Court of Appeal handed down a written judgment on26 October saying the amount he had been asked to pay was wrong, cutting his divorce bill by £9m.
The ruling has been called 'disappointing' by lawyers for wives whose husbands might use companies to shelter their wealth.
Top London divorce lawyer Deborah Jeff, a partner at Seddons commented: "The case of Prest highlights again how family law is on the back-foot of commercial law in divorce settlements.
"In 2010, with the case of Tchenguiz and Imerman, a wife was prevented from using documents downloaded from her husband's computer when he sought to hide assets from her. We now have Mr Prest being allowed to use the corporate veil to place assets beyond his wife's control."
On 12 September the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published its first report on the UK. According to the report, the UK has taken a number of important steps in the fight against human trafficking; however, more needs to be done to ensure that the overall approach is focused on the victims of trafficking and their rights as human beings.
The surprise elevation of Chris Grayling to the Cabinet post of Justice Secretary was not the only change of personnel at the Department of Justice. The department was one of the biggest casualties of the reshuffle, with just two ministers keeping their jobs. They are Liberal Democrat Lord McNally and Attorney General Dominic Grieve. The other high-profile casualty was Jonathan Djanogly, who steered the LASPO Act through Parliament.
Mr Justice Ryder's report into the modernisation of family justice was published on 31 July and contains a series of proposals to improve the workings of Family Courts. His recommendations have been endorsed by the Lord Chief Justice and are intended to change the culture of the family courts for children and families themselves, and for judges, lawyers, social workers, Cafcass and social workers.