COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM CROYDON COUNTY COURT
(HIS HONOUR JUDGE CRUSH)
Strand London WC2 Tuesday, 23rd January 2001 |
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B e f o r e :
and
LORD JUSTICE MANCE
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LINDA BATES | ||
- v - | ||
THE MAYOR AND BURGESSES OF | ||
THE LONDON BOROUGH OF CROYDON |
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Smith Bernal Reporting Limited
180 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2HD
Telephone No: 0171-421 4040 Fax No: 0171-831 8838
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MR WAYNE BEGLAN (instructed by Wragge & Co, 68 Lombard St, London EC3V 9LJ) appeared on behalf of the Respondent
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Crown Copyright ©
"(a) The Convention was intended to guarantee rights that were practical and effective, particularly in respect of the right of access to the courts, in view of its prominent place in a democratic society.
(b) Judicial separation was available only in the High Court [that is the Irish High Court], where the procedure for instituting proceedings was complex.
(c) Litigation of this kind not only involved complicated points of law, but required proof to establish the facts, which might require expert witnesses.
(d) Marital disputes often entailed an emotional involvement scarcely compatible with the objectivity required by forensic advocacy.
(e) It was not realistic to suppose that, in such litigation, the applicant could effectively conduct her own case, despite assistance afforded by the trial judge.
(f) The possibility of appearing in person before the Irish High Court did not provide an effective right of access, nor did it constitute a domestic remedy whose use was required by Article 26."
"If I considered that an adjournment on 1 November 1999 would or reasonably might have made a material difference to the outcome of the litigation, I should for my part be prepared to order a new trial."
"It is not an unusual event that one party in civil proceedings, particularly at district judge level, is represented and the others are not, and it is the duty of judges, who are well used to discharging that duty, to extract the necessary evidence, facts and case from the unrepresented party. I do not believe from the judgment I have read and from the notes of the proceedings which I have read that that did not happen on this occasion."
"You have, together with your family and visitors, caused nuisance and annoyance by playing loud music at a level which has interfered with your neighbours quiet enjoyment of their home and by behaving in an antisocial manner. In particular:"