Saturday 20 October 2012

A WARNING TO LITIGANTS IN PERSON

Please be careful if you are a Litigant in Person.  In February this year Peter Elliott who claimed he was a  whistle blower managed to successfully persuade a High Court judge to overturn a judgement made against him  in 2010.  His grounds for his request was that that as a litigant in person without legal advice he had been significantly disadvantaged and further at the time that the Judgment was obtained he was suffering with some mental health issues.

In the latest case, Court of Appeal Vice President Lord Justice Kay said that the earlier judge had simply gone “too far” in making allowances for Mr Elliott as a litigant in person, adding that Mr Elliott’s lack of legal experience or understanding would not mean that he would be given “extra indulgence”.

This judgement does not mean that any litigant in person will not be given some level of special consideration – but it is a sign that in doing so, courts will not be overly indulgent in assisting self represented people.

For full details of the Judgment please go to http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1289.html

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY