Olivia Piercy, Samantha Hillas KC and Anita Mehta comment on conduct and the law commission scoping report in Financial Remedies Journal
Olivia, Samantha (St John's Building) and Anita's (4PB) article is published in the Financial Remedies Journal, 18 March 2025, and can be seen here.
The authors critically examine the Law Commission’s scoping report on financial remedies, which was released in December 2024. They focus particularly on the treatment of conduct in financial remedy proceedings, questioning whether the current legal framework adequately balances fairness and efficiency. The article highlights the tension between applying principled legal standards and the practical limitations of judicial resources.
The authors argue that the current approach to conduct in financial remedies is inconsistent and often leads to unpredictable outcomes. They explore how the Law Commission’s report acknowledges these issues but stops short of recommending a full-scale reform. Instead, the report suggests further consultation and research, which the authors view as a missed opportunity to address long-standing concerns about fairness and clarity in the system.
In their conclusion, Olivia, Samantha, and Anita call for a more structured and transparent framework for considering conduct in financial remedy cases. They advocate for clearer statutory guidance to reduce judicial discretion and improve consistency. The article ultimately serves as a call to action for policymakers and practitioners to engage more deeply with the implications of the Law Commission’s findings and to push for reforms that better serve both justice and judicial efficiency.
Read the full article on the Financial Remedies Journal's website [external link].